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beckmank 's review for:
Secretariat
by William Nack
I am torn on my rating for this book. The first third is a one star for me. It was very dry, a rattling off of horse bloodlines and breeding. If you are really into horse racing, this will probably be of great interest to you. I learned of Secretariat through the recent film, and was interested to learn more of his story, but not to this level. The middle section starts to pick up with Secretariat's early years, but I was hoping for more on the people who worked with him as well. This was a huge part in the film, but the book does not actually explore this as much as I would have liked. I did notice that the film seemed to take a lot of liberties compared with the actual story. (i.e. Lucien Laurin trained horses outside of The Meadow.)
The book really picked up in the last half to third, becoming a five star. It was very exciting to read about his journey between winning Horse of the Year through his Triple Crown victory. The book became a page turner for me. It also began to explore more about the people involved. One thing which made this section so wonderful (which I didn't realize until the end of the book) is that the author was there with Secretariat & co. all day every day beginning when he showed up at Belmont Park in March to begin his quest for the crown. Looking back on this last part of the book, the author was recounting his actual experiences, which added a level of excitement in the training and race recounting, especially the reactions of Lucien. He includes things that Lucien and Ronnie told him in private talks. He describes the relationship groom Eddie Sweat had with Big Red from his observations. I didn't realize the author's involvement until I read the "Pure Heart" supplement. He truly loved this horse, and that shines in his writing.
For all you casual horse racing fans, or fans of the movie, if you can get through the beginning, the ending really is worth it. I love this quote from Ronnie Turcotte at the end of the author's note: "He should never have been beaten. Make no mistake, my friends. He was the greatest racehorse who ever lived, and I was the luckiest guy in the world to be on his back."
The book really picked up in the last half to third, becoming a five star. It was very exciting to read about his journey between winning Horse of the Year through his Triple Crown victory. The book became a page turner for me. It also began to explore more about the people involved. One thing which made this section so wonderful (which I didn't realize until the end of the book) is that the author was there with Secretariat & co. all day every day beginning when he showed up at Belmont Park in March to begin his quest for the crown. Looking back on this last part of the book, the author was recounting his actual experiences, which added a level of excitement in the training and race recounting, especially the reactions of Lucien. He includes things that Lucien and Ronnie told him in private talks. He describes the relationship groom Eddie Sweat had with Big Red from his observations. I didn't realize the author's involvement until I read the "Pure Heart" supplement. He truly loved this horse, and that shines in his writing.
For all you casual horse racing fans, or fans of the movie, if you can get through the beginning, the ending really is worth it. I love this quote from Ronnie Turcotte at the end of the author's note: "He should never have been beaten. Make no mistake, my friends. He was the greatest racehorse who ever lived, and I was the luckiest guy in the world to be on his back."