Immortalized in Gary Ross’s film featuring Jeff Bridges and Tobey Maguire, Seabiscuit’s unconventional path to success earned him a place in America’s hearts, and on this list.
Seabiscuit grew up on Claiborne Farm, in Kentucky, and even though he was a grandson of the widely acclaimed Man o’ War, his physical conformation was considered less than ideal, and as a light bay, he was seen as too small to race.
This, paired up with his apparent sluggishness and difficult temper, caused him to be abandoned by renowned jockey James Fitzsimmons, and to participate in lower-tier claiming races, where he would have been bought for $2,500.
After being persuaded by trainer Tom Smith, businessman Charles S. Howard agreed to buy Seabiscuit, and together with jockey Red Pollard, who overcame alcoholism, financial ruin, and partial blindness, the three forged a prolific partnership that transformed Seabiscuit into an underdog hero, leading him to eventually defeating his uncle War Admiral, who had won the Triple Crown, in a two-horse special matchup that was labeled as “the race of the century.”
When it comes to earnings, Seabiscuit set several records, becoming the highest-earning horse of all time in 1940, a time when America was struggling to recover from the Great Depression, and his story of hope and overcoming all obstacles earned him the accolade of the American Horse of the Year in 1938.
14. Whirlaway
Sired by Blenheim, an English Derby winner, Whirlaway’s main accomplishment was winning the Triple Crown in 1941, the year in which he also won the highly-prized Travers Stakes, a feat also known as the “superfecta,” or the Grand Slam of Thoroughbred Racing.
Whirlaway was first ridden by jockey Eddie Arcaro, and then, by George Woolf, who also rode Seabiscuit after Red Pollard’s injury. He was trained by Ben A. Jones.
Whirlaway’s unique features, like his long, thick tail, gave the perception of a tail flowing in synchrony with the wind, creating iconic imagery for fans and giving him the nicknames “Mr. Longtail” and “The Flying Tail.”
In 1959, Whirlaway was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Saratoga Race Course, in Saratoga, New York, has a race named in his honor.
13. Phar Lap
Phar Lap was another horse who rose to great heights by overcoming significant feats.
Initially shunned by its owner David J. Davis because of the poor health with which he arrived in Australia–including a face full of warts–Phar Lap was gelded by his trainer Harry Telford, who initially had to train Phar Lap for nothing upfront, exchanging his work for two-thirds of his future earnings.
In 1930, Phar Lap won the Melbourne Stakes, shortly after nearly being shot by criminals, and that year, he also won the Melbourne Cup, one of the most prestigious events in Australia.
Ridden by jockey Billy Elliot, Phar Lap also set international records, like winning the Agua Caliente Handicap, in Tijuana, Mexico with record timing, collecting the largest money prize that was offered at the time in horse racing in North America.
Also known as “Australia’s Wonder Horse,” Phar Lap’s remains are a national treasure in both Australia and New Zealand. The Museum of New Zealand houses his skeleton, while his mounted hide can be seen at the Melbourne Museum, and his heart is on display at the National Museum of Australia.
12. Winx
Winx holds the record for being the highest-earning Australian racehorse of all time, having won over $26 million Australian Dollars. When analyzed by the International Racing Bureau methodology–which translates worldwide earnings to the British Pound standard–Winx earnings are also a world record.
A member of the Australian Racing Hall of Fame, Winx was famous for her intense acceleration that allowed her to make more strides per second than her competitors.
Trained by Chris Waller and ridden by jockey Hugh Boman, Winx won some of the most prestigious races in Australia several times, like the W.S. Cox Plate (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018), the Chipping Norton Stakes and the George Ryder Stakes from 2016 to 2019, the Queen Elizabeth Stakes from 2017 to 2019, and the Warwick Stakes (now renamed as Warwick/Winx Stakes) from 2016 to 2018.
She retired in 2019 and became a broodmare.
11. Tom Fool
In 1953, Tom Fool was named the American Horse of the Year, following a series of victories at events like the Whitney Handicap, the Carter Handicap, and the Pimlico Special.
Due to an illness, Tom Fool could not participate in the Triple Crown races, but his triumphs, together with his New York’s Handicap Triple Crown–the Metropolitan, Suburban, and Brooklyn Handicaps–winning campaign, led him to earn $570,615 and to be syndicated for $1,750,000.
Throughout his distinguished career, Tom Fool earned many other accolades, like being the leading broodmare sire in Great Britain and Ireland in 1965, and being inducted into the United States Racing Hall of Fame in 1960.
