Breeder (B),  Owner (O)

Associated Places:  Nursery Stud, Lexington, Kentucky

Description:

August Belmont II inherited his love of the thoroughbred from his father. Their wealth came from banking, the first August Belmont having learned his trade in Frankfurt in the Rothschild Empire. His son was involved in the family bank, instrumental in establishing the subway in New York and with two colleagues built the racecourse at Belmont Park.

At the Nursery Stud in Lexington, August Belmont II bred 129 American Stakes winners, the greatest of these being Man o'War. He sold the horse as a yearling, as he went to Spain to buy mules for the American army which he had joined. August Belmont bought his horses to race in England due to the anti-betting laws in America, having them under the care of John Watson, trainer for the Rothschilds, whose interests Belmont had represented in New York.