The Kingmaker: How Northern Dancer Founded a Racing Dynasty [Hardcover]

Avalyn Hunter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 2006

When Canadian industrialist and Thoroughbred breeder E.P. Taylor watched his well-bred, handsome colt pass unsold through the auction ring, he could hardly have envisioned the degree to which this seeming misfortune would boomerang in his favor. Named Northern Dancer, the sales reject proved his worth by winning the 1964 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes for Taylor. In doing so, he become a Canadian hero. And that was only the beginning. As a stallion, the diminutive Northern Dancer exerted a legendary influence on the breed, at one time commanding a million-dollar stud fee. International competition for his offspring created world records in the auction ring. Respected pedigree authority Avalyn Hunter explores how Northern Dancer and his sons have established a royal dynasty that has profoundly dominated the international bloodstock market.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Avalyn Hunter lives in Lake City, Flordia.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 254 pages
• Publisher: Eclipse Press (April 17, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581501374
• ISBN-13: 978-1581501377
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,543,275 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars King of another breed, May 25, 2006

By 

Pete Siegel "Pedigree Advisor" (Huntington, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Kingmaker: How Northern Dancer Founded a Racing Dynasty (Hardcover)

Horses is my business and though I'm naturally attracted to the subject I'm also quick to lose interest if the writing is weak or the facts lacking.

Ms. Hunter is an excellent and detailed researcher as well as a talented writer and I found THE KINGMAKER to be a fluent and entertaining read. Her even handed style gives the reader a sense of unforced discovery and the pages just seem to turn themselves.

I believe that THE KINGMAKER would be a excellent book for anyone with even a flickering interest in the amazing world of the thoroughbred race horse and how this magnificent breed is shaped. Northern Dancer was the living embodiment of every horsemans dream and Ms. Hunter's warm style and confident command of the subject make that dream tangible.

The detailed appendicies will keep both novice and expert entertained following the paths that the daughters and sons of the great Northen Dancer have blazed.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well written and researched, June 13, 2006

By 

David Bridgforth (Tennessee) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kingmaker: How Northern Dancer Founded a Racing Dynasty (Hardcover)

The book is a fine piece of research by Hunter and does a good job of telling the story of Northern Dancer's life and how his connections contributed to the game. While it is a fairly quick read, it's not a page turner on the level with some of the classics such as Nack's "Secretariat" or Schwartz's "Ruffian". The book does do a wonderful job of conveying the importance of Northern Dancer immeasurable contribution to the breed through his numerous offspring. It really is quite a remarkable legacy that the little colt from Canada has left behind.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Kingmaker: How Northern Dancer Founded a Racing Dynasty, June 8, 2006

By 

Marty Waxman "Marty Waxman" (Reno, NV) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kingmaker: How Northern Dancer Founded a Racing Dynasty (Hardcover)

I have been a racing and breeding enthusiast for 30 years, and Avalyn Hunter's The Kingmaker: How Northern Dancer Founded a Racing Dynasty is the finest work on the subject I have ever read.

Avalyn Hunter walks both the novice fan and hardcore fan through Northern Dancer's early beginnings, his race by race racing career, and his phenominal success as a sire, broodmare sire, and sire of sires. Indexed in Avalyn Hunter's work are the offspring of Northern Dancer, which reads like a Fortune 400 list in a business magazines, and it includes colorful backgrounds of the people behind Northern Dancer, namely breeder E.P. Taylor and trainer Horatio Luro.

Any fan of historical breeding and racing literature will gain from possessing Avalyn Hunter's work. This book will sit on my shelf as a reference tool for many years to come.