Rating: Summary: I haven't read the book, but.. Review: "Noor beat Citation 4 times yet winds up near 70th. This makes sense?"That sentence is annoying the heck outta me. This is a passage taken from a Citation book review. "One of Calumet Farm's many sons of Bull Lea, Citation lost only twice in 29 starts in his first two seasons. After his stunning three-year-old season of 1948, Citation had a tougher time-he was injured; he lost some heart-breakers." BR>"But an osselet on his left front ankle and tendon injuries kept him out of racing in 1949. On January 11, 1950, Citation won in his first race in exactly 13 months, taking an allowance race by 1-1/2 lengths to extend his winning streak to a record 16 races. The five-year-old made eight more starts in 1950, winning once and finishing second the other seven times. The losses included four to the talented *Noor, several of them heartbreaking. In the Santa Anita Handicap on February 25, Citation lost to *Noor by 1-1/4 lengths while carrying 132 pounds, 22 more than his vanquisher." Undoubtedly, Noor was an extremely talented horse, yet Citation was injured, and carrying more. I am satisfied.
Rating: Summary: Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th century Review: "Thoroughbred Champions" does a meticulous job of presenting the top one hundred Thoroughbreds who raced in America (at least once) during the 20th century. Each racehorse is pictured with accompanying statistics. Stories flesh out the statistics and try to give us a feeling for the drama inherent in owning, or working with, or following the career of one of these beautiful animals. One of my favorite stories describes Personal Ensign's final race: "Four lengths were all that separated Personal Ensign from a perfect career. With an eight of a mile to go in the 1988 Breeders' Cup distaff, it seemed an impossible amount of ground for the bay filly to close on the leader, Winning Colors. It took about fourteen seconds for that final eighth to be run, but it seemed like an eternity. Personal Ensign closed the gap relentlessly, inching slowly toward Winning Colors, and at the wire, she thrust a desperate nose in front of her younger rival." I watched that last race of hers on T.V. I was recovering from abdominal surgery at the time, and I think I must have busted a stitch or two trying to 'help' Personal Ensign down that muddy track and over the finish line ahead of her rival (who had already won the 1988 Kentucky Derby). Because these equine champions mean so much to some of us, there has been and will be lots of disagreement over the order in which they were placed on the list. Why, for instance does Easy Goer appear ahead of both Ruffian and Personal Ensign, not to mention Busher, Twilight Tear, and Dahlia? Both Busher and Twilight Tear were voted Horse of the Year---an honor that eluded Easy Goer. Here is the list as compiled by the seven panel members chosen by "The Blood-Horse": 1. Man o'War, 2. Secretariat, 3. Citation, 4. Kelso, 5. Count Fleet, 6. Dr. Fager, 7. Native Dancer, 8. Forego, 9. Seattle Slew, 10. Spectacular Bid, 11. Tom Fool, 12. Affirmed, 13. War Admiral, 14. Buckpasser, 15. Colin, 16. Damascus, 17. Round Table, 18. Cigar, 19. Bold Ruler, 20. Swaps, 21. Equipoise, 22. Phar Lap, 23. John Henry, 24. Nashua, 25. Seabiscuit, 26. Whirlaway, 27. Alydar, 28. Gallant Fox, 29. Exterminator, 30. Sysonby, 31. Sunday Silence, 32. Skip Away, 33. Assault, 34. Easy Goer, 35. Ruffian, 36. Gallant Man, 37. Discovery, 38. Challedon, 39. Armed, 40. Busher, 41. Stymie, 42. Alysheba, 43. Northern Dancer, 44. Ack Ack, 45. Gallorette, 46. Majestic Prince, 47. Coaltown, 48. Personal Ensign, 49. Sir Barton, 50. Dahlia, 51. Susan's Girl, 52. Twenty Grand, 53. Sword Dancer, 54. Grey Lag, 55. Devil Diver, 56. Zev, 57. Riva Ridge, 58. Slew o'Gold, 59. Twilight Tear, 60. Native Diver, 61. Omaha, 62. Cicada, 63. Silver Charm, 64. Holy Bull, 65. Alsab, 66. Top Flight, 67. Arts and Letters, 68. All Along, 69. Noor, 70. Shuvee, 71. Regret, 72. Go for Wand, 73. Johnstown, 74. Bald Eagle, 75. Hill Prince, 76. Lady's Secret, 77. Two Lea, 78. Eight Thirty, 79. Gallant Bloom, 80. Ta Wee, 81. Affectionately, 82. Miesque, 83. Carry Back, 84. Bimelech, 85. Lure, 86. Fort Marcy, 87. Gamely, 88. Old Rosebud, 89. Bewitch, 90. Davona Dale, 91. Genuine Risk, 92. Sarazen, 93. Sun Beau, 94. Artful, 95. Bayakoa, 96. Exceller, 97. Foolish Pleasure, 98. Beldame, 99. Roamer, 100. Blue Larkspur. You can always buy the book, then cut and paste the list so that your favorite champions are more correctly placed. Several authors were involved in telling the stories of the top one hundred Thoroughbred champions.. Its stories pay tribute to a remarkable breed of athletes, and if you were fortunate to watch Secretariat win the Belmont or Personal Ensign win the Breeders' Cup Distaff, this book will mean all that more to you.
