Upset, with Willie Knapp up, wins the 1919 Sanford Memorial Stakes at Saratoga with Man o’ War and Johnny Loftus closing fast to finish second; it turned out to be the only time Man o’ War lost a race.
Keeneland Library/Cook Collection
easily, and as his wins began to add up, so did his following. Dedicated horse racing fans and casual fans alike began coming to the track to watch him run. But then the unthinkable happened. On August 13, 1919, in the Sanford Memorial at Saratoga, Man o’ War lost for the first time—to Upset, the horse he had just beaten in his previous race. According to news reports, Man o’ War got a bad start in the race because he was turned the wrong way at the start, but Edward L. Bowen, former BloodHorse editor and current Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation president, believes people might have the wrong impression about that start. “It’s often written as if he was turned exactly the wrong way,” Bowen said. “But if you look at the chart, he was within four lengths after a quarter-mile. So, I think when they said ‘the wrong way,’ I’ve always assumed they meant sideways, not really facing the other way.” Either way, Man o’ War made up ground quickly and was soon within striking distance, but he was boxed in along the rail. “People didn’t believe it at the time [that he lost]. He was giving the horse [Upset] 15 pounds,” Ellis said, explaining that Upset’s rider, Willie Knapp, intentionally kept Man o’ War trapped on the inside while leader Golden Broom was stopping. Knapp, with Upset on the outside, could have gone by the fading frontrunner at any time. 32 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • FALL 2017
Knapp, according to Ellis, waited until Johnny Loftus, who was aboard Man o’ War, realized that he wouldn’t be able to get through and instead would have to take back and go around Golden Broom. At that point, Knapp gunned Upset to the front. The strategy cost Man o’ War a couple of lengths, but once in the clear, he came running to end up second by a halflength. Golden Broom finished three lengths back in third. That’s the way riders raced, and Knapp was happy with the win. However, as Ellis recounted, later in his life Knapp looked back on the race and said he had thought about it a lot. If he had known what Man o’ War was to become, he would have let him out. Knapp believed not only that Man o’ War was the better horse that day but on any other day, as well. Man o’ War and Upset would meet three more times during their careers, with Upset the runner-up each time. While Man o’ War’s connections were disappointed with the Sanford loss, they felt it was a fluke, and they were correct. Man o’ War bounced back and won the Grand Union Hotel Stakes (with Upset second) and Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga and the Futurity Stakes at Belmont to close out his 2-year-old campaign. All told that year, he won nine of 10 races, finished second once and earned $83,325. For his efforts, he was named champion 2-year-old male.