Thoroughbred Champions: Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century

by The Blood-Horse and Blood-Horse Publications

Book Overview

Follows The Blood-Horse's Top 100 list, beginning with Man o' War in the No. 1 spot and ending with Blue Larkspur at No. 100. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1581500246
• ISBN13: 9781581500240
• Release Date: December 1999
• Publisher: Eclipse Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 2.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 8.6" x 10.5"

Customer Reviews

Fantastic Book

Like so many I guess, I seriously got into horse racing after I'd seen the Seabiscuit movie.... I went on reading Hillenbrand's book and from there on, I was helplessly done in. I moved up to Man O' War, from there to Secretariat, and finally I found this book. I was thrilled and still am. While of course virtually every horse's position in these top hundred is arguable, like the editors do acknowledge in the very introduction and as everyone may see for themselves in some fierce reviews of the book right here, I think this is not the real point of this book. I see it as a fantastic collection of all these magnificient champions I guess none of us would want to miss today. Whichever horse is first, second or last, these were all outstanding creatures that had the heart and soul, courage and strength to compete like they did. They lifted everyone up as they soared across the dirt or turf, they made and still make us dream. To have them all together in one book with pedigrees and pictures is awesome. I am way too young (and moreover not american) to have seen the better number of them run, but I keep coming back to this book with the same fascination every time. It sends me dreaming, trying to imagine and of course... wanting more. Like one other reviewer, I think it's a great starting point for anyone who's gotten interested in horse racing. Enjoy !

Great Book!

I really enjoyed reading this book. Many people disagree on the placings of different horses, but I think it must have been hard to compare horses from different eras. Books like these were made to provoke discussions, anyway. I like the little charts at the end of the book that name things such as most wins, most starts, etc. One of the main things I like about this book that it contains one photograph (2 photos of numbers 1-20), past performances, and a four generation pedigree of each horse. Before I ordered the book, I suspected that the photos would be tiny and barely visible, but the photos are easy to see.This was a wonderful book!

Outstanding Reference Book for Racing Fans

While this book will provoke arguments among racing fans as to which horses merit the "greatest" label, this is indispensible to anyone who loves thoroughbred racing. While most of the horses were and are familiar names to racing fans, some are not so well-known. Each horse is described in brief yet highly detailed biographies, and there are photographs galore.As I said, there will be arguments as to which horses were the best, and the authors note how low the fillies, especially Ruffian, arguably a top 10 horse, ended up on the list. There was also some controversy over Secretariat's ranking, as one of the seven experts did not even list him in the top 10, thus he managed to finish only number two on the list, behind Man O' War (this immediately calls into question the "expertise" of the unidentified panelist).But that's what these lists are for, to provoke discussion and even argument. I found this book endlessly fascinating.

An Encyclopedia of Great Thoroughbred Champions

That should have been the title of this book. I just received my copy and have been so deeply absorbed in it that the afternoon just flew by on golden hoofs. I've been an enthusiast of thoroughbred racing since, at a very tender age, my dad brought me to the stables at Belmont Park to see a friend who works there. They showed me a huge gray horse and I was so small I looked up into that massive animal's face, felt his warm breath on my face...and fell totally in love. The horse was Native Dancer, the love affair continues though I am now getting closer to retirement age. This wonderful book will take you from one champ to the next and all I could say was "I agree, I agree" as I moved down the list of the top 100. Though I knew most, there were some I did not know and those interested me the most. The list, together with pictures, pedigree and a small writeup on each makes this book a keeper! an encyclopedia of the 100 greatest thoroughbreds!

How Exciting and Wonderful!

I was so thrilled to find such a well-written & reserached guide to some of the best TB race-horses of our century! Hurray! It's complete - informative (I have read & reserached A LOT and learned things about my mare's grandsire that I didn't know - and I really enjoyed the photos of each horse. Thanks!