Kelso (Thoroughbred Legends) [Hardcover]

Steve Haskin (Author)

Book Description

Series: Thoroughbred Legends | Publication Date: November 1, 2003

No racehorse of modern times was so good for so long. Racing until the age of nine, Kelso won thirty-nine of sixty-three races. Much like Seabiscuit thirty years earlier, Kelso kept getting better as he got older, earning legions of fans with every passing year.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 207 pages
• Publisher: Eclipse Press (November 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581501013
• ISBN-13: 978-1581501018
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,466,307 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Researched Book About This 5 Time Horse of the Year, November 26, 2003

By 

K. Palmer (Illinois) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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

I have been clamoring for the publishers of the Thoroughbred Legends series to do a book on Kelso, the only horse to ever win Horse of the Year in five consecutive years (in fact, no other horse has won it more than three times). It took a while, but author Steve Haskin has done a nice job of chronicling the life of Kelso, who raced until he was 9 years old and was a nation's hero.

Haskin goes through Kelso's early life, where he was not mature enough to compete in the Triple Crown series when he was 3 years old in 1960, but came around later that same year to dominate racing and win his first horse of the year honor. He dominated as a 4 year old to win his second and had something of an off year as a 5 year old, but still was ruled the best. Haskin documents his rivalries with 1961 Kentucky Derby winner Carry Back and with Gun Bow, who was his biggest threat to end his horse of the year streak. The racing world got so used to seeing Kelso run that he was sorely missed when he retired.

Since Kelso was a gelding, there is no discussion of offspring, so the book is a little short for a horse with such a long career. But Haskin does chronicle Kelso's last days very well, as he was shipped to Belmont Park at age 26 to lead (along with other great geldings Forego and John Henry) the post parade for the 1983 Jockey Club Gold Cup, a race Kelso won 5 straight times. But the trip ended up being too much for the old guy and he succumbed to a colic attack the next day. But he got to hear the cheers from the crowd one last time.

Kelso is one of the best books in the Legends series. I hope that they will do future books on Count Fleet, Tom Fool, Whirlaway, Cigar and Seabiscuit, all deserving to be chronicled in this series.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Where is Kelso in Kelso, January 21, 2007

By 

Kat - See all my reviews

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

I bought this book for my father Kelso being is his favorite horse of all time. My Dad put everything else aside to read this book. When he finished he offered to loan it to me but told me it was not very well written.

I has high hopes of sharing my father's love for Kelso and reliving the races my Dad saw first hand by reading this book. However, this book does little to recapture the glory of this horse who was a national hero and 5 time Horse of the year.

This book is not so much the story of Kelso as a book of dry facts and passages about people (and horses) loosely related to Kelso. The races are discussed primarily in numbers. Short bio's of people who have little or nothing to do with the central theme fill out this short book. There is little of Kelso in Kelso.

All that said, it is the only book on Kelso I have been able to discover and it did help my Dad relive some happy memories. It gets 3 stars on that merit alone.