How tall was War Admiral? really was he 15.2 like seabiscuit or was he really like 18 hands?

Question

Race horses like Seabiscuit and War Admiral how tall where they?

Answer 1

War Admiral was really only 15.3. The 18 hands nonsense came about with the movie wanting to dramatize the Match Race. War Admiral's dam was a very petite mare - so small that Sam Riddle didn't want to breed her to the 16.3 Man O' War. http://www.thoroughbredchampions.com/biographies/admiral.htm is a great biography of War Admiral if you are interested.

Answer 2

Seabiscuit Height

Answer 3

Seabiscuit was 5 and War Admiral was 4 when they raced.

Answer 4

War AKA Rear Admiral was a bigger horse than Seabiscuit. How big were they both. I don't know, but Seabiscuit was supposedly small for a race horse.

Answer 5

War Admiral was at least 18 hands. Seabiscuit was a small framed horse.

Answer 6

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As others have said, Seabiscuit was 5 and War Admiral was 4 when the match race took place. If you look at the results of match races, one thing is immediately apparent: in 9 races out of 10, the horse that is in front after the first sixteenth of a mile is the winner at the end. "Silent Tom" Smith, who was no fool, and who had experience working with sprinters in "bush" match races, worked hard on sharpening Seabiscuit's speed at the start. War Admiral, in his three races coming up to the match race, won the Whitney Stakes at 1-1/4 miles, the Saratoga Cup at 1-3/4 miles, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup at 2 miles. (He won all those races, BTW, which would be pretty good for a horse that was "out of his prime.") The match race was at 1-3/16 miles. War Admiral was dropping down 6-1/2 furlongs from his last race. While 1-3/16 miles is not exactly a sprint, you can bet your bippy that War Admiral hadn't been sharpening his speed by running in route distances. It's an axiom in handicapping that horses coming off longer races are at a disadvantage when they shorten up significantly. I think shortening up 6-1/2 furlong from his last race was a pretty significant change for War Admiral. FWIW, War Admiral seems to have been a horse whose strongest races were run at distances of 1-1/4 miles and beyond, although he was very far from the one-paced "plodder" type of horse that most people associate with stayers. Seabiscuit, on the other hand, seems to have been at his absolute best at around 1-1/8 miles. He never won a race longer than 1-1/4 miles. Match races are mostly about speed, speed, speed at the start, which is why they are not a good yardstick with which to judge horses. Tom Smith sharpened Seabiscuit's speed in preparation for the match, while War Admiral pursued a path that effectively dulled his speed. I believe that was the major difference in the match. War Admiral was a son of Man O' War and Seabiscuit was a son of Hard Tack, a son of Man O' War who stood at stud at Claiborne farm. War Admiral went on to become a leading sire after his retirement, and as a broodmare sire became an influence in modern pedigrees. He's found in the pedigrees of many quality horses today. Seabiscuit went to stud here in California, at a time when the Thoroughbred broodmare population in California was small and the mares out here might charitably be described as "mediocre." Seabiscuit's daughter Sea Anemone foaled the stakes winner Windy Sea, who was a popular regional sire in California, Oregon and Washington. You still occasionally find a Cal-bred with Windy Sea, and through him, Seabiscuit in the pedigree, but it's rare. Kentucky Derby winner Determine's dam Koubis was out of Seabiscuit's half-sister, Brown Biscuit. The great two-time Arc de Triomphe winner Alleged has Determine on his dam's side, and that's virtually the only way you find any relation to Seabiscuit in the pedigrees of modern horses.

Answer 7

War Admiral was a big horse and Seabiscuit was small.

I can't tell you exactly how many hands high they were.

Answer 8

At 15.2 hands Seabiscut was small for a race horse.
Most are around 16 to 16.2 or 16.3 hands.
Some are 17 to 17.3 hands and those would be large horses.
Average is about 16.1 or so.

Answer 9

18 hands

Answer 10

32 hands