By FRED VAN NESS
August 13, 1919
SARATOGA, N.Y.-The Glen RiddleFarm's great two-year-old, Man o'War, met with his first defeat here today inthe running of the Sanford Memorial. Hewas forced to bow to Harry PayneWhitney's Upset in a neck-and-neck finishin this six-furlong dash. Though defeated,Man o' War was not discredited. On thecontrary, the manner in which he ran thisrace stamped him, in the opinion of horsem*n,as the best of his division withoutquestion. Though failing to get his nose infront, he stood out as the best horse in therace by a large margin, for he had all theworst of the racing luck.Beginning with a very bad start, hecame on to give battle to a horse whichhad a start of three to four lengths on him.There was scarcely a witnessof this race who did notbelieve after it was all overthat Man o' War would havewalked home, with anythinglike a fair chance. For thosewho had hoped for a prettyrace without anything to marit, it was unfortunate that theacting starter, C.H. Pettingill,one of the placing judges,spent several minutes tryingto get the horses lined upand then sent them awaywith only those near the railready for the start. The startwas responsible for thedefeat of Man o' War, itturned out.
Off almost last, Man o'War gained his speed in afew strides and then startedto pass horses all along theback stretch. Steadily Man o'War drew up on Upset. Onthe last part of the turn into the stretch,Man o' War took third position, about twolengths back of Upset. A few strides downthe stretch Golden Broom suddenly gaveup, and Upset ran past him. In anotherinstant Man o' War had dashed by hischestnut rival and it became a questionwhether Upset could last to win. SteadilyMan o' War drew up on Upset. A hundredfeet from the wire he was three-fourths ofa length away. At the wire he was a scantneck out of the first position and in anothertwenty feet he would have passed theWhitney horse.
What made the race of Man o' War soimpressive was the fact that he came fromso far behind and that also he concededfifteen pounds to Upset. On the very performanceof the two today the Whitneyhorse would not appear to have a chanceto win under an even break. The SanfordMemorial, for which John Sanford donateda cup on this occasion because of thepresence of Man o' War and the widelyheralded Golden Broom, who finishedthird, was by far the most interestingevent that has been held during theSaratoga meeting. One of the largestcrowds of the meeting, about 20,000 persons,saw the running of the race.
Man o' War, who beat Upset in theirsix previous meetings, never lost anotherrace. He was retired to stud in 1920and foaled 64 stakes winners, includingthe 1937 Triple Crown winner, WarAdmiral.
Associated Press
The appropriately named Upset (4), ridden by Willie Knapp, holds off Man o' War, with Johnny Loftus up, to win the Sanford Memorialin Saratoga, N.Y. It was the only defeat in 21 races for Man o' War, who quickly became a legend.
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