Customer Reviews

SHAM: In the Shadow of a Superhorse - Revised

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was thrilled to see that someone had finally written a biography of this great and sadly underrated horse. But aside from the photographs and the interesting summary of the fortunes of 1973's other contenders, this book is a huge disappointment.

The prose reads like a high-school term paper, sprinkled with grammar and vocabulary errors, hyperbolic adjectives and an inexhaustible supply of exclamation points.

A big problem is that Walsh can't decide whose story she's telling. While Secretariat of course will play a pivotal role in any telling of Sham's story, page after page is devoted to details already covered elsewhere about Big Red and his connections, leaving us to wonder what Sham was doing in the meantime.

The book is built almost entirely on secondary sources. Sham's connections are never quoted as part of an original interview, and when the author can't locate a name, people just become a "trainer" or a "groom". Pancho Martin and Laffit Pincay are both still alive, and it's hard to imagine that they would be unwilling to talk about Sham if asked. The only primary source besides Penny Chenery (Tweedy)--also more of a part of Secretariat's story--seems to be Sham's co-owner, Viola Sommer. But instead of letting us hear her words directly, we're given imagined/dramatized conversations with her husband and/or Martin.

And that is the book's biggest flaw: dramatic license that stretches the truth to unacceptable levels. The imagined conversations and "thought bubbles" quickly become a tired device, but far worse are the liberties taken with facts. Walsh writes dramatically of Sham's death under an oak tree in his Walmac paddock, and of his (again unnamed) groom remembering how the horse proudly "pranced toward the breeding shed." In fact, Sham's fatal heart attack occurred in his stall as stated in his obituaries, and he was frequently too keyed up to enter the breeding shed until after repeated attempts, as two of his personal grooms told me when I visited Walmac recently.

Both Nack's and Hillenbrand's books succeed so perfectly because they draw faithfully from the inherent drama of a true story. It was a nice thought, but this can't really be called a biography.

Sham was a very good horse who should not be forgotten. However, there is some misinformation being referred to as factual and also some non-information that would at the very least have been useful, leading me to wonder if this is the best way to remember him. Riva Ridge was referred to as "a lithe, handsome, chestnut horse". Riva Ridge was a bay. Lithe and handsome are opinions, however his color is not. It was also said that Riva Ridge, Key to the Mint, Autobigraphy and Cononero II were engaged in a battle for the 1972 Older Male Eclipse Award. Since Riva Ridge and Key to the Mint were three in 1972, neither horse was eligible for said award. Also one of the reasons I bought the book was to find out more about Sham's pre-Sommer/Martin career. One fact I would have loved to find out was who trained Sham for Claiborne? This person is simply referred to as the trainer. All in all though, I'm glad the attempt was made, however I don't know now whether to trust some facts that I don't have commited to memory.

As a thoroughbred racing fan, I've always had the utmost respect and awe for Secretariat, as I feel he was the epitome of the racehorse, and that's why even to this day, other horses are constantly compared to him (and found wanting). Often forgotten, however, is his worthy opponent, Sham, who very likely may also have been a Triple Crown winner if he hadn't had the misfortune to be born in 1970. I've always had a soft spot for Sham because he tried so hard but was chasing a red rocket, impossible to catch. Even Penny Chenery, Secretariat's owner, said she secretly was rooting Sham on, even if just a little, because he was such a fighter. I like to think that Sham helped push Secretariat on to those record-breaking performances.

Although volumes have been written about Secretariat, I never knew much about Sham before his meetings with Secretariat, nor what happened to him after the Triple Crown - so Mary Walsh's "Sham: In the Shadow of a Superhorse" fills a niche. The author weaves Sham's and Secretariat's stories together, because it's truly impossible to tell one without the other, and she adds a nice chapter at the end which tells us what happened to many of the chief players associated with the two horses, as well as some of their equine competition. This book contains a good deal of information I never knew, has lots of photos (although I wish they were in color), and it's written with obvious affection for the subject. If you're a fan of horse-racing history, this book will make a very nice addition to your library.

Sham is the forgotten champion in the titanic 1970s of Thoroughbred racing. Author Mary Walsh sheds light on a career that lasted 13 races (five wins and places, respectively, and one show finish, at ages two and three), but was pushed into the shadows by the legendary Secretariat.

In a four-race sequence in 1973, Sham (second place) defeated Secretariat (third place) in the Wood Memorial, kicked home to a pair of closing second place finishes to Big Red in the Kentucky Derby (running the second fastest time ever) and Preakness Stakes. But in the Belmont Stakes, Sham's jockey, Laffit Pincay, Jr., was instructed to challenge Secretariat every step of the race......

......Walsh does an outstanding job in exploring Sham's life, with quality summaries of the races, including a wealth of photos, and dispelling the myths surrounding his health after the Belmont Stakes, with a good analysis into the cause of the mid-July injury that forced his retirement.

