His trainer, Bud Delp, called him "the greatest horse ever to look through a bridle." Strong words indeed, but any naysayers may change their minds after they read this, the ninth book in the Thoroughbred Legends series from Eclipse Press.

The first chapter, "Light on Paper", goes through a rather detailed study of Spectacular Bid's family. It is made clear that there was some greatness in his pedigree, but when he was brought to the sales ring, he was sold for a bargain price of $37,000 when his buyers were ready to spend $50,000 or more. The following chapters go on to show that may well have been the steal of the decade if not the century.

With his first few starts, it didn't take long to figure out that he was definitely something special. As a two-year-old, he was already setting track records while demolishing fields by widening lengths. But what made his feats even more amazing was that, by today's standards he would be considered over-raced for a juvenile, having run nine times from his debut in June of 1978 to his final start of the year in November.

As a three-year-old he picked up right where he left off, embarrassing his competition. The author said it best when he wrote, "Here was, in fact, little drama about the 105th Kentucky Derby." It would take a safety pin, found imbedded in his left front foot on Belmont morning, to deny him the Triple Crown. Losing by 3 1/4 lengths, it was obvious something was wrong considering he completed the grueling 1 1/2 mile distance without changing leads.

As a four-year-old, he had to carry more and more weight as racing secretaries attempted to level the playing field between the Bid and everybody else, but they failed every time as he completed his tour of California. His career would come to an end after a walkover in the 1980 Woodward Stakes, having scared away his competition. He was retired before the Jockey Club Gold Cup, with a sprained ankle, the veterinarian advising he could break down if he ran again.

Sadly, Spectacular Bid, like his close relative in the Bold Ruler line, Secretariat, never was able to reproduce himself. The final chapter mirrors the first, a study of bloodlines. Bold Ruler had become unfashionable and so the quality of the mares brought to Spectacular Bid diminished over time. As a result, his first yearlings sold for an average of $708,182, but three years later they were averaging $141,000 and clearly the bottom had fallen out. His owner did what was best and moved him to more modest surroundings at Milfer Farm in upstate New York in 1991. He remains there to this day, now standing for a stud fee of only $3,500.

The other sad story from the book concerns his young jockey Ronnie Franklin, who was his regular rider for the early half of his career. After being arrested for cocaine possession, he was taken off Spectacular Bid and replaced by Bill Shoemaker. "A sad tale of substance abuse and denial that would destroy a meteoric career."

I would recommend this book especially to someone who did not experience Spectacular Bid's career as it happened. Today's horses could not hold a candle to him, and we may never see another one like this again. Here was a horse that could both sprint and go a distance, could dominate his peers at ages two, three, and four, could win on both coasts, and could carry weights as high as 132 pounds. About the only thing he didn't do was run on turf. One would be hard-pressed to name a horse that satisfies those credentials in recent years.