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Thoroughbred Legends #10
John Henry
Now in paperback, John Henry continues to entertain horse racing and sports fans with its true rags to riches tale. A plain brown, small, bad-tempered animal, John Henry was the horse no one wanted until he was purchased sight unseen for $25,000 by Sam Rubin, a man who knew nothing about horses, except which end bit and which end kicked. Entrusted to California-based trainer Ron McAnally, John Henry blossomed into a star. Named Horse of the Year in 1981 as a six years old - an age when most racehorses are enjoying retirement - John Henry continued to race at the top level of the sport through the age of nine, when he was voted Horse of the Year for the second time. He retired as all-time leading money earner in 1984 with more than $6 million and today lives a life of luxury at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.
208 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 21, 2015
What a fantastic horse he was. Truly amazing. And he had so much personality, it's easy to see why he was such a fighter on the track. He is missed by everyone in the racing world, and if you don't know why, this book is for you.
July 2, 2020
If you only read one book in the Thoroughbred Legends series, make it this one. This is arguably the best writer of the 10 or so books I've read in the series so far. He's the best because he centers the book around John Henry himself -- his quirks, his bad habits and his good habits.
Usually in the introduction of a Thoroughbreds Legends book, the author talks about how he or she is personally connected to the horse. Not here. We get something better -- the story of John Henry's traumatic reaction to realizing he was being moved permanently to the Kentucky Horse Park. That's not the reaction I thought a horse would have being placed in a cushy forever home.
Once upon a time, horses could race more then one or two years. They could do it without drugs. They were cared for by people willing to work with the horse and not seek to utterly master the horse. Hores got individual care because trainers wouldn't take on more horses than they could manage. John Henry was one of the last horses in this real-life story.
The author includes a lot of interesting details in the story of John Henry's life, but does leave out details like Breyer making a model horse of him and that NBC had a television outside of John Henry's stall so he could "watch" his fellow Horse of the Year competition run in the first Breeder's Cup Classic. But the details included make for a fast-paced and fascinating read.
Back in 1999, I'd planned on a trip to the Kentucky Horse Park. Because of financial difficulties and health problems, I never got to go. It was a big blow because it meant I never got to meet John Henry or Cigar. This books makes up for it, for in a way I got to meet John Henry through this book.
Usually in the introduction of a Thoroughbreds Legends book, the author talks about how he or she is personally connected to the horse. Not here. We get something better -- the story of John Henry's traumatic reaction to realizing he was being moved permanently to the Kentucky Horse Park. That's not the reaction I thought a horse would have being placed in a cushy forever home.
Once upon a time, horses could race more then one or two years. They could do it without drugs. They were cared for by people willing to work with the horse and not seek to utterly master the horse. Hores got individual care because trainers wouldn't take on more horses than they could manage. John Henry was one of the last horses in this real-life story.
The author includes a lot of interesting details in the story of John Henry's life, but does leave out details like Breyer making a model horse of him and that NBC had a television outside of John Henry's stall so he could "watch" his fellow Horse of the Year competition run in the first Breeder's Cup Classic. But the details included make for a fast-paced and fascinating read.
Back in 1999, I'd planned on a trip to the Kentucky Horse Park. Because of financial difficulties and health problems, I never got to go. It was a big blow because it meant I never got to meet John Henry or Cigar. This books makes up for it, for in a way I got to meet John Henry through this book.
April 24, 2018
As I work my way through the Thoroughbred Legends series, I have found that many of the stories were quite similar. The horses have been superstars, obviously, and many, especially the more modern horses, had similar stories. Those stories revolve around breeding, training, racing, and retiring to stud. And a large majority of these books cover the owners, breeders, and horsemen, and after reading a few of the books in the series, these people and these topics kind of run together. It takes a good writer and a novel subject to make a book in this series stand out, and “John Henry” stands out.
