Man o' War
Man o' War next entered the Potomac Handicap at Havre de Grace Racetrack in Maryland on September 18. Man o' War was assigned 138 pounds, conceding from 24 to 34 pounds to his rivals, which included Kentucky Derby winner Paul Jones. Man o' War faced an early challenge from Blazes then turned back a late run by Wildair to win by lengths while breaking the track record by seconds. Although Man o' War was not seriously challenged, the high weight and a poorly maintained racing surface took a toll: Man o' War came out of the race with a swollen tendon on his right foreleg.
The final start of Man o' War's career came in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, in the Kenilworth Park Gold Cup on October 11. The event was so highly anticipated that it became the first horserace to be filmed in its entirety, with the resulting footage later shown in movie theaters across the country. The race was originally intended to be a face off between the three great horses of the time: Man o' War, Sir Barton and Exterminator. However, the owners of Sir Barton and Man o' War agreed to a distance of miles, which was too short for Exterminator to run his best, and agreed to a weight-for-age format, under which the older Exterminator would concede weight to Man o' War. Therefore, Exterminator was not entered, and in fact raced that same day on a different track.
Man o' War
Man o' War's next start was on June 12 in the Belmont Stakes, then run at a distance of miles. The race would establish Man o' War as one of the all-time greats with an "almost unbelievably brilliant performance" before a crowd of 25,000. At odds of 1-20, he faced only one rival, the well-regarded colt Donnaconna. Man o' War led from the start and Kummer let him run freely at the top of the stretch, allowing Man o' War to draw away by 20 lengths. Although eased in the final furlong, Man o' War set a world record of 2:14, beating the previous standard set in England by over two seconds and beating Sir Barton's American record by over three seconds. This time stood as the American record until 1961 when Wise Ship ran the distance in 2:14 flat on a turf course. It still stood as the American dirt record until 1991.