Welcome back to the second round of Horse Madness 2016! We are through the play-in round, and an updated bracket is here: Horse Madness 2016
Today’s contest matches Number One seed Upset versus play-in winner Da’ Tara.
Upset v. Da’ Tara
An obvious inclusion in this bracket, Upset famously is the one horse to beat champion racehorse and stallion Man o’ War. Although not the real source of the term, Upset embodied the common meaning of his name in 1919. In the Sanford Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, Man o’ War was beat less than a length by Upset; a horse he beat in their next six meetings. Carrying 15 lbs less than Man o’ War, Upset was dismissed by the betting public. In a line-up start, Man o’ War is said to have not been facing forward for the start. With Man o’ War well off the pace, Upset took the lead and never looked back. Man o’ War passed all nearly every horse in the field, to come within a length of Upset. But it was Upset who made the wire first, in stakes record time that stood for 25 years. A classic racing Cinderella, Upset helped to establish Saratoga Race Course as the Graveyard of Favorites. Man o’ War never lost another race and is still considered one of, if not the best race horse of all time. He also went on to be named champion sire in North America, siring Triple Crown Winner War Admiral. Upset
Da’ Tara took down favorite Big Brown in the 2008 Belmont, ending Big Brown’s Triple Crown attempt. Big Brown an overwhelming favorite at 1/4, never really ran a step, and was eased through the stretch to never race again. Da’Tara stole the race on the front end at 31-1, to the joy of his backers. This was Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito’s second Belmont win. But Da’ Tara, much like the Goliath he defeated, never won another race.
Da’ Tara does seem to be overmatched here, but he has pulled off an “Upset” before. Also, Da’ Tara has the benefit of being caught on film. Here is a replay of Da’ Tara’s 2008 Belmont Stakes. In the spirit of Horse Madness, there is always a chance, thats why they run the races.
Please place your votes on Twitter by retweeting for Upset, and favoriting for Da’ Tara.
