The Bottom Line
Pros
- An invaluable resource for every racing fan to have
- A fitting tribute to the 531 champions documented within
- Outstanding writing by nine award-winning DRF columnists
- Over 100 photographs, some rare, from DRF's extensive archives
Cons
- We found no fault with this work. It is recommended for all racing fans.
Description
- Foreword by Irwin Cohen
- Foundations: 1890's-1920's by Paula Welch
- Legacies: The 1930's by Glenye Cain
- War Horses: The 1940's by David Grening
- Ghosts and Legends: The 1950's by Joe Hirsch
- Boom Time: The 1960's by Dave Litfin
- Return of the Crown: The 1970's by Jay Hovdey
- The Cup is Born: The 1980's by Steven Crist
- Going Global: The 1990's by Jay Privman
- Two out of Three Ain't Bad: 2000-2004 by Jay Privman
Guide Review - Review: Champions
This is really two books in one. Each chapter begins with a summary of that decade's champions, briefly touching on each horse and what he or she did on the track. These are written by some of DRF's best writing talent (listed above), and are very informative and entertaining reading indeed. Accompanying these summaries are some excellent, often rare photographs of the subject horses from the DRF's extensive archives. These summaries could have easily been compiled to form a single, very complete book on racing history.However, this book completes the package. Having read about the horses, immediately following the summary pages are the past performance charts for 531 champion Thoroughbreds during the subject period of 1893-2004. These coded sets of numbers tell the story of what each horse did with great detail and accuracy, and can readily be compared between decades since the format has remained virtually unchanged through the years.
Most people would be going right away to familiar names such as Seabiscuit, Secretariat, Man o'War, and John Henry, but just by flipping through the many pages you will run into some lesser-known but truly amazing horses such as champion mare Imp, who finished in the money 126 out of her 171 starts over a 6 year career. She often raced 6 times a month at distances up to 2 1/4 miles. Such a horse would be unheard of in today's world of fragile horses and short race distances.
