Thoroughbred Books

No book alone can definitively help an individual who wants to get involved in the Thoroughbred industry through any number of public auctions held nationwide, but this guide comes close.

It takes a novice through a readable, step-by-step learning process in this high-stakes game; the types of sales, major sales companies, how to buy, the need to hire experts and the factors that affect sales prices. The book is also good for race fans who are interested in background information on this important segment of the sport.

It also must be noted that many Thoroughbred owners and trainers who race frequently at tracks are oftentimes highly accessible & may actually be great resources on how to get into the game. A person needs a realistic plan and fully understand the positives and negatives in owning Thoroughbreds.

For those who are curious about what it takes to successfully bid at auction, the book can lead you to the starting gate.

Prepared by the staff and correspondents of Blood-Horse Publications, The Blood-Horse Authoritative Guide To Auctions is a superbly organized and presented instructional manual that anyone contemplating the purchase of a thoroughbred horse simply must read before investing their time and money. Readers will learn what thoroughbred horses cost, what the conditions of sale mean, how to read a catalog page, the role veterinarians play, how buyers can protect themselves, and much more. In addition to general guidelines for successfully buying a thoroughbred, notes on some of the most famous and successful thoroughbreds ever sold, and an extensive glossary, The Blood-Horse Authoritative Guide To Auctions is packed with maps and travel tips for lodging and dining when venturing out to a number of high-profile thoroughbred sales companies. An absolute "must-have" for anyone seriously interested in owning a racehorse.

There are only two bios of Citation that I know of. This one and another by Phil Georgeff. There is a world of difference between them. Smith is primarily a writer, and this book is one of a series of books about racehorses, including the Great (Man o' War) and the near Great (Sunday Silence). It is pretty standard stuff, well done, but standard.

Phil Georgeff is primarily a caller of horseraces and his book is mainly a labor of love. He knows a lot of people around horseracing (good friends with Eddie Arcaro, Citation's main jockey in his phenomenal third year) and interviewed many of them for his book. There are lots of quotes from people who knew the Joneses, the Joneses themselves, sports writers, etc., plus much gossip, and detailed writing. Georgeff feels that Citation was without a doubt THE best racehorse of all time, and he is not shy about letting you know it.

The Smith book does have some things the Georgeff book lacks. Its photo section is slightly better. Georgeff's book was a major disappointment in one area: it did not include Citation's race record, although it had a very nice index. Smith's book rectifies this in an extremely satisfactory manner: it not only has Citation's lifetime record, it has the DRF report for many of his 3-year-old races.

In my opinion, the true Citation fan needs both books for they really complement each other.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about horses, and to the Thoroughbred race fan in particular, who likes to read and learn more about racing's greats. As a long-time fan myself, I couldn't wait for this book to be released. Being one of racing's greatest, I have always wanted to read about Citation, to learn more about him, get the full story on his life and racing exploits. This book does not disappoint. It is well written and very informative. I couldn't put it down. Now I feel like I really know the story of "Big Cy".
I have this book in my collection. I strongly suggest others to add it to theirs.

Litfin has a winner with this book. He has excellent form/cycle anaylysis using both "Sheets" style figures and Beyer speed figures. He recognizes and illustrates how to spot several useful patterns and what they mean. In the second part of the book, he takes pattern recognition a step further by dealing how trainers tip their intentions with regards to having a horse ready to run his best race. Overall, there is a lot for the intermediate level handicapper to take from this work and improve his game with.

Litfin has written a very good book that contains much useful information. Most of the examples in the book are from races at Aqueduct, Belmont, and Saratoga. Litfin also devotes a fair amount of space to the "sheets". If you use Ragozin or Thoro-gragh data, this book is definitely for you. If you play races in New York extensively, this book will give you a greater insight into the three tracks operated by the New York Racing Association.

This book is the 20th in the Thoroughbred Legends series and I have them all as I am a huge fan of the great racing stars of yesterday. The Genuine Risk book is the fourth about a filly in the series and tells a nice tight story about the her career including her victory in the 1980 Kentucky Derby, which made her the first filly in over 60 years to capture the Run for the Roses. It also details the controversy that developed in the second jewel of the Triple Crown, the Preakness, when Genuine Risk apparently was forced wide by the eventual winner Codex. Codex was not disqualified and a huge controversy ensued that went before a judging board (the decision was allowed to stand). I had completely forgotten about that incident until I read the book.

The story also details Genuine Risk's heartbreaks in her attempts to be bred to some of the finest stallions around, including Secretariat, which was the first mating ever of Derby winners. Genuine Risk did not have a successful mating until over 10 years after her retirement from racing and eventually only had two foals altogher when she was pensioned a few years ago.

