Search results for ""Author Steve Haskin""

With a trademark powerful stride amid a blaze of red and yellow silks, Justify emphatically crossed the finish line at the 2018 Belmont Stakes and became just the 13th winner of horse racing's elusive Triple Crown. One of the most charismatic and talented runners in the history of the sport, Justify was also one of its most unlikely champions; the late-blooming chestnut colt made his competitive debut only 111 days prior to that legendary victory. In Justify: 111 Days to Triple Crown Glory, veteran scribe Lenny Shulman (BloodHorse magazine) provides an insider account of this Thoroughbred’s rise to greatness. Through extensive interviews and first-hand accounts, readers will discover the fascinatingly disparate cast of characters who were crucial to Justify’s success, including trainer Bob Baffert, whose innate ability to identify equine talent also produced American Pharoah; Mike Smith, the 52-year-old jockey asserting himself in the miraculous third act of his career; and breeders John and Tanya Gunther, who believed in Justify’s ability despite the developmental imperfections that drove buyers away. Packed with riveting action, keen insight, and behind-the-scenes perspectives on quieter figures like silent investors, international stakeholders, and unheralded training staff, Justify is an illuminating look at the modern Thoroughbred industry and an essential story for the ages.

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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. Author 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 book reveals the legacy of Sir Barton and his seminal contributions to Thoroughbred racing one hundred years after his pioneering achievement.

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