Personal Ensign: Thoroughbred Legends [Hardcover]

Bill Heller (Author)

Book Description

Series: Thoroughbred Legends | Publication Date: November 25, 2001

Personal Ensign achieved that rarest of goals in horse racing--a perfect record.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bill Heller covers the Saratoga meet every summer and also writes a daily Saratoga Journal on his website. As the handicapper for the Schenectady Daily, he finished as the leading public handicapper for the 2000 Saratoga meet. This is his seventeenth book. He profiled Thoroughbred legends Go for Wand, Personal Ensign, and Forego; wrote Graveyard of Champions; and most recently authored Go For the Green, a handicapping book about turf racing. Heller was born in Liberty, New York, and graduated from the University of Albany.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Eclipse Press; 1 edition (November 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581500602
• ISBN-13: 978-1581500608
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,894,038 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 Excellent book about a great horse, November 5, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Personal Ensign: Thoroughbred Legends (Hardcover)

I saw Personal Ensign race at Belmont and she was such an awesome racehorse, one of the best I was privileged to see. I also saw her Breeder's Cup on television and when everyone thought she was beaten, she displayed a tremendous amount of courage and passed Winning Colors at the last second. She is one of the very few American champions that have an undefeated record; when she retired she was 13 for 13. What is even more incredible is that Personal Ensign was injured at two and recovered from an operation to correct the damage and came back from the injury better than ever. She was elected to the Racing Hall of Fame several years later and produced three stakes winners, including the outstanding filly, My Flag, who also won a Breeder's Cup race. She was also named "Broodmare of the Year" because of her outstanding record. Bill Heller captures the grace and poise of the champion racemare in his excellent contribution to the Thoroughbred Legends Series. He describes her pedigree and presents biographical background about her owners, trainer, and jockey. Some remarkable champions appear in her pedigree notably Damascus, Buckpasser, Numbered Account and Hoist the Flag. Included are: her pedigree chart, a Daily Racing Form past performances chart and several pages of photographs. Some rare photos are provided including those of Personal Ensign with some of her offspring, including My Flag as a foal. Personal Ensign is one of the best mares to race in the 20th Century and Bill Heller's book is well worth reading.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What a Horse, Too Bad About the Writer, December 29, 2001

By 

Jena Ball "Jena Ball" (North Carolina, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Personal Ensign: Thoroughbred Legends (Hardcover)

Personal Ensign is truly one of thoroughbred racing's finest and most inspiring legends. Here is a filly who could run with the best of them, even the colts. Not only did she win every single race she was ever entered in, but she was able to recover from a broken pastern bone (a break that is often fatal), and race in top form again thanks to the wizardry of a remarkable surgeon and the devoted care of her trainer and stable crew.

Unfortunately, the author tries to do too much, attempting to cover the lives of not just the filly, but her ancestors, trainers and owners as well. If the book was several hundred pages long, and the author had the time and space to really develop his subjects, it could have been intriguing. Instead what we get is a mismash of information that never allows the reader to really experience and feel what it was like to own and train a top quality thoroughbred. He doesn't begin to touch on the horse herself until Chapter 5.

My reaction is of course partly due to personal preference in reading material. When I buy a book about a famous athlete, whether it be a cyclist, thoroughbred or dancer, I am wanting to know what makes that athlete special, the circumstances that shape his or her personality, the people and situations that determine how a career unfolds. I want details, coherence and insightful commentary on how the story unfolds. I don't want a lot of casual facts and extraneous data.

What I missed in this book was Personal Ensign herself, which is a shame since even her photographs make it clear that she shone as a personality as well as a racer. Not a book for those who really want to feel what this horse was all about.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An awesome book on the superfilly!, November 25, 2001

By 

Raymond "Raymond" (Williamsville, New York USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Personal Ensign: Thoroughbred Legends (Hardcover)

Anyone who loves the superfilly and admires the job her handlers and owners have done shouldn't hesitate in purchasing this book. Not only does it tell her story from birth to undefeated champion to broodmare of the year, it tells the stories of the Phipps family, trainer Shug McGaughey and Shug's assistant trainer Buzz Tenney, all of whom clearly cooperated to a great degree in the writing of Ensign's story. I thank them all for such a wonderful tribute to a magnificent filly, and for sharing their stories.