Glen Riddle Farm was a large horse farm in Berlin, Maryland in the United States. Located on what today is Route 50 between Ocean City and Berlin, it was owned by a wealthy textile businessman Samuel D. Riddle who named it for his home town Glen Riddle, Pennsylvania which in turn had been named for his grandfather.
In addition to the stables and large mansion, Glen Riddle Farm had a one-mile racing oval for training thoroughbred racehorses. The farm was home to Hall of Fame racehorses Man o' War, [1] U.S. Triple Crown winner War Admiral, Crusader as well as other successful thoroughbreds such as Massachusetts Handicap winner War Relic, and American Flag, a son of Man o' War who won the 1925 Belmont Stakes and was voted Champion 3-year-old Male Horse.
As part of a program honoring important horse racing tracks and racing stables, the Pennsylvania Railroad named its baggage car #5849 the "Glen Riddle Farm".
Samuel D. Riddle raced horses until his death in 1951 after which his heirs took over the property. A fire in 1969 destroyed the mansion and the farm was soon abandoned, left in disrepair for more than thirty years until real estate developers acquired it and built a residential housing complex in 2004. [2]
In the mid-1920s, Samuel Riddle acquired Faraway Farm in Lexington, Kentucky where he would send his broodmares along with Man o' War, American Flag, and other stallions.
Glen Riddle Farm has been developed recently into a housing complex and golf club.
Glen Riddle Farm's horses won numerous important stakes races including the following prestigious U.S. Triple Crown races:
Part of the old appearance of the property (before development began) was a large field of primarily Purple Deadnettle's, with a few trees in the middle, housing a family graveyard.
War Admiral was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the fourth winner of the American Triple Crown. He was also the 1937 Horse of the Year and well known as the rival of Seabiscuit in the 'Match Race of the Century' in 1938. War Admiral won 21 of his 26 starts with earnings of $273,240 and was the leading sire in North America for 1945. He was also an outstanding broodmare sire whose influence is still felt today in descendants such as Triple Crown winners American Pharoah and Justify.
Man o' War was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who is widely regarded as the greatest racehorse of all time. Several sports publications, including The Blood-Horse, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and the Associated Press, voted Man o' War as the best American racehorse of the 20th century. During his racing career, just after World War I, Man o' War won 20 of 21 races and $249,465 in purses. He was the unofficial 1920 American horse of the year and was honored with Babe Ruth as the outstanding athlete of the year by The New York Times. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1957. On March 29, 2017, the museum opened a special exhibit in his honor, "Man o' War at 100".
Sir Barton was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the first winner of the American Triple Crown.
August Belmont Jr. was an American financier. He financed the construction of the original New York City subway (1900–1904) and for many years headed the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, which ran the transit system. He also financed and led the construction of the Cape Cod Canal in Massachusetts, which opened in 1914. Belmont bought the land for and built New York's Belmont Park racetrack—named for his father—and was a major owner/breeder of thoroughbred racehorses. He served as chairman of the board of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. He also served as a director of the Southern Pacific Co., parent of the railroad, and National Park Bank.
Samuel Doyle Riddle was an American businessman and racehorse owner. He was born in Glen Riddle, Pennsylvania, a small town southwest of Philadelphia given the family name by his father.
The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It has traditionally been the main event of the fall meeting at Belmont Park, just as the Belmont Stakes is of the spring meeting and the Travers Stakes is of the summer meeting at Saratoga. The past winners of the Gold Cup are a veritable who's who of award-winning Hall of Fame horses, including Easy Goer, Man o' War, Cigar, Skip Away, Curlin, Slew o' Gold, John Henry, Affirmed, Forego, Shuvee, Damascus, Buckpasser, Kelso, Sword Dancer, Nashua, Citation, Whirlaway and War Admiral. Despite the current $1,250,000 purse and Grade 1 status, the stature of the race has suffered somewhat in recent years thanks to the emergence of the Breeders' Cup Classic held not long afterward, as well as a change in distance to 1+1⁄4 miles in 1990, reducing its distinctiveness.
Belair Stud was an American thoroughbred horse racing stable and breeding farm founded by Provincial Governor of Maryland Samuel Ogle in 1747 in Collington, Prince George's County, Maryland, in Colonial America.
The Dwyer Stakes is an American Grade III stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbred racehorses held annually at Belmont Park racetrack in Elmont, Long Island, New York. Run in early July, it is open to three-year-old horses and is raced over a distance of 1 mile on dirt. It currently offers a purse of $500,000.
Jazil was an American Thoroughbred racehorse.
Crusader (1923–1940) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse, whose career lasted from 1925 to 1928. In that time, he ran forty-two times and won eighteen races. He was the leading American three-year-old in 1926, winning a number of important races including the Suburban Handicap, the Belmont Stakes and the Dwyer Stakes. He continued to race for a further two seasons, but his form declined after he was injured at Aqueduct Racetrack in June 1927.
Royal Orbit was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known as the winner of the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown races.
Joseph Early Widener was a wealthy American art collector who was a founding benefactor of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. A major figure in thoroughbred horse racing, he was head of New York's Belmont Park and builder of Miami's Hialeah Park racetrack in Florida.
War Relic (1938–1963) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse.
Albert M. Johnson was an American Hall of Fame jockey and trainer. Born in the rural community of Milan, Washington, Albert Johnson began his career in 1917 at Playfair Race Track in nearby Spokane.
American Flag (1922–1942) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse.
Ace Admiral was an American Thoroughbred racehorse.
Menow (1935–1964) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He won several important races in 1937, when he was voted American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse.
Louis C. Feustel was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame trainer best known as the trainer of Man o' War.
Gwyn R. Tompkins was an American Thoroughbred horse racing trainer and owner in both steeplechase and flat racing.