Thoroughbred Champions: Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century

Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: I am so glad that Man O' War was named the top horse of the century. He made records that are still unbroken today, despite that the tracks have been made to help the horses run seconds faster. He lost one of his 21 races and that was only because of his jockey's numerous mistakes and then he came in a very close 2nd. I didn't like how Seabiscuit was number 25 and War Admiral way ahead of him. Seabiscuit ran in a match race against War Admiral, where he had several disadvantages, and beat him by lengths! He definitely deserved to be higher up in the rankings. I also wish Ruffian would have been higher up, she was the greatest filly ever and ran her heart out until it killed her. Overall it is an extremely good book and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading about racehorses.

Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Book
Review: I bought this book a few months ago and am still reading it, so don't be afraid of finishing it quickly! With tons of information about each horse and nice photos too, in color whenever possible, this beautiful coffee-table book will teach you about the history and current records of Thoroughbred racing. The exciting, well-written book really lets you take a peek into one hundred horses' lives; it's not just meaningless words and numbers. I think it's fascinating to place a century's worth of champions next to each other and rate them; finish reading the information and looking at a black-and-white photo for a horse in the early 1900's, turn the page and a clear color photo of a horse who raced just a few years ago appears. I love Thoroughbred racing, and this book recreates the excitement of a historic race, inspiring debates, memories and discussions about the featured equines, as well as informing those new to the sport about those famous names in modern champions' pedigrees.

Rating:
Summary: Room for arguments
Review: I overall liked this book very much, but as I noticed with the other reviews, there are some disagreements with the list. Perhaps it should have been alphabetical with an appendix with opinions of the top 100? My quibble with it is lower placing of my favorite horse of all time Damascus. I saw both Damascus and Spectacular Bid run and I thought Damascus was the better of the two. Damascus was a durable racehorse and won at 1 1/2 and 2 miles which the Bid did not do. Not that I don't think Spectacular Bid wasn't great--he was, but I thought Damascus better. Damascus also had sterner competition for his Horse of the Year title in 1967: Dr. Fager and Buckpasser. There was nobody remote close in class to compete with Spectacular Bid for the title in 1980. One of my all time favorite fillies did not even make the list: the ill-fated Dark Mirage (she was first winner of the Triple Crown for fillies and some people thought she had a shot at Horse of the Year in 1968, the same year Dr. Fager and Damascus competed!). I also thought Seattle Slew superior to Dr. Fager. I saw both run and Seattle Slew, I felt was more versatile at all distances not to mention being a Triple Crown winner, though he'd have had a very difficult time grappling with Dr. Fager at a mile or less.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: I really enjoyed reading this book. Many people disagree on the placings of different horses, but I think it must have been hard to compare horses from different eras. Books like these were made to provoke discussions, anyway. I like the little charts at the end of the book that name things such as most wins, most starts, etc. One of the main things I like about this book that it contains one photograph (2 photos of numbers 1-20), past performances, and a four generation pedigree of each horse. Before I ordered the book, I suspected that the photos would be tiny and barely visible, but the photos are easy to see.This was a wonderful book!

Rating:
Summary: The "War" is on
Review: I think this book had a great write-up of racehorses. Man o War is definitley the horses of the century. The only thing I didn't like was the lack of information. I wish they included more info on the top 20 horses. Otherwise a great book.

Rating:
Summary: just a few disagreements
Review: I was very glad to find that Man O War was listed number one. so many people disagree on who's better, Secretariat or Man O War. but Man O War's record is 20/21 with the one loss due to the race started when Man O War was not ready while Secretariat's record is 16/21. they were both against the same level competitors and Man O War won with ease every time. But i do disagree with Ruffian's placing. she was the greatest filly of all time with an undefeated record. I wish Blood-Horse would give her more credit.

Rating:
Summary: What?
Review: If there ever was a horse better than Secretariat, he would have had to spread his wings and fly!! How could anyone think-now I don't care what Man 'O War did-that there could be anyone even CLOSE to Secretariat? The author does not know what he's talking about.

Rating:
Summary: Too much "War" not enough Secretariat
Review: Man o' War was a great horse, but he was no Secretariat. Secretariat still owns the Kentucky Derby record and the world record on dirt at a mile and a half. In my opinion, Man o' War should be ranked behind both Secretariat and Citation. This book disappoints in its information on Secretariat and greats, other than MOW. There are other books containing much more information than this one.

Rating:
Summary: An Encyclopedia of Great Thoroughbred Champions
Review: That should have been the title of this book. I just received my copy and have been so deeply absorbed in it that the afternoon just flew by on golden hoofs. I've been an enthusiast of thoroughbred racing since, at a very tender age, my dad brought me to the stables at Belmont Park to see a friend who works there. They showed me a huge gray horse and I was so small I looked up into that massive animal's face, felt his warm breath on my face...and fell totally in love. The horse was Native Dancer, the love affair continues though I am now getting closer to retirement age. This wonderful book will take you from one champ to the next and all I could say was "I agree, I agree" as I moved down the list of the top 100. Though I knew most, there were some I did not know and those interested me the most. The list, together with pictures, pedigree and a small writeup on each makes this book a keeper! an encyclopedia of the 100 greatest thoroughbreds!

Rating:
Summary: Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century
Review: This book was a joy to read! As for as coming up with Man O' War as the Greatest was an excellent choice. A lot of people now days really only remember Secretariat, and he was a surly one of the Greatest. Its not really fair for Man O' War,the people who don't think he should be No.1, because he raced so many years ago. But if Man O' War and Secretariat where to race there's one thing for sure Man O' War would break out in front and it would be up to Secratariat to catch him,and with Man O' War's 28 ft. stride I don't think if would ever happen.