Customer Reviews

Man o' War (Thoroughbred Legends)

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

 

 

In this first biography of Man o' War in 50 years, Ed Bowen tells the story of "Big Red" like never before. I learned all kinds of stuff that I, even here in horse country, never knew about this great horse. This book is the first in a new series of racehorse biographies that looks pretty exciting - There's a Web site that goes with the series that has cool archival footage of Man o' War in action!

This book is the first in a series of biographies of famous racehorses published by BLOOD HORSE magazine. This first volume, on Man O' War, is excellent. Bowen discusses not only Man O' War's life and career, he also discusses Big Red's pedigree and the backgrounds of his connections such as owner Sam Riddle, breeder August Belmont II, and trainer Louis Feustel.

This book, like the others in the series, is small in size but big in content. I was so impressed with this book that I plan to buy all the rest of the books in the series. If you're a racing fan, you will also want this book.

While I am only a novice racing fan, I find that this horse, Man O War is the measure by which all others are compared. The facts and details were at times over my head due to my lack of over all knowledge about the owner/breeder racing system. I found the book interesting and was inspired to even visit the grave of this king of horses when in Ky this year.

I'm just like 11 and I know, this book is not for like people my age but here goes. Ed Bowen made Man O' War sound like a things that dreams are made up of, like a legend, when he was actually a real horse. He threw all this extravagant adjectives together when the story could have been told with simplicity and still could have captured the greatness of Man O' War. He makes it sound like a history book, giving us the history of Major Belmont and his ancestors. What's up with that? This is a book about Man O' War. He could have made it sound more interesting, instead of just facts and more facts. Maybe, some personal things about Man O' War. It lacked emotion; I mean he didn't even give his opinion of Man O' War.

I know I trashed the writer and the book but it gave us more insight into Man O' War, what people thought of him and his racing life. It just wasn't something, I was looking for. I would like to recommend books like Secretariat: The Makings Of A Champion by William Nack.

I REALLY ENJOYED THE BOOK, IT IS WORTH BUYING, BUT IT IS NOT AS GOOD AS THE BOOK MAN O' WAR BY PAGE COOPER AND ROGER TREAT.
WHICH IS ONE OF THE VERY BEST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ.

Edward L. Bowen is an Eclipse Award-winning Turf writer, formerly editor-in-chief of "The Blood-Horse" magazine, and currently president of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. I believe his most recently published book is "Nashua," which is volume eight of the `Thoroughbred Legends' series.

In "Man o'War", Bowen ambles gently through the races, sales histories, and breeding record of 20th century America's greatest Thoroughbred. There are also black-and-white photographs and a chart of all of Big Red's races, where he was first twenty out of twenty-one times.

Of course, the race that Man o'War lost gets the most print. As Bowen puts it, "Few events in sports have been recalled as often as the 1919 Sanford Memorial." Consensus finally blamed the loss on the jockey, John Loftus although a fictional account I read of Man o'War's life had the two-year-old chestnut stumbling to his knees at the start of the Sanford. Bowen has tracked down another theory in the newspapers of the day: Man o'War was sideways at the start and when the barrier was sprung, he had to play catch-up for the rest of the six furlong race.

Upset beat Big Red. We Man o'War fans have to accept that. However, the big chestnut stallion by Fair Play out of Mahubah was still voted the best American race horse of the century by the "Blood-Horse" magazine, and again in another poll conducted by the Associated Press.

I don't think Upset left much of a record behind at stud, although the breeding shed was another arena where Man o'War excelled. Bowen spends some print defending Samuel Riddle's rather eccentric breeding theories. By today's standards Man o'War was not bred very often or to the cream of the mare crop, but his few progeny did exceedingly well. His son War Admiral "was a major link in guaranteeing the ongoing influence of Big Red insofar as successful producing daughters." His son War Relic sired only fourteen stakes winners, but several of his progeny kept the Man o'War sire line alive into the 21st century, mainly through In Reality, and later through the 1990 Kentucky Derby winner, Unbridled.

Bowen is an unhurried, knowledgeable writer and although this book isn't as exciting as some that come later in the series, his retelling of the legend of "The Mostest Hoss" is still worth reading.

I am adult age and fully agree with the 11 year old reviewer; this book was a huge disapointment! There is too little detail about the horse and no real feeling involved. Man O'War was an all-time marvel; is it too much to ask for some of that story? Was this a designated project with historical reasearch or time limited? I had planned to purchase the entire series, this is the end of that idea.

This was a good book. But if you want to read a better one on Man O' War then read MAN O' WAR - A LEGEND LIKE LIGHTNING has a lot more info and facts.

I really enjoyed this book. It not only told the story of Man O War but also the people that made him a legend. Man O War was voted number one on the Blood Horse top 100 horses of the 20 century. This book is a must read!

I agree with the 11 year old reviewer; this book was a huge disapointment! There is too little detail about the horse and no real feeling involved. Man O'War was an all-time marvel; is it too much to ask for some of that story? Was this a designated project with historical reasearch limited? I had planned to purchase the entire series, forget that idea!