Rating: Summary: 1 star because the bloodhorse... Review: ...editors are idiots. *secret* when the editors voted secretariat was firmly in first place with only one editor left to vote, and he LEFT OFF secretariat as one of the top thoroughbreds of the 20th century so man o'war could take first prize. what a putz! man o'war was great, but charlie hatton, longtime editor of the daily racing form who saw BOTH horses run in person always said that secretariat was the finest racehorse ever ('the pinnacle of achievement in thoroughbred racing, the finest example of the blooded horse'). can't argue with secretariat's 22 pound heart, largest on record.
Rating: Summary: Running with the best! Review: A magnifient collection of interesting data, personal experiences and observations with good photos, written in a fine concise and appealing style! Each page is vibrant reading and vivid portrayals of these phenomenal horses! A highly recommended book, worth twice the price!
Rating: Summary: Great introduction to the sport Review: After having my interest in horse racing sparked a few years back by a Reader's Digest story on the Seabiscuit-War Admiral match race, I began looking for resources to learn more about the sport. That's when I found this wonderful book. I haven't seen enough races in my lifetime to dispute the order of selection, but what I can say is that if you want to learn about the greatest American racehorses of the last century, this is the place to start. I have spent a lot of time on the internet and in libraries researching various horses, but I find myself going back to Thoroughbred Champions time and again. My only wish is that somebody in Europe had done a similar book featuring the likes of Seabird 2, Ribot, Mill Reef, Nijinsky 2,Brigadier Gerard, Dancing Brave, Shergar, Hyperion, etc. I don't gamble; I'm mainly interested in the achievements and stories of great horses and I find stories such as those contained in this book a wonderful way to enjoy the sport. If the Seabiscuit movie or the Smarty Jones craze of last year have piqued your interest in these wonderful athletes, then you'll want to get this book and learn about some of the finest racehorses ever to cross a finish line.
Rating: Summary: The only thing I could ask for would be more photos Review: As a Thoroughbred enthusiast who loves to read page after page of small-print pedigrees, I enjoyed this book. For one thing, I agreed with most of the ratings in it, and I appreciated the formula used by the authors; for each horse, they discuss his breeding, if it is of interest, his race career, trials and tribulations he may have faced, the people surrounding him, and finally his genetic legacy. The articles get shorter as one nears the end of the book (Man o'War, #1 horse of the century, gets several pages of text and photos, while the horses from #20 to #50 are dealt one page each), and one could ask for a little more information on some of the ones near the end. Overall, this book is terrific and covers almost all of the great American racehorses (and some who also happened to be great sires). I particularly liked that the horses from the early part of the century, like Colin and Old Rosebud, were given equal stature with the TV heros of our day.
Rating: Summary: Did he see it? Review: Charlie Hatton, editor of the Daily Racing Form was born in 1906. Died 1975 at 69. He was 13, 14 when (or if) he saw Man o' war in 1919-20! U think he could compare Man o' war and Secretariat 52 yrs later?