The Genuine Risk book is one of the shortest in the series because here career was not a long one, so there aren't too many races to discuss, but overall I thought the author did a nice job. I'd still like to see books on Kelso and Count Fleet come out in the series as these horses really made a name for themselves.

Written by experienced equestrian journalist Hallie McEvoy as part of the Eclipse Press "Thoroughbred Legends" series, Genuine Risk is the fascinating and informative story of an exceptional thoroughbred racehorse who became the second filly to win the Kentucky Derby. An inset section of black-and-white photographs enhance the narrative tale of an exceptional filly -- who interestingly enough did not produce any foals until she was 13 years old and who then gave birth to a colt named Genuine Reward. Genuine Risk is confidently recommended to the attention of all thoroughbred horse racing enthusiasts.

Julia's job as a reporter for Equine Earth magazine lands her in Dubai to do an interest piece on her friends Melanie and Robbie Preston, who have recently suffered a major loss when their star thoroughbred's sire of record was proven false.

When a stroll through the racetrack stables brings her face to face with Millions to Spare, a horse that is almost identical to her friends' discredited horse, she is determined to gather DNA evidence from it to help her friends solve the mystery of their horse's parentage.

A good plan, right up until she got trapped in the horse trailer and ended up in a Dubai prison, only released when the owner of the horse, Lord Harrison Rochester, secures her release into his custody.

Oh, and he's not buying her story about writing a fluff piece on his horse for a minute. He knows she's lying, and won't release her until he has the truth from her. But by the time she comes clean about her investigation into Millions to Spare's genetics, Harrison is more reluctant than ever to let her out of his life...

Never having read a book in Harlequin's Silhouette Special Edition line before, I really didn't know what to expect. However, Barbara Dunlop's upcoming release MILLIONS TO SPARE had an interesting sounding plot, and so I thought I would give it a try.

What I found was a very pleasant read that proves itself more than the stereotypical generalizations that these stories sometimes suffer from. The characters were both intriguing and likable, the story was well-plotted and the story was entirely captivating.

Harrison is a man who feels bound to his title and the duty that comes with it, never expecting to experience the luxury of marrying a woman he is in love with, but instead marrying a woman who fits his lifestyle and position. Meeting Julia turns his world and ideals upside down, and changes him in some very profound ways.

As a `commoner', Julia enjoys the freedom that comes along with it, living her simple life as she chooses. Her joie de vivre is infectious, for both the reader and Harrison, and it takes no great leap to see why he is so taken with this free spirited woman.

MILLIONS TO SPARE also includes a bit of suspense in the plot, as Harrison and Julia try to find who has targeted her and why. After being rescued from prison by Harrison, Julia finds herself wanted more than ever as the authorities and a mysterious villain chase her across the desert.

For a fun read that has romantic appeal and compelling suspense, pick up a copy of MILLIONS TO SPARE when it releases!

**Courtesy of Wild on Books**

Equine Earth Magazine reporter Julia Nash is in Dubai doing a nothing piece on her friend Melanie Preston when she sees a horse who looks like the twin of Leopold's Legacy, the Kentucky derby winning horse in the middle of the Quest Stables' breeding scandal. Julia tries to obtain a DNA sample from Millions to Spare, but ends up in deep trouble when she is caught. Her problems multiply when the horse in question becomes ill from poisoning.

Lord Harrison Rochester, who owns the sick horse, initially believes Julia was up to no good. However, he changes his mind about the journalist, which means someone else tried to harm his horse. The Dubai authorities still believe Julia is a felon so Harrison offers to marry her to help her leave the country.

Barbara Dunlop provides an excellent Silhouette Thoroughbred Legacy tale that combines humor and suspense in Dubai while moving forward the overarching saga plot with the trip to the Middle East where much of what happened in the Quest Stables scandal started. The lead couple is a wonderful pairing of a suspicious duet in which neither trusts the other especially as each believes their attraction is causing their brains to see prejudicially through rose colored glasses. This is a strong entry in the series.

Harriet Klausner

Very enjoyable and interesting book. I highly recommend it and others in the series for horse racing fans or just horse lovers.

Book seven in the Thoroughbred Legends series from Eclipse Press is about the amazing gray Thoroughbred who won all but one of his twenty-two starts from age two to four. His lone loss--and it was a big one--came in the 1953 Kentucky Derby to 25-1 longshot Dark Star.

Imagine the consequences if Native Dancer would have won: he would have shattered Citation's record for consecutive wins (sixteen); and he probably would have been voted Thoroughbred of the Century over Man O'War, who also lost a single race.

