Man o'War book

[Betsy]

I'm sorry if this is off-topic, but I wasn't sure where to put this.

Has anyone read the new Man o'War book (Man o'War, a Legend like Lightning)? I started reading it yesterday and I'm enjoying it very much; of course, Red is my favorite horse of all time, thanks to Walter Farley. I'm not sure that this book will break new ground (so much is known of MOW), but the era in which Big Red ran was fascinating (the roaring 20's), and horse racing was still barely existing in many states (NY didn't even allow parimutual wagering). The book has some great pics of Man o'War as a weanling and a yearling.....and some beautiful ones as an older stallion. It's amazing - the horse always held his head up high, as if he was royalty -he clearly knew he was something special and acted as such.

I'm really looking relishing the sections on his races -it's hard to comprehend any horse winning as easily as MOW did and to imagine the effect he had on people? I wish there was more film on him, but I suspect no film could do MOW justice.

[Downthestretch55]

Originally Posted by Betsy

I'm sorry if this is off-topic, but I wasn't sure where to put this.

Has anyone read the new Man o'War book (Man o'War, a Legend like Lightning)? I started reading it yesterday and I'm enjoying it very much; of course, Red is my favorite horse of all time, thanks to Walter Farley. I'm not sure that this book will break new ground (so much is known of MOW), but the era in which Big Red ran was fascinating (the roaring 20's), and horse racing was still barely existing in many states (NY didn't even allow parimutual wagering). The book has some great pics of Man o'War as a weanling and a yearling.....and some beautiful ones as an older stallion. It's amazing - the horse always held his head up high, as if he was royalty -he clearly knew he was something special and acted as such.

I'm really looking relishing the sections on his races -it's hard to comprehend any horse winning as easily as MOW did and to imagine the effect he had on people? I wish there was more film on him, but I suspect no film could do MOW justice.

Betsy,
Thanks for the tip about this book. Looks like a good "summer" read.
Since five of mine have MOW in their pedigrees, I look forward to reading it.
War Admiral, his son....now there was one!
DTS

[Betsy]

You're welcome, Down!

Ah, I love War Admiral...He may be an underrated all-time great

[somerfrost]

Originally Posted by Betsy

You're welcome, Down!

Ah, I love War Admiral...He may be an underrated all-time great

I rank him #14 all time, a great runner and a LH+ foundation sire, certainly immensely important from a breeding standpoint!

[Kasept]

We had Dorothy Ours on ATRAB Derby Week.. VERY nice and the book was 12or 14 years in the making. And she did uncover a great deal of info that never previously known about "the mostest hoss there ever was"... She signed a copy for me but I haven't had a minute to crack it yet...

[Betsy]

I'm sorry I missed that show - I would have loved to have heard what she had to say about MOW. Wow -12-14 years? That's incredible - from what I've read so far, though, it was well worth the effort. It's nice to see Big Red in the spotlight again

Somerfrost, I think WA was ranked ahead of Seabiscuit in the Blood Horse poll from a few years ago. I hate to knock the 'biscuit but I'm glad - I've always felt kind of bad for WA because of that match race. The general public only knows him (if they do at all) as the loser of that race when he was a brilliant horse. Granted, I'm biased.......