Immediately after the St Leger, Papyrus was sent to the United States for his previously arranged match race with Zev. He was shipped by ocean vessel with his own special feed mix, his stablemate Bargold, his stable cat, two stable boys, his trainer, and his jockey, Steve Donoghue. Despite these special arrangements many British commentators felt that the race was futile, with the effects of the sea-voyage and the change in environment making Papyrus's task almost impossible. Racing on a dirt track for the first time and in heavy mud at Belmont Park, Papyrus lost by five lengths in front of a crowd of 70,000. He wore ordinary smooth racing plates, whereas his rival was equipped with specially adapted "mud caulks" to cope with the sloppy conditions. Terms of the match were to allow Zev to come upsides the Derby champion. Donoghue did, but Zev soon kicked on and Papyrus was unable to make any impression in the closing stages. Although stating that Papyrus had failed to cope with the conditions, Jarvis acknowledged that he had been fairly beaten by a better horse.