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Man o' War: A Legend Like Lightning Hardcover – May 2, 2006

by Dorothy Ours (Author)

77 customer reviews

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His trainer said that managing him was like holding a tiger by the tail. His owner compared him to "chain lightning." His jockeys found their lives transformed by him, in triumphant and distressing ways. All of them became caught in a battle for honesty.
Born in 1917, Man o' War grew from a rebellious youngster into perhaps the greatest racehorse of all time. He set such astonishing speed records that The New York Times called him a "Speed Miracle." Often he won with so much energy in reserve that experts wondered how much faster he could have gone. Over the years, this and other mysteries would envelop the great Man o' War.
The truth remained problematic. Even as Man o' War---known as "Big Red"---came to power, attracting record crowds and rave publicity, the colorful sport of Thoroughbred racing struggled for integrity. His lone defeat, suffered a few weeks before gamblers fixed the 1919 World Series, spawned lasting rumors that he, too, had been the victim of a fix.
Tackling old beliefs with newly uncovered evidence, Man o' War: A Legend Like Lightning shows how human pressures collided with a natural phenomenon and brings new life to an American icon. The genuine courage of Man o' War, tribulations of his archrival, Sir Barton (America's first Triple Crown winner), and temptations of their Hall of Fame jockeys and trainers reveal a long-hidden tale of grace, disgrace, and elusive redemption.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Unfortunately for authors like Ours, who has worked at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, all horse racing books must now be judged in light of Laura Hillenbrand's outstanding Seabiscuit. And while Man o' War (born in 1917), voted by racing experts as the No. 1 American race horse of the 20th century, kept winning his races and breaking speed records, Ours's account of his career isn't even in the money. This is a far less sophisticated recounting than Hillenbrand's, lacking the broad social context, and since Man o' War was a winner from the get-go, Ours lacks a dramatic narrative arc. But she does have a command of horse-racing technique and history, and offers some interesting tidbits and anecdotes. Sometimes the book feels puffed: for a while it focuses more on another champion, Sir Barton, than on Man o' War; only much later does it become clear why-the two great horses finally meet in a match race, and at this point, the pace of the story picks up nicely for a dramatic finish.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Laura Hillenbrand, in her best-selling Seabiscuit (2001), set the bar awfully high for scholarly research in just about any genre, let alone what might be called racehorse biographies. Very much to her credit, Ours meets Hillenbrand's standard in her exhaustively researched account of the career and human connections of Man o' War, usually conceded to be the greatest racehorse who ever competed in America. Man o' War dominated racing in 1919 and 1920, winning 20 of 21 starts and setting speed records nearly every time he raced as a three-year-old. Such uninterrupted excellence, however, poses a problem for any biographer. Man o' War's saga lacks the drama of Seabiscuit's rise from obscurity and comeback from injury. Nor are the stories of Man o' War's human connections as compelling as those of Seabiscuit's, though the history of jockey Johnny Loftus is more than intriguing. Also of great interest is the remarkably detailed account of Man o' War's most famous race, a showdown with the older Sir Barton, America's first Triple Crown winner, at an unlikely bush track in Canada. Finally, Ours uncovers the true reasons for Man o' War's early retirement, which ended a career that seemed destined to dwarf the accomplishments of those who came before him and set an impossibly high standard for those who followed. Even without Seabiscuit's dramatic trappings, this is must reading for racing fans, and it will reward anyone with an interest in the history of American sport. Dennis Dodge
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product details

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (May 2, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312340990
ISBN-13: 978-0312340995
Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.2 x 9.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
Average Customer Review: 77 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #580,380 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #169 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Individual Sports > Horses > Racing
- #3078 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Sports & Outdoors

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More history about horses, rating and just the history of that time

August 22, 2018

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I thought at first that this book was a little condensed and perhaps was for kids. Then I got into it and found that it added
more about the Man's personality than some accounts have said. He is generally portrayed as almost as bad as his sire and grand sire in temper and nervousness. However, it is apparent that he liked his jockeys and they liked and trusted him. Mr. Riddle was not quite the guy who depresses all at the party as he seemed to be much more open about sharing Big Red and his farm with the public than with War Admiral but he was younger then. That was good to learn. The pictures are a delightful bonus. To stand a picture of Man o War next to one of Secretariat would start a new war on social media about which horse was greater as they both had magnificent conformation and you could see the determination in their eyes. Lastly there is an appendix at the end giving a history of the foundation sires of the American Thoroughbred breed as well as Man O War's lineage and the foals he sired with their racing history. Don't write this one off. This book is appealing to horse lovers and non horse lovers alike. It provides a good peak at the good and bad of horse racing.

