The Race He Lost

The Race He Lost. . People are still surprised to hear that Man o' War actually lost a race – to a colt appropriately named Upset. It happened on August 13, 1919, in the Sanford Memorial Stakes. But this was not a case of Big Red having finally met his match on the track. It fact, Man o' War beat Upset on six other occasions in his racing carper. The reason for the one loss – though still argued about – can laid partly to circumstances and partly to the shrewd riding tactics of Upset's jockey, Willie Knapp. In the following account (reported by Horace Wade), Knapp tells how he won., “There was nothin' wrong with Man o' War's race 'cept that I wouldn't let Johnny Loftus through on the rail. There were seven horses in the Sanford, with Man o' War held at 11 to 20 odds, but when the field bounced away, it was Golden Broom setting the pace with Upset on the outside just a neck away. Man o' War didn't make his bid 'til we hit the turn, and then he churned up along the rail 'til his head bobbed into the corner of my eye. There he was tossin' those 28-foot strides of his an' tryin' to squeeze through on the inside of Golden Broom and Upset., “If I'd given so much as an inch, the race would've been as good as over, but jockeys don't ride that way. I could have breezed past Golden Broom any time I took my feet out of the dashboard, but that would also have left Man o' War out of his mousetrap, and he'd have whooshod us in half a dozen strides., “When Johnny Loftus, ridin' Man o' War, saw we weren't goin' to open up, there was only one thing left for hum to do. He pulled up sharply and ducked to the outside. That's what I'd been waiting for. That same moment I gunned Upset with my bat and galloped to the top in a pair of jumps. Mab o' War then had to come out around the two of us, and it cost him all o' two lengths. From there to the finish he was chargin' again like a jet plane but Upset had just enough left to push his head down in front., “Sure I won the race all right – it was the greatest thrill of my life – but lookin' back at it now there's sure one horse which shoulda retired undefeated. Never was a colt like him: He could do anything and do it better than any horse that ever lived. If I'd moved over just an eyelash they day at Saratoga, he'd have beat me from here to Jaloppy. Sometimes I'm sorry I didn't do it.”