Thoroughbred Racing's Greatest Day: The Breeders' Cup 20th Anniversary Celebration [Hardcover]

Perry Lefko (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2003

The year 2003 marks the 20th anniversary of the Breeder's Cup and veteran horse racing authorponying up with hefty nomination payments. It is the ultimate example of putting your money where your mouth is. Lefko details a comprehensive history of the event with insight on the major players who shape it year after year.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Horse racing fans will welcome this history of the Breeders' Cup...Recommended for all racing collections. (Library Journal )

This is an excellent book for all fans of racing. Those who have followed the Breeders' Cup since its inception will enjoy reliving the memories of the last twenty years, while new fans will quickly earn a appreciation of how important the Cup is to racing and learn a few stories about the human and equine greats that make the sport what it is today. (Www.Horse-Races.Net )

...stands alone as the most definitive book on the Breeders' Cup. (Bill Finley Thoroughbred Daily News )

It's an event that's a magnet for controversy. It brings together a unique mix of the ultra-rich and the dirt poor, highly educated aristocracy and toothless grade school dropouts. Its very existence defies long odds - - and yet it somehow continues to gallop along, a showcase for the majesty and grace of its competitors. Lefko's book takes the reader inside a day of racing that annually brings together the best horses from around the world. (Paul Wiecek Winnepeg Free Press )

Thoroughbred Racing's Greatest Day delivers information and moving stories about the Breeders' Cup. Perry Lefko pens this '20th Anniversary Celebration' with style, insight, and enthusiasm, beginnning with a history of how the Breeders' Cup came into existence. Lefko covers the gamut of what it takes to bring a horse to the Breeders' Cup from its inaugural running in California to the 2002 meeting. (Lauren Giannini In and Around Horse Country )

Thoroughbred Racing's Greatest Day delivers information and moving stories about the Breeders' Cup. Perry Lefko pens this '20th Anniversary Celebration' with style, insight, and enthusiasm, beginnning with a history of how the Breeders' Cup came into existence. Lefko covers the gamut of what it takes to bring a horse to the Breeders' Cup from its inaugural running in California to the 2002 meeting. (Lauren Giannini In and Around Horse Country )

A great read is Thoroughbred Racing's Greatest Day by Perry Lefko, who writes about 25 of the most interesting stories from Breeders' Cup history. (Tom Wolski Vancouver Province )

A great read is Thoroughbred Racing's Greatest Day by Perry Lefko, who writes about 25 of the most interesting stories from Breeders' Cup history. (Tom Wolski Vancouver Province )

Lefko has produced a history of the meetng that will have equal appeal on both sides of the Atlantic (Racing Post )

A fine book (Las Vegas Review Journal )

Perry Lefko pens this "20th Anniversary Celebration" with style, insight, and enthusiasm, beginnging with a history of how the Breeder's Cup came into existence. Lefko covers the gamut of what it takes to bring a horse to the Breeder's Cup from its inaugural running in California to the 2002 meeting. (Lauren Giannini In and Around Horse Country )

Lefko goes into great detail about the history of the Breeder's Cup and gives readers a distinctive look into some of the sport's personalities. Lefko's work is a worthwhile book for all racing fans and for those even simply intrigued by the sport. (Felix Chavez Las Cruces Sun )

Up close and personal look at superstar trainers jockeys, owners and other personalities form just one layer of this book that will appeal to fans of thoroughbreds. (Www.Sportsology.Net )

About the Author

Perry Lefko has been with theToronto Sun since 1985 and has covered thoroughbred horse racing since 1986. He has won three Canadian Sovereign Awards for articles on horse racing. He is the author ofThe Greatest Show on Turf: A History of the Breeders' Cup (0-9648493-3-X). He lives in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada with his wife and two children.

