WAR STORIES

Man o’ War is still the benchmark for horses wherever and whenever they run, but 80 years ago today “Big Red,” as his trainer called him, wasn’t good enough.

In an upset that became the first building block for the christening of Saratoga Race Course as “the graveyard of favorites,” Man o’ War suffered his only defeat when he finished second, beaten by an official half-length, in the Sanford Memorial Stakes on Aug. 13, 1919.

The name of the horse that beat him?

Upset.

Except for the Sanford and a second-place finish in the 1920 Kentucky Derby, Upset grabbed few headlines. Overall, Man o’ War, who didn’t run in the Derby, beat Upset in six of seven meetings. But like David with the slingshot, Upset needed only that one stunner at Saratoga to become an indelible part of racing lore.

Willie Knapp, the jockey who rode Upset, conceded after the six-furlong Sanford that the previously undefeated Man o’ War was still the best horse. He also exonerated Johnny Loftus, Man o’ War’s jockey, who was trapped along the fence for much of the race.

“He rode a good race,” Knapp said of Loftus. “When you consider the poor start and the way [Eddie Ambrose, riding Golden Broom] and me wouldn’t let him through down the stretch, Loftus couldn’t be blamed. He was a very good boy--one of the best.”

In fact, Knapp and Loftus are members of the Racing Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Loftus was enshrined in 1959 and Knapp in 1969. Their riding careers ended prematurely, however, when they drew unexplained indefinite suspensions early in 1920, the year after the upset by Upset. Racing authorities left an everlasting cloud over the outcome of the Sanford by not explaining the suspensions, despite conjecture that the race at Saratoga might have been related to the bans.

In “The First Century,” published in 1996, longtime racing writer Joe Hirsch wrote: “Traditionally, no reason was given [for the suspensions], but the rulings fueled speculation that there might have been more to Man o’ War’s only defeat than was public knowledge. Loftus and Knapp turned to training soon after they were ruled off, and they were granted [training] licenses.”

Samuel D. Riddle, who had bought Man o’ War at a yearling auction for $5,000, and his Beau Brummel of a trainer, Louis Feustel, supported Loftus by retaining him as their jockey for the rest of 1919. Ten days after Man o’ War’s only loss, Loftus rode the big reddish chestnut to a one-length victory over Upset in Saratoga’s Grand Union Hotel Stakes. Man o’ War carried 130 pounds--130 pounds for a 2-year-old, mind you--to Upset’s 115 pounds in the Sanford, and the spread was only 130-125 for the Grand Union.

After the Sanford Stakes, Man o’ War won 14 more races in 1919-20, finishing with 20 victories in 21 starts. He carried 130 pounds or more nine times, with a high of 138 pounds, and he won so many of his races by such wide margins in record times that polls of racing experts over the years have inevitably ranked him as the best ever.

Just as inevitable has been the historical second-guessing over the result of the 1919 Sanford Stakes. As time goes by, the blame for Man o’ War’s monumental loss has shifted to everyone but the horse.

There was the jockey, Loftus, who knew after six devastating victories that he had a brilliant horse. Why did he play it so cozy along the rail, risking entrapment in a seven-horse field, when he knew that Man o’ War would have been best even with a wide trip?

There was also the conspiracy theory, oft-suggested but never addressed by the principals.

And then there was the official starter at Saratoga, Charles H. Pettingill, who might have been ill-equipped to work such an important race.

Pettingill, in his 70s, was a placing judge at the track, pressed into duty for the races on Aug. 13 because the legendary Mars Cassidy was ill. Pettingill, whose eyesight was said to be poor, had been a regular starter earlier in his career, and he must have been a stickler for perfection. Before one race, the American Derby in Chicago, he ordered 40 restarts before all the horses were finally sent on their way. The field was assembled at the starting barrier for 90 minutes before there was a race.

Charts of the races on Sanford that day show that only two of the seven races had good starts.

The Sanford was not one of them. Many years before the introduction of the mechanical starting gate, races in 1919 were run from a walk-up start, the horses breaking from a webbed tape dropped by the starter. If a horse broke through the webbing prematurely, the jockey was required to pull him up, and the starter would order a restart.