Author Eva Jolene Boyd develops several theories as to why Native Dancer lost the Derby:

--He was bumped near the start, and his jockey Eric Guerin lost his cool. He tried to take his mount up the inside, where he was blocked and forced to take up twice. If Native Dancer had taken his usual route up the outside, he would have kept out of trouble and won the Derby.

--Another rider deliberately blocked Native Dancer. This is jockey, Eric Guerin's theory.

--Native Dancer followed a rather peculiar race route to the Derby, and his trainer, Bill Winfrey didn't have the big gray colt 100% fit. There may be a grain of truth to this theory. Almost 35 years after the race, Winfrey admitted to a writer: "I didn't have him fit."

--The bad ankles theory. This seemed to be favored by certain members of the press.

--The hat on the bed theory. When trainer, Bill Winfrey entered his Lexington hotel room a few days before the Derby, he discovered that one of the reporters had left his hat on the bed--very bad gris-gris for superstitious Thoroughbred trainers.

Take your choice of theory as to why the Gray Ghost lost the big one, but be sure to read this book. The author covers Native Dancer's career both on the race course and at stud. In both careers, he performed superlatively well.

Thoroughbred Times' Racing Almanac is a must have for any horse racing fan. A completely comprehensive overlook of the past year and the history (statwise)of horseracing.

There is not a Thoroughbred commissioner's office or one easy place to research material on national and international racing and breeding. That is what makes the 2008 version of the almanac essential, especially since it has expanded to nearly 1,000 pages and contains additional information sections.

The year in review goes from January 2006 to June 2007, with outstanding analysis on the state of the industry and a wealth of information on the Breeders' Cup & graded stakes results. But with additions means some deletions and brief histories on legendary tracks like Hialeah Park and Sportman's Park have been removed from the Racetracks of North America section.

What is needed is one or two inserts of color photographs from the year or previous seasons in the publication's vast archives. The almananc would benefit greatly by having it more visually appealing.

No matter if you are a casual fan, handicapper or media member, the almanac will be the prime resource for information throughout the year.

If you ever wondered how we got to modern horse racing from the past, and who was famous in the past, then this is a MUST HAVE Book for your coffee table or library.

I almost cried when I read about Ruffian, and I remembered her tragic spill in the famous male/female match race with Foolish Pleasure. I was a child at a family friend's house and it was dark and raining, and the beautiful Ruffian went to the lead and then tragically fell sending her into immortal status.

The John Henry story is a book possible all by itself.

A great job by Mark and Mary Simon, I was very impressed and I'm in the business.

Best Regards to All, MC - TheStickRules.Com

Good stories on all the greats decade by decade. Hardcore fans will know most of the horses, but not necessarily the stories of what made them great.

In the wake of the Big Brown Bomb fiasco, one would hope for a little more in the way of mementos of the life of the equine Prometheus, yet the pickings are still slim - you don't even see Secretariat's SportsCentury show on ESPN Classic anymore.

Besides this one, the only other mass-market book about Secretariat with any availability is the William Nack biography which I review on its Amazon page. I prefer this to the Nack book because of its pithier style - a good example is the discussion of Secretariat's lineage where Capps does a much better job of referencing it to overall horse racing history.
There are still too few photographs, but the ones included are much more pertinent than those in Nack's.

Until we get a DVD from ESPN, this is my first choice for an introduction to the greatest four-legged athlete.

Tim Capps has written several of the Thoroughbred Legends books and my thoughts on his previous efforts (Spectacular Bid and Affirmed/Alydar) were that he really didn't make any effort in writing them. It just seemed like he went through magazine and newspaper articles and came up with a 175 page summary (which was well-written, but seemed empty). When I saw that he was to write the Legends bio of my equine hero, Secretariat, I was apprehensive at the prospect, especially since two outstanding books (by Raymond Woolf and Bill Nack) had already been written about Big Red.

But I have to say that Capps did a great job with the limitations of the Legends format. He states right up front that he was apprehensive of doing the project because of the aforementioned books which had been published about Secretariat. But he states that Secretariat was his favorite and he wanted to do him justice. He has. Obviously there is not the detail that is contained in Nack's book or the beautiful photography of Woolf's book, but Capps gives a clear story of each of Secreatiat's races, plus some of the behind the scenes dealings related to his syndication.

I didn't learn anything new with Capps' book since I have read everything I could about Secretariat, but this would be a great book for a young horse racing fan who wants to learn about this great horse with the big heart.

