Crusader was a chestnut Thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 colt

Colt (horse)

A colt is a young male horse, under the age of four. The term "colt" is often confused with foal, which refers to a horse of either sex under one year of age....

  sired by Man o' War

Man O' War

Man O' War, man o' war or manowar may refer to:* Man-of-war, a warship* Man of war for uses with this spelling - Places :...

 from the mare Star Fancy. Bred by Samuel D. Riddle

Samuel D. Riddle

Samuel Doyle Riddle . He was born in Glen Riddle, Pennsylvania, a small town southwest of Philadelphia given the family name in honor of his grandfather....

, he was raced by his Glen Riddle Farm

Glen Riddle Farm

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...

 and was ridden by Earl Sande

Earl Sande

Earl H. Sande was an American Hall of Fame jockey and thoroughbred horse trainer.Born in Groton, South Dakota, Earl Sande started out as a bronco buster in the early 1900s but then became a successful American quarter horse rider before switching to thoroughbred horse racing in 1918...

 and Albert Johnson

Albert Johnson (jockey)

Albert Johnson was an American Hall of Fame jockey. Born in the rural community of Milan, Washington, Albert Johnson began his career in 1917 at Playfair Race Track in nearby Spokane...

.

As a two-year-old in 1925, Crusader won the Potomac Purse at Belmont Park

Belmont Park

Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse-racing facility located in Elmont in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island adjoining New York City. It first opened on May 4, 1905...

, but his most important win of the year came in the Manor Handicap at Laurel Park Racecourse. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0D15F93F5D13738DDDAC0A94D8415B858EF1D3 For 1926, his wins included the Belmont Stakes

Belmont Stakes

The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...

, Suburban Handicap

Suburban Handicap

The Suburban Handicap is an American Grade II Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it is run at the classic one-and-one-quarter mile distance on dirt for a $400,000 purse....

, and Jockey Club Gold Cup

Jockey Club Gold Cup

The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a prestigious thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It is typically 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...

 en route to being unofficially named Champion 3-year-old Male Horse and Horse of the Year after winning a number of important races.

Crusader was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...

in 1995.