War Feathers (USA)
1924 – c. 1945
Man o’ War (USA) x Tuscan Red (GB), by William Rufus (GB)
Family 16-h
1924 – c. 1945
Man o’ War (USA) x Tuscan Red (GB), by William Rufus (GB)
Family 16-h
A member of Man o’ War’s third crop, War Feathers came of undistinguished lineage on her dam’s side but was so good a physical specimen that she ended up topping both the 1925 Saratoga yearling auction and the prices for all American yearlings sold at auction that year. She did not come remotely close to earning back her purchase price but atoned for her sins as a racer by becoming a fine producer whose family persists today.
Race record
7 starts, 1 win, 1 second, 0 thirds, US$1,350
As an individual
A chestnut mare, War Feathers was described as a “magnificent looking creature” in Man o’ War (1950, Cooper and Treat).
As a producer
War Feathers produced nine named foals, of which eight started and seven won. Her important foals are as follow:
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, War Feathers was bred by Dr. Cary T. Grayson. She was purchased for US$50,500 from the 1925 Saratoga yearling auction by James Cox Brady. As a broodmare, she was owned by Howard Oots for most of her producing career, eventually being resold to Brady.
Pedigree notes
War Feathers is inbred 4x5 to 1880 Derby Stakes winner Bend Or, 5x4 to nine-time English/Irish champion sire St. Simon, 5x5 to Bend Or’s sire Doncaster (the Derby Stakes winner of 1873) and 5x5 to 1887 English/Irish champion sire Hampton. She is a half sister to the minor stakes winner Chianti (by High Time) and to Tuscan Maiden (by Maiden Erlegh), dam of stakes winner Fairy Maiden (by Gnome). She is also a half sister to stakes-placed Leghorn (by Celt), dam of multiple minor stakes winner Bulwark (by Bull Dog), second dam of 1945 Selima Stakes and 1946 Modesty Stakes winner Athene, and third dam of 1954 San Juan Capistrano Handicap winner By Zeus, 1956 Camino Real Handicap winner Lychnus, and juvenile stakes winner Banquet Bell, dam of two American champions in Primonetta and Chateaugay. In addition, War Feathers is a half sister to Bright Red (by Bright Knight), dam of the minor stakes winner Schoolmom (by Jean Valjean).
War Feathers and her siblings are out of the William Rufus mare Tuscan Red, whose dam Fine Feathers (by Gallinule) also produced Doreid (by Galloping Simon), dam of 1934 Saratoga Special winner Boxthorn (by Blue Larkspur). The next dam in War Feathers’s tail-female line, the Sheen mare Splendid, is a half sister to Sceptre (by Persimmon), the winner of four of the five English Classic races in 1902 and still regarded as one of the greatest mares ever to grace the Turf anywhere in the world.
Last updated: September 19, 2023
Race record
7 starts, 1 win, 1 second, 0 thirds, US$1,350
As an individual
A chestnut mare, War Feathers was described as a “magnificent looking creature” in Man o’ War (1950, Cooper and Treat).
As a producer
War Feathers produced nine named foals, of which eight started and seven won. Her important foals are as follow:
- Miss Kid (1930, by Atwell) won two of her three starts. She is the dam of five-time stakes winner Burgoo Maid (by Burgoo King) and, through her, the second dam of 1953 Acorn Stakes winner Secret Meeting (by Alibhai). Through Secret Meeting, Miss Kid is the ancestress of such fine horses as 1976 American champion juvenile filly Sensational, 1965 Oaks Stakes winner Long Look, five-time South African champion sire Jungle Cove, and 1999 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year Anne Campbell.
- War Minstrel (1934, by Royal Minstrel; a gelding) won three stakes races including the 1938 Stars and Stripes Handicap.
- War Magic (1935, by Pharamond II) won the 1938 Diamond State Stakes and set two track records at Delaware Park. He was of no importance as a sire.
- War Plumage (1936, by On Watch) shared the American 3-year-old filly championship of 1939 with Unerring and was the American champion handicap female of the following year. She is the dam of 1947 Golden Gate Derby winner Cutty Hunt (by Bahram), the second dam of 1952 Comely Stakes winner Upswept and 1954 Charles H. Bidwell Memorial Handicap winner Vantage, and the third dam of 1981 Haskell Invitational Handicap (USA-G1) winner Fivestarflight and Grade 2 winner Whatsyourpleasure.
- Boom Boom (1945, by Case Ace; a gelding) won three steeplechase stakes races including the 1951 Harbor Hill Steeplechase.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, War Feathers was bred by Dr. Cary T. Grayson. She was purchased for US$50,500 from the 1925 Saratoga yearling auction by James Cox Brady. As a broodmare, she was owned by Howard Oots for most of her producing career, eventually being resold to Brady.
Pedigree notes
War Feathers is inbred 4x5 to 1880 Derby Stakes winner Bend Or, 5x4 to nine-time English/Irish champion sire St. Simon, 5x5 to Bend Or’s sire Doncaster (the Derby Stakes winner of 1873) and 5x5 to 1887 English/Irish champion sire Hampton. She is a half sister to the minor stakes winner Chianti (by High Time) and to Tuscan Maiden (by Maiden Erlegh), dam of stakes winner Fairy Maiden (by Gnome). She is also a half sister to stakes-placed Leghorn (by Celt), dam of multiple minor stakes winner Bulwark (by Bull Dog), second dam of 1945 Selima Stakes and 1946 Modesty Stakes winner Athene, and third dam of 1954 San Juan Capistrano Handicap winner By Zeus, 1956 Camino Real Handicap winner Lychnus, and juvenile stakes winner Banquet Bell, dam of two American champions in Primonetta and Chateaugay. In addition, War Feathers is a half sister to Bright Red (by Bright Knight), dam of the minor stakes winner Schoolmom (by Jean Valjean).
War Feathers and her siblings are out of the William Rufus mare Tuscan Red, whose dam Fine Feathers (by Gallinule) also produced Doreid (by Galloping Simon), dam of 1934 Saratoga Special winner Boxthorn (by Blue Larkspur). The next dam in War Feathers’s tail-female line, the Sheen mare Splendid, is a half sister to Sceptre (by Persimmon), the winner of four of the five English Classic races in 1902 and still regarded as one of the greatest mares ever to grace the Turf anywhere in the world.
Last updated: September 19, 2023