Just to let you know I haven' actully read this book but i've skimmed through it. What the heck is going on? All of a sudden Dylan is not mentioned anymore. What's up with that. And then in the next few books Christina turns into a racing fanatic. Why isen't she doing eventing? I mean she's the one who got got me interested in eventing. I loved these books. I think they they should have had Christina stick with eventing and have Melanie do the racing. I loved Christina but now she's only ok.What's the deal with Parker suddenly joing series. I've read a lot of the other books past this one and I have to say the best are #51 and #70-72. Oh I have to say that thy shouldn't have ended the book #72 like they did. (It's a great book by the way.) Most of the books past this one have just gone downhill. I love the thoroghbreed books but a lot of them could be better. Don't you agree?

I really enjoyed this book, mostly because Christina decided to like racing. Christina is my favourite character, and I was pleased that she gave exercise riding a try. I didn't really like the books where Christina does eventing because I find that sport a bit dull. I also like Parker much better than Dylan. In my opinion, the series goes uphill from here!!! READ THIS BOOK!

It was very sad to see Wonder go. I do like this book alot. Everyone who's read the TB must get this book. It's very touching and heartrending. I hate to see Wonder go. I wanted her last foal to be a girl though. That was one thing that I didn't like. But Wonder's Star was okay. I was also glad to see how Christina saved the foal. I was really glad that Star made. It is a great book.

In Without Wonder, is history repeating itself? At Whitebrook farm, Ashleigh Griffen, famous jockey of many stakes races and first female jockey winning the Tripple Crown and competing in it a couple fo times; and Brad Townsend, has half intrest in Ashleighs favoirte mare and her offsprings. Who so happens owns Townsend Acres, one of the richest and best thoroughbred taining and breeding farms in Kentucky; have decided to breed the famous Wonder one more time but to one of Mike Reesse, Ashleighs husband, both owning Whitebrook Farm and trained hundreds of stakes winners; stallion, Jazzman. In Wonders racing days, the mare was born and trained at Townsend Acres. When Wonder was born, Ashlgigh Griffen has just moved to the farm with her parents a few weeks before. Wonder was born a small and silky foal who could hardly stand. But with Ashleighs love and guidence, Wonder was able to survive and romp around the paddock with the other yearlings. But Brad and his father Clay wanted to sell Wonder since they thought she would never make it to the track. Ashleigh cant bare to loose another horse she loves so she had to keep working with the filly. Soon Wonder was able to win the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes and Breeders Cup Classic. Wonder was retiered after injuriny and has produced many stakes offsprings. Everyone thought Wonders last foal would be Wonders Legacy, the colt Ashleighs daughter Christina Reesse has traded to get the horse she wanted; But a few years later Ashleigh and Brad have agread to breed Wonder to Mikes stallion, Jazzman. btu while Christina is at Samanthas house having dinner wih a event trainer star, Ashleigh calls to let her know Wonder is having birth. But Chris knows Wonder is a few weeks early. She gets Parker, her friend who also dreams to become an olimpix rider drops Christina off at Whitebrook. It took longer for Wonder to start having her foal. Over 20 minutes its been after her water sack breaks and no foal. Ashleigh and Christina get worried. But after a rough delievery, Wonder had a beautiful colt. The colt was small and silky just like Wonder after she was born. Days later, Wonder has been acting weird and so run down. After they get the vets results, Wonder is deadly ill. Ashleigh has to make the hardest decision in her life. Soon the colt Christina named Wonders Star is now a orphaned is getting sicker everyday. Christina soon bottlefeeds Star and weeks later, he finaly overcomed his fears of the outside world and started to become the champion no one saw. When it is time for the otehr foals to be weaned, Star helps the other fillies and colts get over their mothers loss and Star got them to play around once again. Christina knows she and Sta have a strong bond which cant be broken but Ashleigh doesnt even dare look at the colt. Christina knows the excerising racehorses has been helping her get ready for her and Sterlings next event but she has been so caught up with Star she dont have much time for the mare. But Christina knows Star needs her more. Ashleigh is never around to see the colt since Wonders death. Christina soon discovers Ashleigh blames Star for Wonders death and cant bare to look at the colt. When Brad and Clay Townsend come to see the colt. But Chris finds out that Ashlegih let Brad and Clay take the colt back to Townsend Acres for training. Christina knows if Star goes to Townsend Acres, he could be ruined forever. But will Christina allow Ashleigh send Star off for her loss? Find out in Without Wonder. and please go to [...]to help save the Thoroughbred series.

This was the first book I read in the "Thoroughbred" series. I found it to be sad. When Wonder died it was undoubtedly one of the most emotional parts of the story. But, at the same time I was happy because Wonder had something to die for...Star. I also cried when Ashleigh made Christina give up Star and sell the colt to Brad. But, the plot recovers in the sequel, and you will be yelling with excitement when Star battles his way towards THE TRIPLE CROWN.