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Solipso

A good look at a great racing horse and a revealing peek at his era

March 26, 2013

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I have not researched the matter, but this is probably the best biography of Man o' War--not too much, not too little, easily read. I don't see how another biography could be significantly better. Dorothy Ours is knowledgeable regarding race horses, and her book is fairly new, copyright in 2006. Palatable with tasty details and anecdotes supported by footnotes, photos, and index, her prose is suitable for anyone.

As with Laura Hillenbrand's best-selling SEABISCUIT, the story of Man o' War--who was called "Red" by stable hands and friends--has moments of suspense and moments that fill your chest with goodness, making you want to stand up and cheer. But biographies in general have a downside: they usually do not end with a bang, like those of Admiral Nelson or President Kennedy. Most lives extend beyond peaks of fame and achievement, and as lackluster as those later years may be, the biographer is obliged to describe them. Fortunately, though Man o' War lived twenty-seven years beyond his peak, Ms Ours compresses those years to about twenty pages and makes them tolerable, if not as arousing as earlier moments.

As well as telling the story of Man o' War, Ms Ours tells the stories of owners, jockeys, trainers, reporters, and others involved with him and his sport. And you get a glimpse of the horse-racing underworld: fixed races, doped horses, and sabotage against horses and jockeys. She also conveys the spirit of the time: women were entering the electorate, and prohibition was creating disrespect for the law. So you do not need to be a horse-racing fan to appreciate this pastiche of history.

4 people found this helpful5 people found this helpful

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Mel S

Backstretch Confidential on Big Red

August 26, 2016

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Nice book, full of history and human interest, including the bizarre politics of NY racing and the Jockey Club. However, it was a bit short on the kind of "horsey" information that horse lovers crave. Such a shame not to have included more about Will Harbut's relationship to Man O'War, but gave a clear portrait of the man himself. Good read.

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Pianoman

Incredible story that sheds light onto a horse unlike any other in history

March 16, 2014

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Man O' War's story is beautiful, gripping, empowering and frustrating. He was in such a class by himself that there is no denying that we never truly got to see Man O' War to his fullest extent. While this book does its best to dispel rumors and myths about Man O' War, it also makes it shockingly clear just how fast and incredibly multi-faceted this horse was. Man O' War could handle distances both short and long, and he often set both American and World Records running only against himself, as unfortunately the more people realized how fast he was, the less likely anyone wanted to try and face him.

While the book starts off a little slow, Ms. Ours ultimately weaves a cohesive and informative story with many insights into the personal challenges and struggles that both Man O' War, his trainer Lou, his jockeys, and his owner Sam Riddle had to face as they came to realize the sheer power of the horse in their hands. Ms. Ours also does a wonderful job giving us some context for the time by sharing information about Sir Barton, the first triple crown winner who would come to be seen by the public as Man o' War's biggest challenger, which helps set the stage for Man o' War's epic match race with him at the end. I really enjoyed learning about Sir Barton because when you see all of his accomplishments it creates an actual sense of rivalry while also really shedding light on just how incredibly fast Man o' War was, as the final race with Sir Barton gives you a pretty straight comparison between the two horses.

Man O' War is a legend not only because he broke many records and scared other horse owners from even racing him (as time went on), but he also is a legend because there still remains some doubt as to whether we ever saw Man O' War pressed to his full extent, not to mention we never did see him race as a four year old (for understandable reasons). In fact the book only recounts one instance where a whip was used on him, and only one time, and when the whip hit he took off ahead of another horse in the last few furlongs so fast that people couldn't believe he could have any energy left to do that at the pace he was setting. Here was a horse so fast and powerful it is likely we will never see such a spectacle again.

For horse racing lovers and sports history lovers, Dorothy Ours has done a masterful work with Man O' War.

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