Rating: 
Summary: Better than Seabiscuit!
Review: "Secretariat" is a compelling and addictive book that thrusts the reader into the lifestyle of Big Red himself. The reader learns all about the colts amazing breeding, training, and the record shattering Triple Crown, that he won in 1973. It's a very god read for those who enjoy racehorses and their careers or anyone who likes a great peice of storytelling.
Rating: 
Summary: Mustang
Review: "Secretariat" is a compelling and addictive book that thrusts the reader into the lifestyle of Big Red himself. The reader learns all about the colts amazing breeding, training, and the record shattering Triple Crown, that he won in 1973. It's a very god read for those who enjoy racehorses and their careers or anyone who likes a great peice of storytelling.
Rating:
Summary: There will never be another like Big Red
Review: A brief and probably pointless quiz: Who is the horse described in the following paragraph?He was a physically awesome Thoroughbred and a superb broodmare sire. When he was born at ten minutes after midnight, March 30, 1970, his owner took one look at him and said, "There is a whopper." His own firstborn was an Appaloosa colt named 'First Secretary'. Another son - a draft horse cross - is still alive and well and recently retired from the Southwest dressage circuit. Yet a third son won the Belmont by a margin of 21 lengths, in what was the second fastest running and third largest margin in history. Of course, his Daddy still holds the record for both margin and time. And who is Risen Star's Daddy? Secretariat, of course. No one who admires this special breed of horse could possibly have flunked this quiz. When we watched Big Red hit the wire 31 lengths ahead of Twice a Prince in 1973, crushing the Belmont stakes record by two seconds and change, many of us knew that we would not see his like again. According to his jockey, Ron Turcotte, Secretariat was retired before he had reached his full potential at the longer distances. We would have loved to watch that big red horse run all day and smash every record there was, but it was not to be. At any rate, reading William Nack's, "Secretariat: The Making of a Champion" is the next best thing to watching him run (unless you are lucky enough and rich enough to own one of his 'blue hen' daughters). At least his fans can relive the races Big Red did run, and Nack has the knack (sorry) of bringing them vividly back to memory. This book and "Wild Ride: The Rise and Tragic Fall of Calumet Farm, Inc., America's Premier Racing Dynasty" by Ann Hagedorn Auerbach are my two favorite reads on all aspects of the Thoroughbred racing industry in the United States. "Secretariat" reflects the brilliance of the Thoroughbred and its human interface. "Wild Ride" reflects the dark side of that same relationship. My only complaint regarding Nack's treatment of Secretariat is that although it starts in the right place (the birth of Somethingroyal's whopping, chestnut foal), it didn't extend much beyond Big Red's last race. I would have liked to follow him through at least part of his career at stud. However, that might be asking too much of a book that was published only two years after this great Thoroughbred retired from the track. At the beginning of the new millennium, Man O'War was voted 'Thoroughbred of the Century' by a panel that was assembled by 'Blood Horse' Magazine. But those of us who saw Secretariat win the Belmont will remember him as first, and (as they said about one of his most famous ancestors) the rest nowhere.
Rating:
Summary: the best sports book ever written...
Review: about the finest athlete ever, in any sport. for those who thought seabiscuit was a good book, check this one out and be amazed.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: As a long-time serious Thoroughbred fan, I loved the book about Secretariat! I have it as well as two on Ruffian and one on Cigar. Wish more great horses could have books written about them, but I think horse people are a very select group and books like these aren't what make the best-seller list, alas! I watched Secretariat win the Triple Crown and it is a tribute to his greatness that he still holds the record for the Derby and Belmont. It is and has been a great disservice to this legendary horse to deny him his record-winning time in the Preakness. It will be a long time before we ever see another three-year-old quite like him--if ever. He captured the imagination and hearts of everyone during 1973 and many hearts broke when he had to die at age 19. I will never forget him.
Rating:
Summary: The Definitive Biography
Review: Few people can write with such eloquence as Bill Nack. He found the perfect subject in Secretariat. Somehow this great horse brought out the best in sports writing, and this book is no exception. I saw Red a few weeks before he died in 1989, and whenever I reread passages from Nack's book, tears come to my eyes. Hopefully, Nack will consider writing an updated edition of the book, which is the only biography devoted exclusively to him.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Buy For Any Serious Horse Racing Fan!
Review: I bought William Nack's original writing of this book which was published in 1975. Although I was too young to follow Secretariat's racing career, reading this book gave me a very detailed and full account of his performance as a two-year old in 1972 and as a three-year old in 1973. I have been a big horse racing fan for some 20 years now, and I have read many books on throughbred racing. This is definitely the best book on the subject that I have ever read! Not only is it an excellent description of Secretariat and all of his connections. It tells the racing fan a lot about what goes into training a horse and bringing him along before he runs his first race. My favorite chapter is the author's narration of the 1973 Belmont Stakes. I never get tired of reading how Secretariat was running down the backstretch so effortlessly while Sham could barely keep up with him. Ron Turcotte didn't realize how fast they were going until he saw the clock near the end of the race. If you love thoroughbred racing you'll certainly love this book.
This is quality writing! You'll know Secretariat's career so much better after reading this book. It's too bad that Secretariat never got to race at the age of four. He might have been even better than he was at three. One can only guess what might have been!
Rating: 
Summary: Secretariat: The Making of a Champion
Review: I came to this book not knowing very many details about Secretariat. I had already read "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand, and I loved it. To me, Hillenbrand's book filled in all the gaps left out in the children's Seabiscuit book I had read over and over as a child ("Come on Seabiscuit" by Ralph Moody). It was because of the Hillenbrand book I found "Secretariat: The Making of a Champion". I expected the Secretariat book to be as clear and revealing. It did contain a wonderful amount of information and detail. However, I found it somewhat difficult to read, because I was not at all familiar with the people involved in Secretariat's training. I thought the book tended to jump around abruptly between people and places and timelines, and I wound up reading a lot of passages over again, trying to figure out where the story was going. Overall, I thought it was a good book, but I think people who are not already familar with the horse's career will have a harder time following the story.
Rating:
Summary: Secretariat
Review: I loved this book on Secratariat. It told some many awesome things about him. I only wish I was born then so I could have seen him race.
Rating:
Summary: Better than Seabiscuit!
Review: I read this not long after reading Laura Hillenbrand's "Seabiscuit"--and I enjoyed "Secretariat" far more. I was reading it on the train and could not hide the tears running down my face. When he won the Triple Crown, one writer said of Secretariat, "He ran so far beyond known reference points, he left us with no measurable comparison." Secretariat transcended all the limits. His feat was deeply inspiring to me. The author was actually there with Secretariat and his connections day by day during his career, and writes with authority and obvious affection for his subject. The book was so well written that I absorbed that affection and ended up feeling as if I, too, knew this horse personally. He even unfolds the tale of Secretariat's pedigree in such an interesting and engaging way that it is helping me to understand current Derby prospects better. This is the best horse racing book I ever read, and I would give it more than 5 stars if I could.
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