The Lucky Thirteen: The Winners of America's Triple Crown of Horse Racing

by Edward L. Bowen

In more than a century of American Thoroughbred racing, only thirteen horses have won the Triple Crown (the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes, all won in the same season). Veteran turf writer and racing historian Edward L. Bowen takes us through the rich history of one of the most formidable and exciting challenges in all of sport. Bowen covers the trainers, owners, and jockeys who etched their names into the annals of thoroughbred racing, and the “lucky thirteen” who captured all three jewels of the Triple Crown, racing’s most prestigious prize.

Genres: Sports, Animals, History, Horse Racing

320 pages, Hardcover

Published June 1, 2019

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

[Michael Delaware · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a fascinating tour through the history of the 13 horses that won the triple crown. I found the book to be quite well researched, and captured a lot of the back story of each horse and the people around them.
The only thing I would have loved to see more clarification on is some of the horse racing jargon that is used that is second nature to the author when speaking to an informed audience, but to a novice in the sport of horse racing, it was a bit challenging to follow at times.
Overall it is an amazing read, and I felt that the author helped capture some of the excitement of some of the more spectacular races especially with Affirmed, Secretariat, Citation and American Pharoah.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book after a visit to Churchill Downs & it certainly didn’t disappoint! It’s very much a history lover’s dream, making me want to read all the books that were written about the individual horses now. I have fond memories of Seattle Slew and Affirmed from my childhood & even had a small crush on Affirmed’s jockey Stevie Cauthen. LOL Some of the racing terms used had me googling, but I feel like I actually learned a lot about racing from this book & not just about the horses. I’m really looking forward to the Triple Crown series that’s starting in just a few weeks. So glad I read this book!

[Jer Soms · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the hundred years since the unofficial inception of what was to become the American Triple Crown of Horse Racing (Sir Barton, 1919), only 13 horses have replicated the feat. This book introduces you to those horses. It's a quick read, giving each of the 13 an average of just over 20 pages. The author writes in a straightforward style with your occasional poetic flourishes. It was decent, but not the best horse racing book I've read. The editing was spotty too. Tons of typos, some comically changing the names of very famous horses ie. Vino Rosso misspelled as Gino Rosso.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific historical recap of thoroughbred racings 13 Triple Crown winners. Nothing groundbreaking or new information exposed. But a solid historical recap of 13 legends.

Bowen shares the path each took to get there, and their careers afterwards.

As a racing fan since I can remember, some of these stories reminded me of my youth growing up in the game; some a reminder of legends that came before and reminders of what we just experienced with the most recent pair.

This was really well done.

[Douglas Fugate · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great collection of mini-biographies of each of the 13 winners of Thoroughbred Racing's Triple Crown. No only is each horse covered, but Mr. Bowen includes stories on the the owners and trainers. Some of the exceptional (in my opinion) chapters / biographies are on Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons, Whirlaway, Citation, Secretariat, D. Wayne Lucas, Bob Baffert, and American Pharaoh. This volume is every bit as good as Bill Nack's Secretariat and should be a companion volume.

[Pegg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very readable account of the thirteen exceptional horses who have won all three legs of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown. I remember watching Secretariat in 1973, Seattle Slew in 1977, Affirmed in 1978, then surviving the long drought until American Pharoah in 2015, and Justify in 2018. There is a lot of great backstory in these pages and plenty of detail on personalities, pedigrees, and racing forms. Enough for the enthusiast without being so much it muddles the weekend race watcher.

[Tammy Gantt · Rating 5 out of 5]

By a true racing historian, Bowen keeps us up to date with the latest winners and champions and also recounts tails of the 11 prior to 1978 that won throughout the decades. After reading this, likely you will want to follow the Derby, Preakness and Belmont and root on the next potential Triple Crown champion.

[Zac · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deep dive into the history of the Triple Crown winners. At times, it can be a bit drawn out and dare say dull. Overall, it's packed full of information and insights into one of the greatest sporting achievements.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great reference book, but overall a fairly dry read. I would not recommend for anyone who is not already well-versed in the racing world.