Tom Fool was the sire for several champion racehorses, including Buckpasser, Silly Season, Tompion, and Tim Tam.
10. Dr. Fager
Like Tom Fool, Dr. Fager’s accomplished career was marred by the illnesses he suffered, which kept him out of the Triple Crown races and prevented him from leaving a more lasting legacy.
However, neither this nor his physical problems–clubbed feet and a frail knee–stopped Dr. Fager from winning four American titles in 1968, becoming the only horse to do so in a calendar year. One of his most famed victories happened in the Washington Park Handicap, where he set the world record.
Dr. Fager was inducted into the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame in 1971, and his 1968 season is considered, by many analysts, as the best single season in the history of horseracing.
He was named after neurosurgeon Dr. Charles Anthony Fager, who was responsible for saving the life of John Nerud, Dr. Fager’s trainer.
9. Kincsem
Throughout her career, Kincsem won all of the 54 races in which he participated, setting the world record for undefeated races.
Foaled in Hungary in 1874, Kincsem was the most-celebrated racehorse in the empire of Austria-Hungary, and won some of Europe’s most lauded races like the Grand Prix de Deauville, in France; the Goodwood Cup, in Sussex, England, and the Grosser Preis von Baden, in Germany.
Trained by Robert Hesp and ridden by jockey Elijah Madden, Kincsem’s earnings were a total of 199,754.50 Austro-Hungarian guldens, which would translate to 2.5 million Euros if translated to their 2020 value.
Kincsem was known to be very particular, refusing to drink water unless it had a certain quality and refusing to eat grain or hay that did not come from the farm of her owner, Ernö Blaskovich.
8. Affirmed
Sired by Exclusive Native and having the undefeated racehorse Raise a Native as his grandsire, Affirmed was groomed to be a successful racehorse from the very beginning.
Foaled in 1975, Affirmed had a heated rivalry with Alydar, a racehorse whose grandsire was also Raise a Native.
Despite this, Affirmed went on to win the Triple Crown–Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes–in 1978, becoming the last racehorse to do so until American Pharoah did so in 2015.
Affirmed won titles in the three years in which he raced, and he was inducted into the United States Racing Hall of Fame in 1980. He earned $2,393,818 throughout his career and won 22 races out of 29. The Affirmed Handicap, at Hollywood Park, and the Affirmed Stakes, at Calder Race Course, are named after him.
He was trained by Laz Barrera.
7. Black Caviar
Foaled in August 2006 in Nagambie, Victoria, Australia, Black Caviar went undefeated in the twenty-five races in which she competed.
Amongst these titles were fifteen Group One races, including the Diamond Jubilee Stakes in Great Britain in 2012, the Schweppes Stakes in 2010 and 2011, and the Lightning Stakes, which she won from 2011 to 2013 and has now been renamed as the Black Caviar Lightning.
Black Caviar was trained by Peter Moody, and according to some reports, she was raised and trained in a very supportive environment, in which she was never whipped.
Throughout her career, Black Caviar earned $7,953,936, ranked first in the World Thoroughbred Rankings of 2013, and won the Australian Racehorse of the Year award three times.
6. Seattle Slew
Foaled in 1975 in Lexington, Kentucky, a city with a strong horse racing tradition, Seattle Slew went on to become one of the most prominent racehorses in the history of the sport in the United States.
Even though he was initially described as unattractive and compared to a mule, Seattle Slew, whose original name was going to be Seattle Slough, rose to prominence by winning fourteen out of the seventeen races in which he started.
By the time he won the Triple Crown–the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes–in 1977, Seattle Slew was still undefeated, the only horse to accomplish that together with Justify.
The following year, in 1978, Seattle Slew had a spectacular duel against fellow Triple Crown Winner Affirmed, at the Marlboro Cup Invitational Handicap, in which Seattle Slew emerged victorious.
He was known for his electrifying connection with the crowd, developing a phenomenon that was described as “Slewmania.” In 1977, he was the Horse of the Year, and he earned a total of $1,208,726.
Seattle Slew was inducted into the United States Racing Hall of Fame in 1981.
5. Ribot
Bred in Italy by acclaimed genius horse breeder Federico Tesio, Ribot is widely considered one of the best horses of all time.
