American Classic Pedigrees 1914 2002

In a monumental and important work for the Thoroughbred industry, author and pedigree researcher Avalyn Hunter provides extensive pedigree analysis of every American classic race winner from 1914 through 2002.

On the morning of May 18, 1924, households across America opened their newspapers to the headline: "Derby Winner Property of Indian Woman." The woman in question was Rosa Magnet Hoots, a member of the Oklahoma Osage Nation. The horse, draped in the iconic red roses signifying his victory in the fiftieth running of the Kentucky Derby, was Black Gold. In a sport defined by its exclusivity, the pair's unlikely appearance in the winner's circle set off a firestorm of speculation that would uncover an origin story stranger than fiction. Named for the oil that had been discovered in large quantities in Oklahoma at the time of his birth, Black Gold was born in 1921 to a mare named Useeit. At the start of her hard-knocking racing career, Useeit had been purchased by Al Hoots, for whom she won thirty-two of a staggering 122 races. What the mare lacked in regality, she made up for in gumption, a trait Hoots believed could propel her progeny to the hallowed ground of Churchill Downs. Hoots himself would never see Black Gold, dying unexpectedly in 1917. But the legend that came to define the horse would begin with him. Languishing in his deathbed, Hoots claimed to have a prophetic dream that a colt born to Useeit would win the Kentucky Derby. He extracted a promise from his wife, Rosa, to breed the mare to the stallion Black Toney. The decision, which came to fruition three years after Hoots's death, would set in motion a story that would forever change Thoroughbred racing. In Dream Derby: The Myth and Legend of Black Gold, author Avalyn Hunter explores the personalities and histories that surrounded Black Gold. Told against the backdrop of a make-or-break moment for American horse racing and politics at large and framed by the racial violence that rocked Tulsa in the 1920s, Black Gold's victory at the Golden Jubilee stands at the intersection of sport and history. Hunter's work looks behind every stall and tack room door and celebrates the hard work that goes into a great horse and its rivals.

Best of Talkin' Horses features provocative chats with Thoroughbred racing's most prominent names. Adapted from the popular weekly online series of the same name hosted by Bloodhorse.com, this edited collection will provide additional insights by Ron Mitchell.

The true story of a forgotten champion: “Bringing Sir Barton out from the shadows, Jennifer Kelly restores him to a richly-deserved spotlight.” ―Dorothy Ours, author of Man o’ War He was always destined to be a champion. Royally bred, with English and American classic winners in his pedigree, Sir Barton shone from birth, dubbed the “king of them all.” But after a winless two-year-old season and a near-fatal illness, uncertainty clouded the start of Sir Barton’s three-year-old season. Then his surprise victory in America’s signature race, the Kentucky Derby, started him on the road to history, where he would go on to dominate the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, completing America’s first Triple Crown. His wins inspired the ultimate chase for greatness in American horse racing and established an elite group that would grow to include legends like Citation, Secretariat, and American Pharoah. After a series of dynamic wins in 1920, popular opinion tapped Sir Barton as the best challenger for the wonder horse Man o’ War, and demanded a match race to settle once and for all which horse was the greatest. That duel would cement the reputation of one horse for all time and diminish the reputation of the other for the next century—until now. Sir Barton and the Making of the Triple Crown is the first book to focus on Sir Barton, his career, and his historic impact on horse racing. Jennifer S. Kelly uses extensive research and historical sources to examine this champion’s life and achievements. Kelly charts how Sir Barton broke track records, scored victories over other champions, and sparked the yearly pursuit of Triple Crown glory.

This is the definitive history of thoroughbred racing's three premier events, which have never before been explored in such detail. This book gives the history of America's classic races from the inaugural Belmont Stakes in 1867 through 2013, identifying which equine participants were truly worthy of lasting acclaim and which were one-hit wonders. Perhaps even more compelling are the stories of the men and women who rode, trained, owned, or bred classic winners, including their exploits on the turf and their triumphs and failures in arenas far removed from horse racing.

When Katharine Greider was told to leave her house or risk it falling down on top of her and her family, it spurred an investigation that began with contractors' diagnoses and lawsuits, then veered into archaeology and urban history, before settling into the saltwater grasses of the marsh that fatefully once sat beneath the site of Number 239 East 7th Street. During the journey, Greider examines how people balance the need for permanence with the urge to migrate, and how the home is the resting place for ancestral ghosts. The land on which Number 239 was built has a history as long as America's own. It provisioned the earliest European settlers who needed fodder for their cattle; it became a spoil of war handed from the king's servant to the revolutionary victor; it was at the heart of nineteenth-century Kleinedeutschland and of the revolutionary Jewish Lower East Side. America's immigrant waves have all passed through 7th Street. In one small house is written the history of a young country and the much longer story of humankind and the places they came to call home.

Provides a complete history of the Kentucky Derby, examining the tradition, spectacle, culture and evolution of an event that has marveled America--and the world--for more than 130 years.