Man o’ War was a nervous horse before races, and in the Sanford, with a crowd of 20,000 on hand, he stirred up Golden Broom, the second betting choice, who was standing inside him. Golden Broom broke through the webbing several times, requiring restarts.

When the field finally broke, only the horses on the inside left sharply, and Man o’ War, who started second from the outside, was three lengths behind before he settled in. Ambrose, riding Golden Broom, had won the Withers the week before with an early turn of foot and he thought they could beat Man o’ War the same way.

With Golden Bloom, Upset and Donnacona running up front, Loftus moved Man o’ War over to the rail, figuring an opening would eventually develop. When Golden Bloom did tire, in midstretch, he backed up into Loftus’ face, and with Upset and Donnacona just outside Man o’ War, Loftus had no place to go for several strides.

Finally, he was able to wheel Man o’ War to the outside. With 30 yards to go, the race was between Upset and Man o’ War, with Upset three-quarters of a length ahead.

Man o’ War reached Upset’s shoulder, with Knapp’s horse trying to hold on. Both jockeys were whipping furiously.

At the wire, the margin could have been called a long neck instead of half a length. Twenty feet past the wire, Man o’ War was ahead. Upset’s time was 1:11 1/5. Man o’ War finished three lengths ahead of Golden Broom, who was third.

The loss, however, did not dim Man o’ War’s luster.

“The good horses come and go,” said Hall of Fame jockey Earl Sande, who rode Man o’ War once. “Man o’ War was in a class by himself. There was only one of those.”

In 1920, Man o’ War skipped the Derby, making his first start as a 3-year-old by winning the Preakness in May. He also won the Belmont Stakes--against one rival--the other race in what would become the Triple Crown.

What turned out to be his last start, at Kenilworth Park near Toronto, was a match-race win over Sir Barton, who had swept the Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont in 1919. (The term Triple Crown wasn’t coined until 1930).

In the fall of 1920, Riddle, Man o’ War’s owner, ran into the handicapper Walter Vosburgh.

“What weight will my horse get next year?” Riddle asked.

“The highest I’ve ever assigned,” Vosburgh said.

There was no next year. Riddle, not wanting to risk a breakdown, retired Man o’ War to stud. He died Nov. 1, 1947, at 30.

About 2,000 attended his funeral, which was nationally broadcast on radio, and his remains rest alongside a life-sized bronze at the Kentucky Horse Park near Lexington.

Not long after his retirement from racing, Man o’ War was seen running in his paddock at the farm, probably not realizing that there were no more races ahead.

“Buck,” a woman in the front office said to John Buckner, the old stud groom. “Don’t you see him running and ripping out there? Stop him before he gets hurt.”

“Why, ma’am,” Buckner said, “if all the good horses in New York couldn’t catch him, how do you expect me to stop Man o’ War?”

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Man o’ War Race by Race

Man o’ War had 21 starts, 20 first-place finishes, and a second, winning $249,465:

1919 *--*

Date Track Race Pl Mar Fld June 6 Belmont Maiden 1 6 7 June 19 Belmont Keene Memorial 1 3 6 June 21 Jamaica Youthful 1 2 1/2 4 June 23 Aqueduct Hudson 1 1 1/2 5 July 5 Aqueduct Tremont 1 1 3 Aug. 2 Saratoga U.S. Hotel 1 2 10 Aug. 13 Saratoga Sanford 2 1/2 7 Aug. 23 Saratoga Grand Union 1 1 10 Aug. 30 Saratoga Hopeful 1 4 8 Sept. 13 Belmont Futurity 1 2 1/2 10 1920 March 18 Pimlico Preakness 1 1 1/2 9 March 29 Belmont Withers 1 2 3 June 12 Belmont Belmont 1 20 2 June 22 Jamaica Stuyvesant 1 8 2 July 10 Aqueduct Dwyer 1 1 1/2 2 Aug. 7 Saratoga Miller 1 6 3 Aug. 21 Saratoga Travers 1 2 1/2 3 Sept. 4 Belmont Lawrence Realization 1 100 2 Sept. 11 Belmont Jockey Club 1 15 2 Sept. 18 Havre de Grace Potomac 1 1 1/2 4 Oct. 12 Kenilworth Match race 1 7 2

*--*

KEY: Pl-Place; Mar--margin of victory (In lengths; winning or losing margin); Fld--Size of field.