William J. Knapp (August 21, 1888 – October 26, 1972) was an American thoroughbred

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

. He was known for racing horses such as Exterminator and Sun Briar. He became the jockey for Exterminator in the

1918 Kentucky Derby The 1918 Kentucky Derby was the 44th running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place May 11, 1918. Exterminator went off at odds of 30–1 to the heavily favored War Cloud. Exterminator raced at the back until the field turned for home, when ...

. 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. Knapp is also well remembered as the jockey aboard the aptly named Upset on August 13, 1919, when he handed the legendary Man o' War his only defeat in the Sanford Memorial Stakes. Among his many success as a jockey, during a period of less than a month in 1907 Knapp guided Charles Edward to three 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 one of the most amazing displays of high-class speed ever witnessed." On September 27, 1914, Knapp married Elizabeth Blute, the daughter of trainer

James Blute James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

who was the 1907 United States Co-Champion Thoroughbred Trainer by wins tying with

James G. Rowe Sr. James Gordon Rowe Sr. (1857 – August 2, 1929) was an American jockey and horse trainer elected to the Hall of Fame for Thoroughbred Horse racing. He won the Belmont Stakes twice as a jockey and 8 times as a trainer. He had 34 champion hors ...

and Frank Hanlon. Willie Knapp died at age 84 on October 26, 1972, at the Long Island Jewish Hospital in New Hyde Park, New York.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knapp, Willie 1888 births 1972 deaths American jockeys American Champion jockeys United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Chicago