Perry Lefko has been with theToronto Sun since 1985 and has covered thoroughbred horse racing since 1986. He has won three Canadian Sovereign Awards for articles on horse racing. He is the author ofThe Greatest Show on Turf: A History of the Breeders' Cup (0-9648493-3-X). He lives in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada with his wife and two children.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing; 1st Taylor Trade Pub. Ed edition (October 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1589790138
• ISBN-13: 978-1589790131
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,333,958 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Of Horses and Men, December 4, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Thoroughbred Racing's Greatest Day: The Breeders' Cup 20th Anniversary Celebration (Hardcover)

Thoroughbred racing is a story more complex than simply which horse finished first. In this engaging "behind the scenes" look, the author lifts the veil to reveal an array of characters and events that have shaped the Breeders' Cup. Obviously well-researched, this book provides in-depth portraits of the Breeders' "players". Written in an amiable voice that takes the reader deep into the world of professional horse racing, one gets a clear sense of the monies, time and emotions invested by jockeys and owners alike. Avoiding pondering, pedantic rhetoric, this book is written by and for horse racing aficionados. Each chapter profiles winners, losers and horse whisperers and makes for entertaining reading. If you or someone you know is interested in horse racing, I recommend this book be included on your holiday gift list.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Could have used a better editor., January 28, 2005

By 

Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Lakewood, OH) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thoroughbred Racing's Greatest Day: The Breeders' Cup 20th Anniversary Celebration (Hardcover)

Perry Lefko, Thoroughbred Racing's Greatest Day (Taylor, 2003)

First, be advised: this is not a new book. If you've read Lefko's The Greatest Show on Turf, this is a revised and updated edition to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the first running of the Breeders' Cup. I hadn't read the book the first time around, so I can't compare the two, but take note if you have.

They changed the title, but didn't really make it any clearer: Thoroughbred Racing's Greatest Day is about the Breeders' Cup. Non-fans are more likely to think it has something o do with the Kentucky Derby. Hardcore fans will think any of a hundred days (the Dubai World Cup? Grand National? Melbourne Cup, a national holiday in Australia?), the Breeders' Cup being one of them. The last group are right. Various and sundry stories about specific Breeders' Cup days, specific Breeders' Cup horses or families of horses, owners, trainers, Lefko pretty much covers the gamut of stories here.

It will do the reader well to remember that Perry Lefko is a journalist. He is also unaware that a book-length piece requires a different writing style than a newspaper article. It is best to treat this book as a series of very long newspaper articles; it'll help you get through it quite well. If that were the book's only problem, I'd probably give it an above-average rating and move on. However, the book has a number of errors that it's hard to believe any horse fan would make (most notably, the sporadic misspelling of the names of champion horses, like 1998 Breeders' Cup Distaff winner Escena). While I tried not to let it affect my judgment, Lefko, like most of the rest of the media, is obsessed with the Most Overhyped Event in American History(TM), and in any passage of the book dealing with the 2001 or 2002 Breeders' Cup, there will be far more mention of 9/11 than could possibly be warranted.

Recommended only for already-established racing fans. The rest of you would do far better to start off with something better-written (unfortunately, I'm not familiar with anything focusing specifically on the Breeders' Cup in book form that's better-written); William Murray's The Wrong Horse is a lovely introduction to the world of Thoroughbred racing, as is Bill Barich's classic combination of novel and memoir Laughing in the Hills. ** ½

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard work results in excellent book, January 14, 2004

By 

"seo993" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thoroughbred Racing's Greatest Day: The Breeders' Cup 20th Anniversary Celebration (Hardcover)

This an excellent book for anyone interested in horseracing and especially the Breeders' Cup.

I was lucky enough to spend some time with Lefko in the Press Box at Woodbine in the early 1990s and also while he was writing the first edition of this book in New York in 1995.

He is without a doubt the hardest working reporter I have ever met and it certainly shows in these tales of the great (and not so great) steeds and the people that love them, train them, ride them, live with them and and bet on them - legally and otherwise (Chapter 21 - The Fix Six).

Lefko probably did over 1000 interviews while researching this labor of love and he has woven these interviews together with previously uncovered gems of information to create a superb read.

Angel Cordeo, Franki Dettori, Pat Day, Cigar, Lukas, Arazi, the Paulson's, little known tidbits of horsey history, comments from real racing fans and more make this book one of a kind and a must for any racing fan.