The writing itself is OK. The way the author chose to tell John Henry’s story was distinct for this series, and that made this one more interesting. The author foreshadows the future a number of times as you read through this short (200 page) book. And he is able to use many more modern sources like articles from Sports Illustrated for material, strangely including an evaluation of John Henry by a psychic. This was written well, and I’d look forward to reading more by Haskin, but I already read the one other in this series.
What really makes this book interesting in the world of race horse books is the subject. John Henry was one of the more recent subjects in the series, and there are many sources available and most of the principals were still alive when the book was written. John Henry had a very different life than most of the horse superstars. He was unwanted at first. He was passed around quite a few owners, including a dog groomer. He was a gelding who raced until he was 9, and likely had more races than other of the superstars. And he seems to have lost more than the others – no perfect record here, nowhere near.
Many of the people in this book are characters right out of Central Casting. The aforementioned first owner was a dog groomer. The owner for most of John Henry’s life was a hard scrabble, street wise business man who made his money, after trying many things, importing Japanese bicycles. He always had a quip, and I laughed out loud a few times while reading. The horsemen all seemed to be characters, mostly portrayed here as occasionally flawed good guys. Many of the people covered here could carry a book by themselves. The biggest character is John Henry. He is mean and smart, a potent combination for stories. You keep reading about how the horse destroyed dozens of feed buckets or squeezed someone into a corner, and how people responded. There were many mostly humorous stories.
I have a personal interest in this book as well. Of all the 24(?) racehorse subjects in the Thoroughbred Legends series, the only horse I ever saw in person was John Henry, at the Kentucky Horse Park a couple decades ago. Still mean, still smart, and still the source of stories. Good book on a great topic, and probably the book in the Thoroughbred Legends series I’m most likely to remember the longest.
The writing itself is OK. The way the author chose to tell John Henry’s story was distinct for this series, and that made this one more interesting. The author foreshadows the future a number of times as you read through this short (200 page) book. And he is able to use many more modern sources like articles from Sports Illustrated for material, strangely including an evaluation of John Henry by a psychic. This was written well, and I’d look forward to reading more by Haskin, but I already read the one other in this series.
What really makes this book interesting in the world of race horse books is the subject. John Henry was one of the more recent subjects in the series, and there are many sources available and most of the principals were still alive when the book was written. John Henry had a very different life than most of the horse superstars. He was unwanted at first. He was passed around quite a few owners, including a dog groomer. He was a gelding who raced until he was 9, and likely had more races than other of the superstars. And he seems to have lost more than the others – no perfect record here, nowhere near.
Many of the people in this book are characters right out of Central Casting. The aforementioned first owner was a dog groomer. The owner for most of John Henry’s life was a hard scrabble, street wise business man who made his money, after trying many things, importing Japanese bicycles. He always had a quip, and I laughed out loud a few times while reading. The horsemen all seemed to be characters, mostly portrayed here as occasionally flawed good guys. Many of the people covered here could carry a book by themselves. The biggest character is John Henry. He is mean and smart, a potent combination for stories. You keep reading about how the horse destroyed dozens of feed buckets or squeezed someone into a corner, and how people responded. There were many mostly humorous stories.
I have a personal interest in this book as well. Of all the 24(?) racehorse subjects in the Thoroughbred Legends series, the only horse I ever saw in person was John Henry, at the Kentucky Horse Park a couple decades ago. Still mean, still smart, and still the source of stories. Good book on a great topic, and probably the book in the Thoroughbred Legends series I’m most likely to remember the longest.
July 19, 2020
Haskin writes so very well that he makes the horse alive. I have read many books about thoroughbred race horses, and they often contain much information about wind, losses, and narratives of various races. These are often dry and uninteresting. Haskin is able to avoid this and keep his readers involved.
February 29, 2008
I absolutely loved this book.It was a fast read and well written.If you enjoy horseracing,this is a book you should read.
May 23, 2011
A good book if you like nothing more than facts.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews