The Bottom Line
Richard Sowers compiled statistics about every horse entered in every major race run from 1946 to 2003. By restricting his analysis to only the important races, an equalizer has been applied, which allows us to compare horses who may have raced in different decades. This book clearly belongs in the personal library of every racing fan who enjoys debating the relative merits of horses as it will be an invaluable reference tool.
Pros
- Introduces a new way to compare races between the years
- Only the truly important races, the "major races", are counted in the statistics
- No stone is left unturned -- racehorses, jockeys, trainers, owners, sires, broodmares
Cons
- Still doesn't answer the question of who was better, Secretariat or Man O'War
Description
- The first chapter defines the 110 major races and then lists them all.
- Sowers explains in detail the factors by which he compiled the list.
- The following chapters analyze the data in the following categories:
- Horses, jockeys, trainers, owners, stallions, dams, broodmare sires, sirelines, and place of birth.
- Each chapter begins with a textual analysis of the data, ranking horses in various ways.
- For example, racehorses are ranked by age, sex, race distances, turf to dirt versatility, etc.
- A points scoring system is frequently used, awarding 4 points for win, 2 for second, 1 for third.
- There isn't a correct answer as to who is the greatest, but the numbers tell the story per category.
- Sowers showed that some horses were unfairly overlooked for Eclipse Awards or the Hall of Fame
- You will spend hours studying Sowers' compiled data, finding your favorites and comparing them.
Guide Review - Review: The Abstract Primer of Thoroughbred Racing
Just like fans of other sports may try to compare Muhammad Ali against Rocky Marciano or Tiger Woods against Bobby Jones, racing fans compare horses that raced in different eras. And fans like to proclaim their favorites as "great" while others hasten to disagree. However, how can you fairly compare Citation, who raced in the late 1940's, to Cigar, who raced in the mid 1990's? Each completed a 16-race winning streak but to use earnings or graded stakes wins would be unfair, tilting the scales in favor of the Allen Paulson homebred. Richard Sowers attempts to equalize the years through his system of "major races". Normalizing the number of major races to just 110 per year, now you can compare Cigar and Citation on equal footing. Sowers only includes the "modern era" of racing, defined as the entire post-war era of 1946-2003, since prior to 1946 there had been numerous disruptions to racing due to prohibition laws and wartime travel restrictions. In addition, the Triple Crown dates have not changed during that time. Admittedly, this limitation leaves out Man O'War's career, so those searching for the "Man O'War vs Secretariat" answer won't find it here. However, Eddie Arcaro proves his greatness by ranking high on the jockey standings even though half his career fell outside the time period counted in the book.
