At the Wire: Horse Racing's Greatest Moments [Hardcover]

Edward L Bowen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2001

Explores some of the sport's most exciting showdowns and singular moments.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bowen is an Eclipse Award winning Turf writer. He is currently president of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, which raises funds fo equine research.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Eclipse Press; 1st edition (November 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158150070X
• ISBN-13: 978-1581500707
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,751,418 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Splendid overview of racing's greatest hits, December 2, 2001

By 

Susan Nunes (Medford, OR United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: At the Wire: Horse Racing's Greatest Moments (Hardcover)

Racing fans should own this book by the outstanding turf writer Edward Bowen. He provides a comprehensive look at some of the most famous racing moments in the twentieth century, not only the great but the infamous (the 1933 "fighting finish" Kentucky Derby) as well. Great racing moments such as Man O'War's duel with John P. Grier in the 1920 Dwyer Stakes, Phar Lap's famous win at the 1932 Agua Caliente Handicap (his last before dying somewhat mysteriously), Secretariat's 1973 Belmont, Affirmed and Alydar's 1978 Belmont, the triple dead heat 1944 Carter Handicap, and the celebrated Jaipur/Ridan Travers of 1962 are among the profiled.

Bowen has a real feel for the subject matter, and he gives the reader the background of each race and even provides the charts for each race. There are also numerous photographs in this book, which is printed on high quality paper.

Bowen leaves out very few of racing's greatest moments. Two that are omitted are the 1976 Marlboro Cup (Forego barely winning over Honest Pleasure) which Bowen does mention briefly, and the great 1978 Jockey Gold Cup, where Seattle Slew gallantly and unsuccessfully tried to defeat Exceller. There's also a tiny bit of bias in this book, as is expected. Bowen seems a bit defensive in a couple of places with regard to Man O' War and Secretariat. According to him, "polls" supposedly crown Man O'War the greatest horse of this century, even above Secretariat. He doesn't really tells us which polls, of which there is only one that this reviewer is aware of, which the publisher Blood Horse conducted among 7 alleged experts and was published in a book about the top 100 North American racehorses of the 20th century. These "history savvy" experts, it seems to Bowen, know the truth that Big Red I was the best, and never mind the record or recollections of racetrackers and writers who saw both Man O' War and Secretariat and said the latter was greater. Frankly, I put my trust in the recollection of the dean of turf writers, Charles Hatton, who unhesitatingly called Secretariat not only the greatest he had seen but "the greatest horse anybody has ever seen." He saw both horses run, and the panelists didn't. (Furthermore, one of the panelists didn't even rank Secretariat in the top 10, and this was the real reason Man O' War finished ahead. As a result, no racing fan takes the Blood Horse poll seriously.)

But this is a minor quibble in a book full of information and great photographs. This is an ideal coffee table book.

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice Try, December 14, 2001

By 

Jena Ball "Jena Ball" (North Carolina, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: At the Wire: Horse Racing's Greatest Moments (Hardcover)

I wish I could say that I loved this book. I wanted to love this book, since thoroughbreds and racing history are two of my favorite subjects. The quality of the paper and the photographs are outstanding. The subject matter is of course inspirational, but the truth of the matter is the writing did not live up to its promise. Bowden is obviously familiar with his subject, and undoubtedly has many stories to tell, but it all seems to have become jumbled up in his mind. He frequnetly starts talking about one topic (say a famous horse race), then goes off on a tangent (say the horse's owner), leaving the reader to try to figure out what has happened. He also fails to focus on one main theme or point in each of his essays, trying to cram ractrack gossip, the human drama and information about the horses (breeding, training history, previous races, etc.) all into the short space available. The result is that the really interesting, in-depth stuff, the details about the horse and what made him or her truly unique, never get written. I found this book very irritating to read and wish that Bowden had had a good editor around to help him pare down and focus his work. If you are wanting disjointed tidbits and facts, buy the book. If you are wanting to really experience the personalities of the horses and the excitement of the races they participated in try another source.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars American horse racing's greatest moments, June 25, 2005

By 

E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: At the Wire: Horse Racing's Greatest Moments (Hardcover)

If you can still remember where you were and what you were doing when Personal Ensign stuck a desperate nostril in front of Derby-winner, Winning Colors during the 1988 Breeders' Cup Distaff, then you should enjoy "At the Wire" which is packed with similar racing stories.

Not all of the finishes are close ones, as Secretariat's 31-length Belmont blow-out is included, just because it was the most awesome mile-and-a-half most of us have ever seen (or ever will see). Announcer Chick Anderson's pronouncement that Secretariat was "moving like a tremendous machine" will surely find its way into Bartlett's.

Many of the races that Ed Bowen recounts feature pairs of Thoroughbreds whose names are forever linked by their ferocious competitive spirit: John Henry and The Bart; Affirmed and Alydar; Kelso and Gun Bow; Swaps and Nashua; Alsab and Whirlaway; Noor and Citation.

And speaking of ferocious, the 1933 "Fighting Finish" Kentucky Derby certainly featured one of the most unruly battles by jockeys. What with all of the stirrup-grabbing, saddle-cloth-pulling, bumping, and slashing that was going on down the stretch, it's surprising that either Brokers Tip or Head Play finished, much less ran first and second. Riders Fisher and Meade finished their fight in the jockeys' room, then didn't speak to each other again for some fifteen years after their 'Rodeo' Derby.

Bowen doesn't say who won the fight in the jockeys' room.

The author is a noted Turf historian who spent nearly three decades with "The Blood Horse" magazine, which he references quite extensively in these pages. "At the Wire" is not a book that will keep you awake all night, in spite of its exciting subject matter. It is more of a gentle, knowledgeable ramble through 20th century American racing, as exemplified by some of its most courageous and brilliant Thoroughbreds.