Customer Reviews

The Big Horse

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

THE BIG HORSE is to what every trainer aspires. It is a horse that captures the imagination and wins the biggest stakes. P.G. Johnson's first big horse Volponi came in the twilight of Hall of Fame racing career. Volponi captured the 2002 Breeder's Cup Classic and prepares for the 2003 race in this account of horse and trainer.

As a book Seabiscuit did it better, but that is almost like saying as a horse Secretariat did it better. Joe McGinniss takes you into the world of 21st Century horse racing in the same way Laura Hillenbrand returned us to the glamour of horse racing in the late 1930s.

With a point of view switching between author and trainer the cadences are those of the denizens of the stables and betting windows. This particular authenticity surpasses even Hillenbrand.

McGinniss has returned, and how we have missed him.

At last a McGinnis book where he doesn't betray the trust of the protagonist!

McGinniss' writing remains fluid and engaging. His subject -- P.G. Johnson, a legendary, if unsung, horse trainer -- is a fascinating curmudgeon. And what the story lacks in plot, it makes up for in rich character development.

And, best of all, after finishing the book, I continued to like and admire the subject.

A great horseracing book.

One of the best books I have ever read about horse racing. McGinnis is unsentimental, clear eyed and far too old to be sucked in by the romanticism that surrounds the track...

Yet he succumbs, as any of us who love the horses does. But this book is mainly a biography of P.J. Johnston just about the last of a dying breed.

Listen, if you like horse racing, you've got to get this book.

If you like McGinnis, ditto.

Hmmm. I'm a McGinniss fan. Was bowled over by his handling of the material in Fatal Vision. Ditto for The Third Brother...or whatever his book about Ted Kennedy was called. So when I saw he'd written a book about the Big Horse--no hesitation. I bought the thing sight unseen, reviews unread. But, like another reviewer said, McGinniss is either tired of writing, or living, or once he'd chosen his trainer and his horse, he got tired of them. The book just hasn't got that electric feel McGinniss usually delivers in spades. And it's short. Way too short. Is this also reflective of his interest? Now, if he'd chosen a better subject? Funny Cide and Barclay Tagg? And leaving out the "loveable" owners? Maybe we might have had a book. As it is, there's some lovely stuff here, but there's not enough of it. I was slightly cheesed off. A book called The Big Horse should be a big book about a really Big Horse.

The Big Horse is a very well-written book that provides insight to the life of a horse trainer. Interesting, unless you bought the book for the horse. Although the book is supposed to be centered around the horse, there are no details of his races, or much about his personality etc. It is a great way to remember the late P.G. Johnson, but now write a book for Volponi!

Any racing fan will find this a facinating and revealing portrait of the game. The late (sadly) PG Johnson and Volponi are the main subjects but there's juicy insight into many other characters.

Get the book.

In THE BIG HORSE, Joe McGinniss tells the story of one horse trainer's desire and longing to have a horse that will bring fame as well as riches to his stable. This book may surprise McGinniss' readers, as this one does not have the spicy twist and turns we are accustomed to in his former books. Instead, McGinnis tells a truly unique and inspiring story about P.G. Johnson and a horse named Volponi. In his sixty years as a trainer, P.G. Johnson has never had a big horse. He has bred and trained some of the best, but none of them could compare to thoroughbreds like Funny Cide, Secretariat or Seabiscuit who all won races that brought in purses that totaled in the millions. He is an authority on training horses and well respected in the industry. As Joe McGinniss follows him from racetracks at Saratoga, to Belmont to the Aqueduct, we learn about the industry in all its glory and get a peek at the seamy underbelly of the profession. P.G. gives a blow-by-blow account of what it's like to be a horse trainer and have all your heartaches, desires and dreams tied to that one horse that can hopefully bring it all home. Volponi may be P.G.'s final chance at the big horse.

This was a well-written and very interesting read. McGinniss did not disappoint readers with his storytelling abilities. I was catapulted into the horse racing industry in its current state, which is a sport on the decline. I was also allowed glimpses into the past when horse racing was the sport of the season and spectators came in droves to the tune of tens of thousands. The journey included walks with trainers, jockeys and owners to get a complete taste of what this sport is about. For those that love the sport of horse racing, this book is a must have.

Reviewed by Brenda M. Lisbon
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Oh what a dissapointment. Joe McGinnis, the great storyteller, wrote a book on my favorite subject: horseracing. I couldnt wait to get the book. Well, I did -- and I found I wasted my money.

Mcginnis was dying to write a horseracing book. He searched for a good story the horse Volponi and a down and out -- old-timey crusty trainer. It doesnt fly.

While giving some insight into the game of horseracing, the author couldnt make me, the reader, feel any affection for the story's main character. I mean, while I was reading the book, I would think to myself how crusty, nasty, cheap and stupid this trainer was. I had no emotional involvement in it at all. Actually, that is not true. I disliked the trainer so much, that I was glad his horse lost.

Another thing, the story line: the Big Horse that McGinnis chose, Volponi -- lost more often than he won. Not much of a story there. The trainer was small time -- the horse was a brief flash in the pan -- I mean, who cares?

mcginnis as well seems to have lost some of his gift for the story. His skills were not readily extent in this book. Save your money; don't buy this book.

In Thoroughbred racing, the hot story of today may have zero interest hours later. And the next super horse? There are plenty who have chased the shadow of the two "Big Red's" - Man o' War and Secretariat - over many years.

That is what makes this biography of P.G. Johnson and the tracking of a frustrating season with his champion racer Volponi so interesting. It is not only catching lightning in a jar, it is trying to keep it from ultimately shattering the dreams that oftentimes fly by too fast in "The Sport of Kings."

In 2002, Volponi was on top of the world, capturing the Breeders' Cup Classic and bringing to Johnson an impressive closing page to his long career of a trainer and owner. And Johnson plays the game under old-school rules; does not retire Volponi for the purpose of selling him to a major farm for breeding purposes and is intent on going to the races on turf and dirt - and the BC winner's circle - in 2003.

Weaving personal recollections from Johnson, an exploration in how the sport once operated and how the Thoroughbred industry has changed those rules forever and the frustrations that walk the shedrow with the amazing triumphs, author Joe McGinniss presents a real picture of racing and fine-line between doing the right thing and the steep price tag that it entails.

This is not poetry in motion or triumph that must have been penned through a Hollywood script; but it is the way the game is played.

Without any examples, Mr McGinniss calls the "highest echelon of Thoroughbred racing" "flagrantly anti-Semitic". This despite the fact that the subject of his book, trainer Phil Johnson, is not only Jewish but popular, successful and a Hall of Fame member. It seems incredulous that trainer Johnson could have flourished in such anti-Semitic waters for fifty years.

Mr McGinniss also calls this same highest echelon none other than the sons and daughters of folks who pillaged the American free-enterprise system and who had achieved "precious little on their own". Again, no examples are offered of pillaging. Mr McGinniss might step back a minute from his class envy and consider that these people he is gratuitously insulting are many of the folks who buy and race horses. In fact, without them, the sport of horse racing which Mr McGinniss claims to like might wither away, along with thousands of jobs for grooms, walkers, vets, breeders and trainers like Phil Johnson.

THE BIG HORSE is well enough written and gives a look into racing today and the tells the story of a great trainer. My respect for Mr McGinniss as a writer with integrity, however, is not so good.