Citation: Thoroughbred Legends [Hardcover]

Pauhla Smith (Author), Pohla Smith (Author)

Book Description

Series: Thoroughbred Legends | Publication Date: June 25, 2000

1948 Horse of the Year and Triple Crown winner. Thoroughbred racing's first millionaire, setting the modern-day record of 16 straight victories. His trainer called him the best horse of the century.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The Thoroughbred Legends series from Eclipse Press, a division of The Blood-Horse, Inc., includes Man o' War by Edward L. Bowen, Dr. Fager by Steve Haskin, Citation by Pohla Smith, Go for Wand by Bill Heller, Seattle Slew by Dan Mearns, and Native Dancer by Eva Jolene Boyd.

About the Author

Pohla Smith covers racing for United Press International and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Her writing on the sport has appeared in USA Today, Newsday, and Kentucky Derby Magazine. She lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Eclipse Press; 1st edition (June 25, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581500459
• ISBN-13: 978-1581500455
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,240,773 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Citation by Pohla Smith, September 12, 2002

By 

Mary Masilak (Joliet, Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Citation: Thoroughbred Legends (Hardcover)

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.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Standard Horse Bio, January 4, 2007

By 

B. J Robbins (La Quinta, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Citation: Thoroughbred Legends (Hardcover)

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.

5.0 out of 5 stars Citation: Thoroughbred Legends, January 15, 2012

By 

Claire Duprey "Classic Movies" (Mount Dora, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Citation: Thoroughbred Legends (Hardcover)

It was a gift and my friend loved it. This was one of three books she had requested for Christmas. I found it on Amazon which helps since I don't have to travel all over the area to find a copy. Whenever I have wanted to find a particular book, I can always find a copy of what I am looking for on Amazon.