The 1919 Sanford Memorial Stakes in which Upset “upset” Man o’ War. In the photo, Upset, the right-most horse, ridden by jockey Willie Knapp, is in the lead, followed closely behind by Man o’ War, ridden by Johnny Loftus. Golden Broom, Eddie Ambrose up, trails in third.
9 August 2021
In sports, an upset is a race or match in which the favorite is defeated by an underdog, and the verb to upset is often used when an underdog defeats the favorite. The verb dates to at least 1857, when it appears in the context of horseracing in the turf and sports journal Spirit of the Times on 5 September 1857:
At the York August meeting, there were only four runners for the Chesterfield Handicap of 208 sovs., one mile, and the favorite, Ellermire, 5 yrs., 7st. 121b., was upset by the Dipthong colt, 3 yrs. 6st. 2lb.
The noun dates to a couple of decades later, when it appears in the pages of the New York Herald on 29 May 1877, again in the context of horseracing:
Again, on the only occasion he has had to show his quality this year he wins with so much in hand that his jockey could trust him within a length of his nearest follower, Brown Prince. A quarter of a mile from home every horse was under the whip except Chamant, and he was being held in; so it will indeed be a marvellous [sic] upset if any of the Two Thousand runners finish in front of him at Epsom.
And a few months later, this appeared in the New York Times on 17 July 1877:
The programme for to-day at Monmouth Park indicates a victory for the favorite in each of the four events, but racing is so uncertain that there may be a startling upset.
From this horseracing use, upset spread to other sports.
There’s a false etymology for this use of upset that involves the defeat of a racehorse that many consider to be the greatest of all time: Man o’ War. During his career, Man o’ War lost only one race, the 13 August 1919 Sanford Memorial Stakes at Saratoga, New York. Man o’ War was heavily favored to win but lost to a horse named Upset. This, so the legend goes, is where the sports term upset comes from. Man o’ War would face Upset in five other races, winning every one, but this one loss early in his career, according to the tale, would be the one to make lexicographic history.
The basic facts about the race are true; Upset did defeat Man o’ War, but as we have seen from the earlier uses of the word, this is not the origin of the sporting term upset. For years, while many suspected the story to be too good to be true, it was accepted as fact. But those suspicions were borne out in 2002 when researcher George Thompson discovered the above New York Times citation. The horse’s name is what we call an aptronym, a coincidentally apt moniker—to give another example of an aptronym, when I was an undergraduate, the head of the Religion department at my school was Professor Pope. Upset beating Man o’ War is a neat coincidence, but not the origin of upset’s use in sports writing.
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Sources:
“The Derby Day. Chamant Said to Have Gone Amiss.” New York Herald, 29 May 1877, 4. Readex: America’s Historical Newspapers.
“The Long Branch Races.” New York Times, 17 July 1877, 8. ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
“Our Horses in England.” Spirit of the Times, 5 September 1857, 355. ProQuest Magazines.
Thompson, George. “‘Upset’ in Horseracing.” ADS-L, 13 November 2002.
Zimmer, Ben. “Debunking the Legend of ‘Upset.’” Word Routes (blog), 12 July 2013.
Zimmer, Ben. “‘Upset’ and Its Old Hoof-Prints.” Wall Street Journal, 5 July 2013, C4. ProQuest Newspapers.
Zimmer, Ben. “‘Upset’ Redux.” ADS-L, 6 July 2013.
Photo Credit: Charles Christian Cook, 1919. Public Domain Image.