Product Description

Most of us know the legend of Secretariat, the tall, handsome chestnut racehorse whose string of honours runs long and rich: the only two-year-old ever to win Horse of the Year, in 1972; winner in 1973 of the Triple Crown, his times in all three races still unsurpassed; featured on the cover of "Time", "Newsweek", and "Sports Illustrated"; the only horse listed on ESPN's top fifty athletes of the twentieth century (ahead of Mickey Mantle). His final race at Toronto's Woodbine Racetrack is a touchstone memory for horse lovers everywhere. Yet while Secretariat will be remembered forever, one man, Eddie "Shorty" Sweat, who was pivotal to the great horse's success, has been all but forgotten - until now.In "The Horse God Built", bestselling equestrian writer Lawrence Scanlan has written a tribute to an exceptional man that is also a back roads journey to a corner of the racing world rarely visited. As a young black man growing up in South Carolina, Eddie Sweat struggled at several occupations before settling on the job he was born for - groom to North America's finest racehorses. As Secretariat's groom, loyal friend, and protector, Eddie understood the horse far better than anyone else. A wildly generous man who could read a horse with his eyes, he shared in little of the financial success or glamour of Secretariat's wins on the track, but won the heart of Big Red with his soft words and relentless devotion.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #174670 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Customer Reviews

What about the horse?
I have yet to finish "The Horse God Built"; after 150 pages, I'm left thinking that some 2% have been about ... Secretariat (gee, thanks) and the rest I think is more or less romanticizing about his groom, owners, jockeys, admirers ... but it'll get fully read -- well, skimmed thoroughly, actually, to find the Secretariat stuff.
When I have finished it, I'll add some more here ...
Michael