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s $ 1 I 1 j , , , - i i i 00,000 FOR MAN 0 WAR English Syndicate Said to Have Offered That Sum for Americas Champion. Man War sold for the modest sum of ,000 when the Belmont yearlings were sold in the paddocks at Saratoga in August, 1918. One yearling stable companion of his, the Vulcain colt Fair Gain, which has been only a moderate race horse, brought 4,000. Another, Rouleau, a son of Tracery, bred on the other side of the Atlnntic, brought 3,000. Rouleau has not been ns successful as has Fair Gain. The bidding would have been brisker on Man o War if the strapping chestnut had not had raeing for a couple of years a fast but erratic sister called Masda. Several horsemen who attended the Belmont sale and bbught liberally passed Man o War by because they were afraid lie might prove as hard to handle as Masda. One of these wan Samuel O. Hildreth. the developer of Masda. Another was Joseph E. Widener of Philadelphia, the man who paid 4,000 for Fair Gain. The first big offer for Man o War was made in the summer of 1919, after the colt, by winning the United States Hotel Stakes at Saratoga, confirmed his earlier Belmont Park and Aqueduct form. Montfort Jones, one of the new oil millionaires of the Southwest, the same who had passed the Fair Play colt the year before and bought Rouleau for 3,000. offered Samuel D. Riddle of Philadelphia 00,000 for the colt. "I have the money right here," said Mr. Jones, sinking a hand into one of the pockets of his trousers, "if you want to sell the colt." Mr. Riddle smiled. "If," he returned, "Mnn o War was in the market, Mr. Jones, you could lead him to your stable now and pay when you liked." The biggest specific offer for Man o War was made at Belmont Park last June after the great chestnut had established a new mile record for the United States and Canada of 1:35 in the running of the Withers Stakes, but before he had established a new American record of 2:14 for one mile and three-eighths in the running of the Belmont Stakes. Joseph L. Murphy, like Mr. Riddle, a Philadel-phlan, offered through James Healy, trainer and manager of his horses, the sum of 60,000 for Man o War. Mr. Murphy is a son of the late Michael Murphy, a Pennsylvania oil man of the strenuous days of Standard Oil combination. The elder Murphy, who campaigned trotters and runners in all parts of the United States and bred thoroughbreds on a small scale for a while, was the first man to buck Standard Oil and win. Joseph L. Murphy has never cared seriously for trotters. But he has alwavs like runners. Having sold Flittergold, a half-brother of Fair Play, Man o Wars sire, Mr. Murphy sought Man o War to put him at the head of a stud he proposes to organize. He intended before retiring the horse in case he purchased him to exhibit Man o War at the great fairs throughout the United States as an object lesson to the American people. AVhen Mr. Riddle told Mr. Healy that Man o War was not for sale he offered the additional information that he might have, sold his great colt half a dozen times for sums ranging from 00,000 to 50,000. Since turning down Mr. Murphys offer Mr. Riddle has had one American sportsman, a man whose name he says he is not at liberty to divulge, hand him a signed blank check and tell him he might fill it out to suit himself if only he would consent to part with Man o War. Within the month a syndicate of British breeders has offered Mr. Riddle 00,000 for Man o War.
