Masters of the Turf: Ten Trainers Who Dominated Horse Racing's Golden Age

by Edward L. Bowen

The early 20th century was called the Golden Age of Sport in America with such heroes as Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey grabbing headlines. And alongside them on the front page were horses such as Man o' War, Colin, and Gallant Fox. This book looks at the lives of this group of trainers.

Genres: Horse Racing

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 25, 2007

About the author

Edward L. Bowen was an American Thoroughbred horse racing historian and author, and the president of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, an institution involved in funding equine research.

Reviews

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gem of a find at our annual library sale, this book covers some of the greatest trainers of the early part of the 20th century. I usually enjoy books covering racing history and this one was no exception. It's fascinating to recall how things used to be done. Horses making 20-30 starts a year, 2yos starting as early as February, horses coming back from injuries to race again rather than being retired, and commonly racing through age five or six. I also enjoyed how several of the stories overlapped or ran on parallel timelines and seeing how these great trainers interacted with each other, their owners, their families, and their famous horses.