Champions: The Lives, Times, and Past Performances of the 20th Century's Greatest Thoroughbreds (Hardcover)

by The Editors of Daily Racing Form (Author), The Editors of Daily Racing Form (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
This fantastic collection of pictures and essays detailing the performances of the 20th-century horse racing's truly great runners is meant for the genuine racing enthusiast, people in the industry, breeders, horsemen, and jockeys. A horse named Dr. Fager, a.k.a. "The Doc," got this reviewer hooked on the sport over 30 years ago. All of Doc's 22 lifetime starts and statistics were in the book: an impressive string of wins, a loss to Damascus, and four more consecutive wins culminating in a then record-breaking seven-furlong time. The list of champions is incredible; Domino, Sir Barton, Man O' War, Whirlaway, Sea Biscuit, Secretariat, Native Dancer, Gear, Sweep, and Affirmed are all at the reader's fingertips. Most impressive are the actual recorded data for turn-of-the-century winners that were campaigners. For instance, Roseben raced 111 from 1903 to 1909, having 52 wins and a total 89 times in the money. The public loved Roseben, who only earned $74,000 in prize money but set a record that took over 40 years to beat. With essays by the Daily Racing Form's editors and an impressive statistical appendix, this illustrated reference is for all large sports collections.DMarty Soven, Woodside, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
Man o' War, Whirlaway, Secretariat, and hundreds of other racing immortals come to life as never before in Champions, a ground-breaking and encyclopedic compendium of the greatest racehorses of the last 100 years.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 632 pages
• Publisher: DRF Press; 1 edition (July 24, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964849399
• ISBN-13: 978-0964849396
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #720,735 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for fans who appreciate the history of racing, November 9, 2000

By	Michael Wendt (Vernon Hills, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a big coffee-table book for the parimutuel bettor in your life, in my case, me. There is a chapter for each decade of the 1900s, recounting a few horses' careers and several memorable races, accompanied by pictures of horses in action and at rest. Most of the photos are in black-and-white, and while many are simple side shots of great horses, some of the race photos are stirring, and anyway, the reason for the book's existence is to celebrate and honor the greatest achievements of the thoroughbred bloodline. The bast part of the book, then, is the list at the end of each chapter of the full, career past performances of each of the horses mentioned. And that alone is worth the price of admission. For those of us who appreciate the illustrative, succinct, descriptive nature of the Daily Racing Form, what better use for the power of a single entry than as a vessel for recounting the career of a great thoroughbred? And there are hundreds of them here. We all know how amazing it is to look at the sadly abbreviated line for Ruffian, say, or the now more nostalgic one for Man O' War, but there are so many other great horses here to get reacquainted with. And through them, and the decade summaries, the history of racing. Well done, DRF.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Champions of Thoroughbred Racing, June 9, 2002

By	E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"Champions" by the editors and writers of "The Daily Racing Form" is subtitled: "The Lives, Times, and Past Performances of the 20th Century's Greatest Thoroughbreds." This does not necessarily mean that all of the great Thoroughbreds are included in the text of the book. Gallorette, for example, has her lifetime track performance record included in "Past Performances: 1940's," but there is no text description of this fine racing mare's history.

This is a big, glossy, coffee-table-sized book with many photographs (some in color) of the century's great Thoroughbreds. Another book with a similar theme is "Thoroughbred Champions: Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century" by the staff of the "Blood-Horse." I'd choose "The Daily Racing Form (DRF)" book over the "Blood-Horse" book for better writing, and vice-versa for better organization and price---the DRF 'Champions' is organized by decade and the "Blood Horse" Champions is organized by Thoroughbred (and is much less expensive).

All of the triple crown winners are in the DRF "Champions" text, as are the sterling performers of the 'Class of 1954:' Bold Ruler; Round Table; Gallant Man; Gen. Duke, Iron Liege; and Federal Hill. After listening to many of the racing commentators castigate the current crop of three-year-olds as 'ordinary,' it is a pleasure to read about what was probably the "finest 3-year-old campaign in history"---Bold Ruler was "one of the fastest horses ever to race in America" and went on to have an extraordinary career at stud. "Round Table is hailed as one of the finest turf horses of the century," and of course 1957 was the year that Bill Shoemaker misjudged the finish line during the Kentucky Derby and stood up in his stirrups too soon, giving the race to Iron Liege over Gallant Man.

If you enjoyed "Seabiscuit" and would like to learn more about the great race horses of the twentieth century, I recommend both this book, and its rival by the staff of the "Blood-Horse."

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A FANTASTIC REFERENCE TO HAVE ON HAND!, September 13, 2003

By	feemeister (United States) - See all my reviews

I bought this as a birthday gift for my 25 year-old daughter, and it's her favorite of anything I have ever given her! She has always been really good at spouting names, numbers, years, tenths of a seconds, etc. Now she'll be insufferable! This book is absolutely loaded with all the racing stats you could ever think of! She actually WHOOPED when she opened the package!!! She opened it and explained all the racing stats to me--she understood every bit as soon as she saw it (I was still in boondoggled land!) The book DID have some of my favorite recent horses in it (such as Bertrando and Paseana) and it had ALL of her favorites in there! It also contains pretty much all the great horses of the century. One thing even I noticed and really loved in this book, is it tells who the jockey was in each race.

And of course, the unsurpassable Secretariat is in here; all his races. I still think that seeing him win the Belmont and with it the Triple Crown, was the greatest moment in sports history! The reruns are unreal, but there was NOTHING like seeing it happen!

I can't speak as an owner, trainer, or one who bets. But as a "serious fan" of racing, I can truly say this is one extraordinary reference manual to have on hand. WELL worth the price!