Nashua: Thoroughbred Legends

Thoroughbred Legends #8

by Edward L. Bowen

Nashua, a popular racehorse of the 1950s and the first Thoroughbred syndicated for a million dollars made news both on and off the racetrack.

Genres: Horse Racing, Horses, Nonfiction

144 pages, Hardcover

First published May 6, 2001

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

[Jay French · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the Thoroughbred Legends series goes, this is, well, another one. This volume covered the life and times of Nashua. This was a bit different than some of the others in the series in that Nashua was not the only Thoroughbred Legend his age. Swaps, who beat Nashua in the Kentucky Derby but lost to Nashua later in a match race, also has a volume in the series. This inclusion begs the question, “Should both horses be considered “one for the ages”?” Both horses can make a claim here. But quite likely, the selection of horses for the series is in part based on the horses that the different authors remembered best. Here, author Bowen has pictures of himself with Nashua and describes specific newspaper headlines about Nashua’s races that he has remembered. This book, more than the others I’ve read in the series, uses a personal connection to the horse to help tell the story. I enjoyed Bowen’s writing style. It was quite different than the more academic writing of many of the other books, laying out race replays and magazine article-like histories of the main characters. This one was written with some personality, quoting books as sources at times, using the kind of language one would expect at a racetrack, the patois of the connections and the trackbird. At one point in Nashua’s life, an owner is killed by his wife. While mentioned, this isn’t a key moment in the story here, as I believe it would have been in other books in the series. Overall, one of the better written stories in the series.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to believe that this is the same Edward L. Bowen that wrote the achingly tedious Matriarchs II: More Great Mares of Modern Times. This book is lively and nearly as fast as old Nashua used to be on a good day.

Nashua was one of America's greatest thoroughbred racehorses, but he had a very quirky disposition. If he didn't feel like running, he didn't run. Didn't matter if Arcaro was on him. "Hey, Eddie, if you want to run to the finish line YOU run to the finish line. I'll be daydreaming about my future stud career."

Sadly, this handsomely packaged book leaves out details I really wanted to know about. Nashua's second owner was shot by his wife. This is not given much of a mention. Also, the focus of the book is on Nashua's racing career, even though he spent most of his life as a stud and tourist attraction in Kentucky. I would have liked to read some more of his quirks and personality, such as his habit of playing with the water in his water trough or zooming about his paddock.