Matriarchs: Great Mares of the 20th Century (Hardcover)

by Edward L. Bowen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Behind each great racehorse, there's also a great mare In "Matriarchs", Ed Bowen's fluent and entertaining account focuses on 24 of the most illustrious mares of the 20th century. While tracing the histories of these mares, Bowen tells a great deal about racing people, too. In the chapter on Alcibiades, for example, the reader gets an incisive account of the great breeder, trainer and Keeneland founder Hal Price Headley.

But this is a book about great mares, and one of the greatest was La Troienne. Her legacy continues across eight generations, which have produced an astonishing 815 stakes winners as of April.

"Breeders the world over strive, and hope, for just such a mare," Claiborne Farm's Seth Hancock writes in the introduction. "They don't come along often, and the only advice I would give to anyone who comes up with a mare like that is to remember not to get to feeling smart - just feel lucky." -- Art Jester, The Lexington Herald-Leader, August 15, 1999

Edward L. Bowen is an extraordinarily talented and knowledgeable turf writer, earning a reputation as one of recing's foremost authorities. -- James E. Bassett III, chairman, Keeneland Association

Fascinating background on the great broodmares by a master storyteller. -- Joe Hirsch, Daily Racing Form

Product Description
In this long awaited study of the female side of the Thoroughbred breeding equation, Eclipse Award winning author Edward L. Bowen offers a study of twenty-four broodmares which have had lasting influences on the Sport of Kings.

On the importance of matriarchs to the international Thoroughbred industry, Claiborne Farm's Seth Hancock writes in the foreward to Matriarchs: Great Mares of the 20th Century, "Breeders the world over strive, and hope, for just such a mare. They don't come along often, and the only advice I would ever give to anyone who comes up with a mare like that is to remember not to get to feeling smart-just feel lucky."

Bowen's study of twenty-four of these great mares includes five cross pedigrees, produce records and, in a separate section, tail female lines. The latter chronicles a mare's influence through her daughters to the present day with scores of familiar names as well as some new ones destined to achieve their own greatness. For example, the influence of broodmare La Troienne extends over eight generations and is manifested in an incredible 815 stakes winners through mid-April, 1999.

Matriarchs: Great Mares of the 20th Century tells twenty-three other success stories and includes some rare photographs of the subject mares as well as contemporary photos of famous descendants. Several of the more contemporary subject mares have comparably abbreviated tail female lines to that of La Troienne but their influence undoubtedly will extend into the next century.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 223 pages
• Publisher: Eclipse Press (August 25, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158150022X
• ISBN-13: 978-1581500226
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,182,055 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Top American Thoroughbred broodmares and their descendants, April 18, 2001

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

You should already be somewhat knowledgeable about the history of American Thoroughbreds before reading "Matriarchs". Otherwise this book will probably remind you of a long Sunday School spin through the 'begats' in the Book of Genesis.

However, Bowen has produced a treasure for those of us who like to flip to the back pages of "The Blood-Horse" every week and pore over the genealogy charts of the stakes winners. If you catch a loved one doing this and muttering phrases like, "Inbred 3x4 to Nijinsky II, eh? No wonder she toes out," then "Matriarchs" could be 'the' perfect birthday gift.

Edward L. Bowen is an Eclipse Award-winning Turf writer, formerly editor-in-chief of "The Blood-Horse" magazine, and currently president of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. I believe his most recently published book is "Nashua," which is volume eight of the 'Thoroughbred Legends' series.

In "Matriarchs", Bowen ambles gently through the race records, sales histories, and 'begats' of 20th century America's twenty-four most influential Thoroughbred matriarchs. There are also black-and-white photographs and (of course) genealogy charts of the mares and their famous descendants. The author fleshes out what could have been a very dry volume of statistics with anecdotes about the mares and their colorful owners, and some of the theorizing that goes into the breeding of these beautiful, courageous animals. Here is his riff on The Bride, a foal of Somethingroyal:

"In 1969, Somethingroyal foaled a Bold Ruler filly who went to Ogden Phipps [as part of a foal sharing agreement]...Named The Bride, she was unplaced, but produced stakes winners At Ease and Heavenly Match. Short of winning the Derby or rescuing children from a burning building, there was little The Bride could have done to avoid being known in history as the one-who-was-not-Secretariat."

"Matriarchs" should be savored for its rich detail, not read in one sitting. I suggest you dip into its pages at bedtime and drift off to Bowen's amiable and knowledgeable tale of La Troienne and her descendents, or the perils and triumphs of the imported Rough Shod II, or the career of the great champion, Cicada.

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 2 Very Enthusiastic Thumbs Up, April 4, 2000

By	melissa "melkap13" (US) - See all my reviews

This was amazing. So much interesting information. I could not put it down.