During his career Man o' War lost only one race , the August 13, 1919 , Stanford Memorial at Saratoga. Man o' War was healily favored to win, but lost to Upset. The story goes is where the sports term upset comes from. Man o' War faced Upset five more times and won evey one, but the one he lost early in his career is the one to make lexicographic history.
This legend could not be disproved, though many tried, until researcher George Thompson traces the sporting use of the verb to upset to September 13, 1865 in the New York Times. The use of upset as a noun appeared in the New York Times on July 17, 1877. Thompson found many uses of the term in late-nineteenth century sports writting proving that the word upset was a well-established sporting term by the time Man o' War lost the infamous race.