Rating: Summary: The List is weighted to east coast interests Review: Didn't read the book, but know the list. In my opinion the Top 100 list is a relatively informed effort to line up the best of the best throughout the years, but it is flawed like any such list would be. It is also east coast biased. Round Table, who set 16 world or track marks and carried up to 136 pounds was a truly GREAT horse and superior to Secretariat, as were Swaps, Kelso, Northern Dancer, Citation, Dr. Fager and others who ran brilliantly under high imposts, but who didn't have the benefit of a rabid TV press corps of adoring neophytes making them a household name. Unarguably Secretariat had 3 great races, and still holds one remaining world record. He never carried over 126 pounds, though, and was beaten while being given weight. He was, in short, vastly overrated. Noor beat Citation 4 times yet winds up near 70th. This makes sense? Sorry, but that's my opinion based on over 20 years of writing about thoroughbreds. Dr. Fager, for pure speed, had no peer.
Rating: Summary: the best of the best Review: Have you ever been in a statistics discussion with a baseball fanatic? A trivia discussion with a Star Trek fiend? Well, they're pussycats (or maybe Shetland ponies) compared with the folks who argue about the best racehorse ever. This book, from the staff of the BloodHorse, is great material, whether you agree with it or not. It's the top 100 racehorses of the 20th century, at least if they raced in the US at least once, and were flat racers (steeplechasers are usually Thoroughbreds too, but if they came to glory over the jumps, as Man O'War's great son Battleship did, don't look too hard for them here). But the great flat racers are here, from Phar Lap to Shuvee and Dr. Fager to Forego. Their pictures and their pedigrees and the stories about them are all well done, though I wanted more than 2 pages about many of the horses lower on the list. The hotly debated #1 pick was Man O'War, who carried 130 pounds as a 2 year old, ran distances from sprints to 2 miles, was almost never allowed to run all out (racing many times with his head pulled into his chest) and was beaten only by a starter who opened the race when he was standing sideways....well, you can guess where my bias lies. It would be great to line Man O'War, Secretariat, Dr. Fager, Forego, Kelso, Phar Lap and a few others up at Belmont for a mile and a half challenge on a cool, sunny autumn morning. Since we can't do this, we'll just have to hash out our opinions and sort out the facts - and this book is well designed to help us to just that! (oh, and my favorite horse of all time is well down the list at #46 - Majestic Prince - I wept when he limped off the track at Belmont, never to race again, but he's placed about right here since he never carried weight and never raced against older horses)
Rating: Summary: the best of the best Review: Have you ever been in a statistics discussion with a baseball fanatic? A trivia discussion with a Star Trek fiend? Well, they're pussycats (or maybe Shetland ponies) compared with the folks who argue about the best racehorse ever. This book, from the staff of the BloodHorse, is great material, whether you agree with it or not. It's the top 100 racehorses of the 20th century, at least if they raced in the US at least once, and were flat racers (steeplechasers are usually Thoroughbreds too, but if they came to glory over the jumps, as Man O'War's great son Battleship did, don't look too hard for them here). But the great flat racers are here, from Phar Lap to Shuvee and Dr. Fager to Forego. Their pictures and their pedigrees and the stories about them are all well done, though I wanted more than 2 pages about many of the horses lower on the list. The hotly debated #1 pick was Man O'War, who carried 130 pounds as a 2 year old, ran distances from sprints to 2 miles, was almost never allowed to run all out (racing many times with his head pulled into his chest) and was beaten only by a starter who opened the race when he was standing sideways....well, you can guess where my bias lies. It would be great to line Man O'War, Secretariat, Dr. Fager, Forego, Kelso, Phar Lap and a few others up at Belmont for a mile and a half challenge on a cool, sunny autumn morning. Since we can't do this, we'll just have to hash out our opinions and sort out the facts - and this book is well designed to help us to just that! (oh, and my favorite horse of all time is well down the list at #46 - Majestic Prince - I wept when he limped off the track at Belmont, never to race again, but he's placed about right here since he never carried weight and never raced against older horses)
|