{{Short description|American jockey}} {{Infobox horseracing personality |name = Willie Knapp |image = |caption = |occupation = [[Jockey]]/[[Horse trainer|Trainer]] |birth_place = [[Chicago, Illinois]], United States |birth_date = August 21, 1888 |death_date = October 26, 1972 (aged 84) | death_place = [[New Hyde Park, New York]], United States | resting_place = |career wins = 649 |race = '''Jockey wins:'''[[Municipal Handicap]] (1905, 1906, 1907)<br>[[Ocean Handicap]] (1905)<br>[[Reapers Stakes]] (1905)<br>[[Delaware Handicap (Saratoga)|Delaware Handicap]] (1905, 1918)<br>[[Advance Stakes]] (1906)<br>[[Astoria Stakes]] (1906, 1919)<br>[[Brighton Derby]] (1907)<br>[[Brighton Mile]] (1907)<br>[[Flight Stakes (United States)|Flight Stakes]] (1907)<br>[[Matron Stakes (Belmont Park)|Matron Stakes]] (1907)<br>Santa Anita Handicap (Ascot Park) (1907)<br>[[Seagate Stakes]] (1907)<br>[[Spinaway Stakes]] (1907)<br>[[Twin City Handicap]] (1907<br>[[Connaught Cup Stakes]] (1913)<br>[[Brooklyn Invitational Stakes|Brooklyn Handicap]] (1917)<br>[[Empire City Handicap]] (1917)<br>[[Great American Stakes]] (1917, 1919)<br>[[Saratoga Special Stakes]] (1917)<br>[[Keene Memorial Stakes]] (1918)<br>[[Manhattan Handicap]] (1918)<br>[[Travers Stakes]] (1918)<br>[[Champlain Handicap]] (1919)<br>[[Demoiselle Stakes]] (1919)<br>[[Dwyer Stakes]] (1919)<br>[[Empire City Derby]] (1919)<br>[[Huron Handicap]] (1919)<br>[[Lawrence Realization Stakes]] (1919)<br>[[Sanford Stakes|Sanford Memorial Stakes]] (1919)<br>[[Saratoga Special Stakes]] (1919)<p> '''[[American Classic Races|American Classic Race]] wins:'''<br>[[Kentucky Derby]] (1918)</p><p> '''Trainer wins:'''<br>[[Merchants and Citizens Handicap]]<br>(1921, 1926)<br>[[Saratoga Cup]] (1921)<br>[[Flamingo Stakes|Florida Derby]] (1929)<br>[[Arlington-Washington Lassie Stakes|Arlington Lassie Stakes]] (1930)<br>[[Havre de Grace Handicap|Havre de Grace Cup Handicap]] (1931)<br>[[Queens County Handicap]] (1949, 1950)<br>[[Monmouth Handicap]] (1949)<br>[[Royal Palm Handicap]] (1949, 1950, 1951)<br>[[Westchester Handicap]] (1949)<br>[[All American Handicap]] (1950)<br>[[Edgemere Handicap]] (1950)<br>[[McLennan Handicap]] (1950)</p> |awards = |honors = [[National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame|United States' Racing Hall of Fame]] (1969) |horses = [[Charles Edward (horse)|Charles Edward]], [[Exterminator (horse)|Exterminator]], [[Purchase (horse)|Purchase]],<br> [[Sun Briar]], [[Three Rings (horse)|Three Rings]], [[Upset (horse)|Upset]] |updated = May 11, 2011}}
'''William J. Knapp''' (August 21, 1888 – October 26, 1972) was an American [[thoroughbred]] [[horse racing]] [[National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame|Hall of Fame]] [[jockey]].<ref>[https://www.racingmuseum.org/hall-of-fame/william-j-knapp National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame]</ref> He was known for racing horses such as Exterminator and Sun Briar. He became the jockey for Exterminator in the [[1918 Kentucky Derby]]. He was expecting to race Sun Briar, an extremely fast colt, but Sun Briar became ill and he had no choice but to race Exterminator, Sun Briar's training horse. However, Exterminator won the Derby and Knapp became his lifelong jockey.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/10/27/archives/willie-knapp-84-once-star-jockey-rider-of-upset-only-horse-to-beat.html |title=Willie Knapp, 84; Once Star Jockey |publisher=New York Times, page 44 |date=1972-10-27|access-date=2020-03-21}}</ref>
Knapp is also well remembered as the jockey aboard the aptly named [[Upset (horse)|Upset]] on August 13, 1919, when he handed the legendary [[Man o' War]] his only defeat in the [[Sanford Stakes|Sanford Memorial Stakes]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/4655887572 |title=Saratoga's Upset of the Century |publisher=America's Best Racing (TJC Media Ventures) |date= 2016-07-27 |access-date=2018-10-20}}</ref>
Among his many success as a jockey, during a period of less than a month in 1907 Knapp guided [[Charles Edward (horse)|Charles Edward]] to three [[Glossary of North American horse racing#track record/course record|track records]] including a [[World record]]. In a 1910 history of the feat, the ''[[Daily Racing Form]]'' wrote that Charles Edward "gave in the [[Seagate Stakes|Seagate]] one of the most amazing displays of high-class speed ever witnessed."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1910071301/drf1910071301_1_7 |title=Condensed History of the Seagate Stakes |publisher=Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives |date=1910-07-13 |access-date=2020-06-18}}</ref>
On September 27, 1914, Knapp married Elizabeth Blute, the daughter of trainer [[James Blute]] who was the 1907 [[United States Champion Thoroughbred Trainer by wins|United States Co-Champion Thoroughbred Trainer by wins]] tying with [[James G. Rowe Sr.]] and [[Frank Hanlon]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1914100101/drf1914100101_2_7 |title=Notes of the Turf |publisher=Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives |date=1914-10-01 |access-date=2019-05-10}}</ref>
Willie Knapp died at age 84 on October 26, 1972, at the [[Long Island Jewish Medical Center|Long Island Jewish Hospital]] in [[New Hyde Park, New York]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/465588757/ |title=Willie Knapp 84, Ex-Jockey Dies |publisher=[[New York Daily News]] page 53 |date= 1972-10-27 |access-date=2018-10-20}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knapp, Willie}} [[Category:1888 births]] [[Category:1972 deaths]] [[Category:American Champion jockeys]] [[Category:United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees]] [[Category:Jockeys from Chicago]] [[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]