Gallant Man was one of the leaders of the outstanding crop of 3-year-olds of 1957 along with Bold Ruler, Round Table and Iron Liege. Bred in England by His Highness The Aga Khan III and Prince Aly Khan, Gallant Man was named for a horse in a Don Ameche movie.
Owned by Ralph Lowe and trained by John Nerud, Gallant Man won three of seven starts as a 2-year-old in 1956 before blossoming during his sophomore campaign. After losing the 1957 Kentucky Derby when jockey Bill Shoemaker infamously misjudged the finish line, Gallant Man came back to win the Belmont Stakes by eight lengths over favored Bold Ruler. Gallant Man set an American record of 2:26⅗ for 1½ miles in the Belmont. The Belmont record stood until Secretariat bested that mark 16 years later.
As a 3-year-old, Gallant Man also won the Travers Stakes, Peter Pan Stakes, Jockey Club Gold Cup, Nassau County Handicap and Hibiscus Stakes. He set a 1⅛-mile track record at Saratoga in the Travers and posted an overall mark of 8-4-0 from 14 starts and earnings of $298,280 as a 3-year-old.
Returning as a 4-year-old in 1958, Gallant Man added victories in the Hollywood Gold Cup, Sunset Handicap and Metropolitan Mile. Gallant Man was retired with a career record of 14-4-1 from 26 starts and earnings of $510,355. He won at distances from six furlongs to two miles.
Gallant Man had an influential stallion career at Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky. He sired 52 stakes winners and was the broodmare sire of Gallant Bloom and Genuine Risk. Gallant Man was pensioned from stallion duty in 1981 and died at the age of 34 in 1988.