The Bottom Line
Like Seabiscuit did for Americans reeling from the Great Depression, Assault was the feel-good story for the post-war era. Racetracks had just reopened after wartime restrictions on travel and gambling, and people from all walks of life were ready to accept the "Club-Footed Comet" as their hero, cheering him on through the Triple Crown. This is a great read, especially for racing fans who enjoyed the Seabiscuit story as they are very similar.
Pros
- An exciting story about a little horse who overcame the odds
- Like Seabiscuit, Assault was a hero that everyone looked to for inspiration
- A fitting tribute to the pride of Texas racing, by a sixth-generation Texan
Cons
- After all he went through, sadly he was sterile and thus has no descendants today
Description
- Because of his Texas breeding and his injured foot, the racing establishment was not impressed.
- Despite winning the Experimental Free Hcp. and the Wood Memorial, he went off at 8-1 in the Derby.
- He proved them wrong with a dominating 8 length win over a muddy track.
- At the Preakness, he was sent off as the favorite for the first time in his career.
- After winning the Belmont, it was time to take on older horses including fellow Texan Stymie.
- They met at the Pimlico Special, which Assault won, clinching the Horse of the Year title.
- After a brief retirement when his sterility was discovered, he was returned to the track.
- Unfortunately, he was never able to regain the greatness he showed at 3.
- A seventh place finish to Noor at the Hollywood Gold Cup marked the end of his racing career.
Guide Review - Review: Assault
Not only is this a story about one of racing's all time greats, its seventh Triple Crown winner, this is also a story about the state of Texas, written by a sixth generation Texan in the year her home state was the focus of the racing world, hosting the 2004 Breeders' Cup. Assault's owner and breeder, Robert Kleberg, came from a ranching family and used his degree in genetics to develop cattle and eventually racehorses. His trainer, Max Hirsch, was a Texan who ran away from home to get into the business, arriving in Baltimore in the wintertime as a railroad stowaway. And he was bred at Kleberg's King Ranch, a product of his owner's successful breeding program, by Bold Venture out of homebred mare Igual. As a yearling, he stepped on a surveyor's spike, seriously injuring his hoof, an injury that could have resulted in his being destroyed. But his vet and his owner decided to work on the hoof, to a point where, although he walked with a limp, once set to a gallop he was all business. Unfortunately after his racing days were through, he proved to be sterile, but he enjoyed a comfortable retirement at home in Texas, until his death in 1971.
