The Most Glorious Crown: The Story of America's Triple Crown Thoroughbreds from Sir Barton to Affirmed - Hardcover

Drager, Marvin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1572437243 ISBN 13: 9781572437241

Publisher: Triumph Books, 2005

Synopsis

The definitive work on this rare coronation, this book delves into the history, personalities, and subplots of each of the 11 Triple Crown champions. From Sir Barton in 1919 through Affirmed in 1978, each Triple Crown winner has exhibited a true personality and charisma befitting of super stardom and renowned author Marvin Drager's prose brings to life these 11 remarkable stories. The Most Glorious Crown is a unique and fascinating inspection of each champion, their jockeys, owners, and trainers, as well as a riveting account of each race and the events leading up to each historic event. This magnificent oversized book includes more than 150 archival, authentic black-and-white photographs of each thoroughbred throughout different stages of its career. It also includes actual racing forms from each race for the Triple Crown.

About this title

About the Author

Marvin Drager runs a successful public relations firm in New York City and was previously a photo editor for the Associated Press and a reporter for the New York Post. He has also contributed articles to major national magazines.

From the Inside Flap

Horse racing s Triple Crown is one of the most coveted, elusive, and celebrated achievements in sports. Every Thoroughbred racing season over the past century and a quarter has opened with the hope of unearthing the next Triple Crown winner, but the prestigious Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes have been awarded to a single victor only 11 times since 1875. The members of this exclusive club are forever immortalized in racing lore, and their individual stories are as remarkable as their incredible athletic feats.

The Most Glorious Crown is a fascinating account of the races that led to each horse s coronation. It is also a true biography of the champions detailing what preceded and what followed their amazing victories; how each Triple Crown winner was bred, trained, and raced; and how each fared at stud and in retirement. From Sir Barton in 1919 through Affirmed in 1978, each Triple Crown winner has exhibited a charisma befitting of superstardom, and those attributes unique to each champion come alive on these pages. In the course of this history the men and women owners, trainers, and jockeys who inhabit the colorful world at this pinnacle of American sport are also unforgettably brought to life. And because the journalism of the turf has been used as a primary source, their utterances of despair, hope, and joy have the immediacy of today s sports pages, as well as the patina of classic stories well told. The author also devotes an entire chapter to the most notable Triple Crown aspirants to fall excruciatingly short or to be otherwise derailed.

The Most Glorious Crown includes the most complete collection of photographs of the Triple Crown champions ever assembled in a single book. It also includes a concise history of the Thoroughbred breed and of Thoroughbred racing in England and the United States, a glossary of racing terms, a wealth of statistical and technical information, and a comprehensive index. The Most Glorious Crown is the indisputably definitive work on this rare achievement.

Reviews

A sweep of Thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown is among the rarest and most difficult feats in all of sport. It requires defeating the very best three-year-olds in the land in three grueling racings--the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont--run over three different tracks at three different distances, all within the span of just five weeks. In 130 years, only 11 horses have become Triple Crown champions. Drager tells the stories of the elite 11, from Sir Barton in 1919 to Affirmed in 1978, managing to recapture the almost unbearable drama and pressure that accompanied each of their quests. As if to underline to difficulty of the accomplishment, Drager's final chapter details the failed attempts of the 17 horses--including such greats as Northern Dancer and Spectacular Bid--who won the Derby and Preakness only to fall short in the Belmont, aptly called the Test of Champions. This is an authoritative and comprehensive account, replete with rare photographs and including an index, a glossary, and a compact disc on the history of Thoroughbred racing. Dennis Dodge
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Triumph Books
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1572437243
• ISBN 13: 9781572437241
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304