Man O'War: can we win this race?

Man O'War at home on Glen Riddle Farm

Centex and Ruark Homes are preparing to demolish Worcester County Maryland's great historic legacy: Glen Riddle Farm.

Seabiscuit, a book written by Laura Hillenbrand and made into a highly regarded major motion picture released this summer, revealed to millions of people the importance of Glen Riddle Farm to American horseracing and even to American history. And yet Centex/Ruark will not preserve the farm. They would rather build TWO golfcourses on the site with one of the courses going atop the current site of the farm. Do you think it's asking too much save the farm and only build one golfcourse?

Laura Hillenbrand released a national press statement deploring the destruction:

"Riddle Farm is one of Maryland's preeminent historic sites. It was the training ground of two of the most legendary figures in American sports history: Man o' War, perhaps the greatest racehorse who ever lived, and his son War Admiral, who met the mighty Seabiscuit in a match race that remains arguably the most celebrated sports event in Maryland's history. I think it would be a monumental loss to bulldoze one of the most sacred places in sport to add yet another golf course to a region teeming with golf courses. I believe that a compromise can be found that permits the landowner to develop its property without destroying a beautiful and vital part of the state's history."

Laura Hillenbrand, author of Seabiscuit: An American Legend

Please send your comments supporting saving Riddle Farm to the email addresses below. Time is short, as the developer plans to raze the farm within the next 30-60 days.

Here is how to contact the local papers and the developers to register your complaint about this destruction:

Editor of The Dispatch in Ocean City, MD
Editor of Ocean City Today
Letters to the Editor for DelmarvaNow.com
Contact form for Centex the developer of the site
Email Ruark Homes

More about historic Glen Riddle Farm:

• Article about the farm from Ocean City Live-Saving Station Museum
• History of Glenn Riddle - nice article with photos ironically from the place that wants to destroy it, Centex Homes.
• Article about the new development from DelmarvaNow.com
• Famous Race Horses includes links to info about Man O'War, War Admiral, and many others.

Spearheading the campaign to save the historic farm is Robert Carr of Willards, Maryland. Those interested in learning more about this can email him here.

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