Ribot went undefeated throughout his career, winning 16 races, among them, the prestigious Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
Named after French artist Théodule-Augustin Ribot, he was described as a horse with a deep heart, a smart wit, and a balanced temperament, which contributed to his wins. Ribot triumphed in races in England, France, and Italy, and in a poll by the Italian paper La Gazzetta dello Sport, Ribot was voted as the fourth-greatest Italian athlete of the 20th century.
Unfortunately, Federico Tesio died before Ribot made his competitive debut and went on to rewrite the European horse racing history books.
Ribot was also the leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland in 1963, 1967, and 1968.
4. Citation
Foaled at the celebrated Calumet Farm in Lexington, Kentucky in 1945, and boasting European pedigree, Citation was the first racehorse in history to earn more than $1 million.
His illustrious career included winning the 1948 Triple Crown, the 1948 American Derby, and the 1951 Hollywood Gold Cup. He won 16 consecutive races and triumphed in 32 out of 45 starts.
Citation was trained by the Hall of Famers father-and-son team of Ben and Jimmy Jones, and after the tragedy that resulted in the death of his initial jockey Al Snider, was also ridden by Eddie Arcaro, who had previously ridden Whirlaway, and by Steve Brooks.
Citation was the 1948 Horse of the Year and a 1959 inductee of the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame. The Citation family of business jets, manufactured by the aviation company Cessna Aircraft, are named after him.
3. Frankel
Frankel is a British racehorse bred by House of Saud member Khalid Abdullah and his firm Juddmonte Farms, who accomplished the feat of having an undefeated career in fourteen starts.
In 2011, Frankel was the top-rated racehorse in the world, and in 2012, after he won the Queen Anne Stakes, his rating was the highest that Timeform–the rating organization–had ever given.
Other titles he won include the 2000 Guineas Stakes, in 2011, the Sussex Stakes, in 2011 and 2012, and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes in 2011.
Frankel was trained by Sir Henry Cecil and after competing, he became a highly sought-after sire, counting British Classic champions like Anapurna, Adayar, and Hurricane Lane as his offspring.
In 2021, he was inducted into the British Champions Series Hall of Fame.
2. Secretariat
Also known as Big Red, Secretariat was a record-breaking horse that is significantly regarded as one of the best racehorses of all time.
Foaled in 1970 in Virginia, Secretariat’s major achievement was his 1973 Triple Crown title, in which he set the fastest time record in the three races: the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes. As of now, Secretariat still holds that record, and his triumph at the Belmont Stakes, which he conquered by 31 lengths, is one of the most-remembered races in the history of horse racing.
Owned and bred by Christopher and Penny Chenery, trained by Lucien Laurin, and ridden by Ron Turcotte, Secretariat was considered a powerful horse with a perfect physical conformation, and his oversized heart, which Dr. Thomas Swerczek described as “the largest he had ever seen in a horse,” was considered a strength that propelled him to great heights.
Secretariat won five Eclipse Awards, earned $1,316,808 in earnings, and won the Horse of the Year award in 1972 and 1973. He was the leading broodmare sire in North America in 1992 and was syndicated for $6.08 million (which in 2021 would be over $37 million) when he was three years old.
Secretariat was inducted to the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame in 1974 and to the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007, and was the subject of J.A. Estes’ poem “Big Red” as well as of Disney’s 2010 movie Secretariat, starring Diane Lane and John Malkovich.
1.Man o’ War
Foaled in 1917 at Nursery Stud, in Kentucky, and bred by financier August Belmont Jr., Man o’ War has received wide acclaim as the best racehorse of all time.
Described as a high-energy, deeply spirited horse who could have a wild and explosive character, Man o’ War was later sold to Samuel D. Riddle, who refused to let him compete in the Kentucky Derby, hindering Man o’ War’s chances to conquer the Triple Crown.
However, in those races in which he participated, Man o’ War tended to dominate his rivals. He won both the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes in 1920, and in the same year, at the Lawrence Realization Stakes, he won by over 100 lengths.
Like Secretariat, Man o’ War was also nicknamed Big Red, and he won 20 out of his 21 races, only losing once against a colt who ironically was named Upset. Man o’ War was named the American Horse of the Year in 1920, and in 1957, he became a member of the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame.
How career earnings were $249,965, which would be over $3.3 million in 2021 dollars. When he retired, Man o’ War was the highest-earning horse of all time.
In Lexington, Kentucky, the Man o’ War Boulevard was named after him, as was the Man o’ War Stakes race at Belmont Park in New York.
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