Customer Reviews

Secretariat: Thoroughbred Legends

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Tim Capps has written several of the Thoroughbred Legends books and my thoughts on his previous efforts (Spectacular Bid and Affirmed/Alydar) were that he really didn't make any effort in writing them. It just seemed like he went through magazine and newspaper articles and came up with a 175 page summary (which was well-written, but seemed empty). When I saw that he was to write the Legends bio of my equine hero, Secretariat, I was apprehensive at the prospect, especially since two outstanding books (by Raymond Woolf and Bill Nack) had already been written about Big Red.

But I have to say that Capps did a great job with the limitations of the Legends format. He states right up front that he was apprehensive of doing the project because of the aforementioned books which had been published about Secretariat. But he states that Secretariat was his favorite and he wanted to do him justice. He has. Obviously there is not the detail that is contained in Nack's book or the beautiful photography of Woolf's book, but Capps gives a clear story of each of Secreatiat's races, plus some of the behind the scenes dealings related to his syndication.

I didn't learn anything new with Capps' book since I have read everything I could about Secretariat, but this would be a great book for a young horse racing fan who wants to learn about this great horse with the big heart.

I am a huge fan of Secretariat and bought this little book as much to add to my shelf as anything. It is a quick read whose strength is in clearly describing the races in clear, casual prose. The author admits his prejudice in favor of Big Red and anyone who touches him, and as I too love the horse, I am sympathetic. The Making of a Champion (William Nack) is the 'definitive' Secretariat biography. The You Tube videos of Secretariat's races plus the picture book "Secretariat" by Raymond Wollfe together with the books demonstrate the power, athleticism, astonishing beauty and the race intelligence of this horse that this little book is not up to conveying. I sometimes think that Secretariat would have won his races without a jockey, which is unfair and unkind to Ron Turcotte, but the animal wanted to win and had the package to do it--by 31 lengths at the legendary Belmont. If you are a fan, pick up the book. If you are colelcting the Triple Crown winnders, pick up the book. If you want to get to know Secretariat try the other sources first.Secretariat: The Making of a Champion; Secretariat, Updated Edition

In the wake of the Big Brown Bomb fiasco, one would hope for a little more in the way of mementos of the life of the equine Prometheus, yet the pickings are still slim - you don't even see Secretariat's SportsCentury show on ESPN Classic anymore.

Besides this one, the only other mass-market book about Secretariat with any availability is the William Nack biography which I review on its Amazon page. I prefer this to the Nack book because of its pithier style - a good example is the discussion of Secretariat's lineage where Capps does a much better job of referencing it to overall horse racing history.
There are still too few photographs, but the ones included are much more pertinent than those in Nack's.

Until we get a DVD from ESPN, this is my first choice for an introduction to the greatest four-legged athlete.

It's hard not to write something good about Secretariat and Tim Capps does a nice job of it. Although I think that the book by William Knack is the best on the subject, this one is well worth adding to your personal library, especially if you collect the Thoroughbred Legends Series (24 in all).