Sham died at age 23 in April 1993. And even in death, the legacy of Secretariat kept him in second place. The necropsy of both racers found each with enlarged hearts, but Big Red's was larger by a couple pounds.

A biography of Sham should have made it onto the track years ago. Walsh makes the wait well worth it.

I have always said that writers of Thoroughbred biography have to be more than just reporters of brute facts and figures. The best are also poets because at times the poetic image is the only medium capable of describing what horses do. To give sense and image to the motion of a horse requires strokes of words that weave and paint the drama of action and outcome: from the simple materials of walking and trotting to the more complex dangers involved in the midst of racing, from the wrenching experience of defeat to the elation of victory. Mary Walsh has just that talent. From her descriptions of Sham in flight, when he made his moves I could feel the sting of the wind and dirt as it pelted the skin; I could sense the adrenaline rushing through the veins of his riders as they made split second decisions that proved either decisive in victory or critical in defeat. I could experience the sudden bursts of acceleration and the ground swallowing power of Sham's stride as he closed on opponents in the decisive stretches and moments of races. I participated in the joy of his connections in his victories and sympathized with them in his losses, particularly those against Secretariat. And when Sham broke down in the early part of his first workout 4 weeks following the Belmont Stakes, one could comprehend the loss his administrators and trainers endured as his streak of misfortunes appeared never to end. Miss Walsh's representation seemed to treat it as the final outcome of that fateful race. It was a day that almost cost him his life. Instead of returning to the call of the track, his owners syndicated him to a productive stud career at Spendthrift Farm where 70 percent of his starters won races which included close to 50 winners at the stakes level. The cumulative earnings of all his runners summed well into the millions.

Sham was destined to pass away almost unnoticed some twenty years and three days after his remarkable performance in the Santa Anita Derby in 1973. It was the race that gave his trainer Frank Martin such hope in his future. That victory in the blush of youth is how he should be remembered. His descent into obscurity in the wake of his defeats to Secretariat has not been warranted. One is left with a sense of injustice at the simplicity of his Walmac gravestone, but moved that someone there has seen it fit to continuously honor his remains with vases of flowers. Mary Walsh's account of his final moments at the age of 23 is heartfelt. Here I add a personal but smaller version:

"Perhaps in the fog of sleep, the Big Red Tormentor appeared and challenged him once again, but this time on a different track, in a different place, and in a different space. Sham being Sham, always courageous and full of heart, jumped as if something deep within him had awakened, and then pawed high into the early morning sky. In less than an instant, he accepted the challenge."

This work on Sham is long overdue simply because without this powerful challenger, we would not know the Secretariat we know today. Both Sham and Secretariat broke the Kentucky Derby and Preakness records in their duels that season, an unprecedented feat in the history of the Triple Crown. It is the belief of many that but for 1973, Sham could have won most if not all other attempts at the laurel. Certainly, he had the potential to grace the Hall of Fame and may have achieved that end had his career not been cut short.

We give thanks to Mary Walsh for her hard work and for bringing back memories of this wonderful and courageous champion, an honor long deserved.

Thank you Mary.

Because Sham was such a great horse, but had the misfortune of being born in the same crop as Secretariat, it is important that someone finally took the time to help the world remember this unjustly underrated horse. Too bad that Sham ran the second fastest Kentucky Derby ever on the same day Secretariat ran the fastest! In most years Sham would probably have won the Triple Crown. As at least one other reviewer mentioned, this book does have factual errors. (None of which are Sham's fault.) One that popped out at me was the author's statement on page 205 that War Admiral's death was reported about the time Sham was syndicated, which was in 1973. War Admiral died in 1959. In spite of this, thank goodness Walsh has written a book about Sham.

Nice story about not only Sham, but his contemporaries as well. Numerous pictures enhanced the book. The only thing I believe was incorrect by Walsh was the race announcer for the 1973 Kentucky Derby was Chic Anderson and not Jack Whitaker as she said. Whitaker did other reporting and commentating, such as Sham loosing two teeth in the Derby.

Mary Walsh's "Sham: In the Shadow of a Superhorse" is a wonderful story of a somewhat forgotten champion who had the misfortune of racing in the same year as the legendary Secretariat. In any other year, he might have been a Triple Crown winner as well.

Mary Walsh had done a thorough job of researching the time and the place. I was particularly impressed by her style of weaving the story of Sham and Secretariat against the turbulent backdrop of 1973, known best for the events resulting from the Watergate break-in.

Walsh also does a terrific job of alternating between the two rivals, Sham and Secretariat, by introducing us to the faces and personalities in both barns.

I highly recommend this title to anyone who loves the history of the sport and those who realize champions are not always those who walk away with roses on their backs.

Though my husband loves Secretariat he also loves Sham. He bet Sham because he knew Secretariat wouldn't pay anything. He has a framed picture of the cover of this book on his table.

This novel beautifully portrays the true story of an underdog racehorse. Wonderfully written and accurately portrays his life and races. I couldn't put it down!!!! Thanks :)