Sanford Adds Another Chapter to Rich History Saturday

The $150,000 Sanford Stakes (G3) for 2-year-olds at six furlongs has long anchored opening weekend at Saratoga Race Course. 

It's a fitting spot on the racing calendar since the promise of freshman runners earning their oats at the Spa captures the fancy of breeders, owners, trainers, and of course, racing fans, who are always eager to start a summer romance with a promising Thoroughbred.

This season, the race will be run July 22. First carded in 1913 as the Sanford Memorial Stakes, the event was named for Stephen Sanford and his son John, one of Saratoga's original horse racing families, which had entered horses at the Spa as far back as 1880. Sanford-owned Thoroughbreds would routinely walk the 28 miles from their family farm in Amsterdam, N.Y. to the track in Saratoga.

The Sanford was still in its infancy—in only its seventh running in 1919—when the finish on the racetrack would eventually settle into the American lexicon. That's the running in which a horse named Upset, owned by Harry Payne Whitney and trained by James Rowe Sr., defeated the betting favorite Man o' War.

As the story goes, that particular result would give birth to our modern usage of the word "upset"—meaning an unexpected victory over a perceived greater power in a sporting event, or even the political arena. That said, Ben Zimmer, in a 2013 "Word on the Street" blog post for the Wall Street Journal, presented evidence that the word already had been widely used before 1919 to describe an unexpected result to a sporting event.

It's interesting to note that Man o' War, who had won his first six starts heading into the encounter, was only an 11-20 (between 1-2 and 3-5) favorite in the Sanford. It wasn't a truly remarkable "upset" from a betting standpoint, considering that later on in his career Man o' War was sent off at odds of 1-100 in a trio of races. 

Man o' War would go on to win the remaining 14 races of his career (including the Hopeful and Travers at Saratoga), capturing the hearts and imagination of the country, and thus bringing more focus onto his lone loss—that lone upset. So credit both Thoroughbreds with helping to forge that linguistic footnote, or, at the least, belief in that linguistic footnote.

The Sanford leads into a pair of other Saratoga sprints for juveniles—the $200,000 Saratoga Special (G2) at 6 1/2 furlongs on Aug. 13 and $350,000 Hopeful Stakes (G1) at seven furlongs on Sept. 4.

Only four horses have ever swept these three races for 2-year-olds: Regret (the only filly to do so) in 1914, Campfire in 1916, Dehere in 1993, and City Zip   in 2000.

"City Zip was one of the best sprinters I have ever trained. As a 2- year-old he swept the 2-year-old series at Saratoga. He had natural speed, a great mind and raw talent—a dangerous combination," said trainer Linda Rice. "He has also left his mark in the breeding shed with three (United States) champions and many stakes horses including Palace  , who I trained (and is) now standing at Spendthrift."

City Zip boasts Eclipse Award winners Dayatthespa, Finest City, and Work All Week, as well as Canadian Horse of the Year Catch a Glimpse.

Trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey John Velazquez have teamed to win the Sanford six times, with three of those victories coming with horses owned by James Scatuorchio: in 1999 with More Than Ready  , in 2006 with Scat Daddy and in 2007 with Ready's Image   (a son of More Than Ready).

Velazquez has reined a total of seven Sanford winners, more than any other rider. Pletcher has saddled six to victory in the Sanford, tied for the most as trainer with John Gaver Sr, who dominated the race during the 1950s. 

Greentree Stable has collected the Sanford owner's trophy on eight occasions (six of the eight winners were haltered by John Gaver Sr., one by his son John Gaver Jr.).

In the longevity department, trainer Woody Stephens first won the Sanford Stakes in 1954 with Brother Tex, a horse he owned himself. More than three decades later, in 1987, Stephens again posed in the Sanford winner's circle (his third trip there) beside Claiborne Farm's Forty Niner.

In 1996 Hobeau Farm's Kelly Kip flaunted his speed en route to a runaway victory in the Sanford. Approximately one month earlier the horse that Hall of Fame trainer Allen Jerkens famously called "the fastest horse I've been around," had debuted in a maiden claiming race at Belmont Park, setting the track-record at 5 1/2 furlongs.

Maria's Mon, who captured the Sanford in 1995, sired a pair of Kentucky Derby winners: Monarchos in 2001 and Super Saver   in 2010. Tom Fool annexed the 1951 edition and went on to sire 1958 Derby victor Tim Tam.

A pair of Triple Crown winners have triumphed in the Sanford: Secretariat in 1972 and Affirmed in 1977.

Secretariat stepped onto the racetrack 21 times in his brilliant career. He was the betting favorite in every one of those contests except for the 1972 Sanford. That was Big Red's first time against graded company, and the public instead gave Linda's Chief, already a multiple stakes winner, the mantle of favoritism.   

Sent off at 3-2, Secretariat would rally from fifth under Ron Turcotte and draw off to a three-length victory over runner-up Linda's Chief. Secretariat would add five more stakes wins that season to not only secure champion 2-year-old colt honors but also Horse of the Year.