Citation: In a Class by Himself

by Phil Georgeff

Overview

Based on interviews from those who knew the thoroughbred, including famed jockey Eddie Arcaro, this book is the full story of the greatest sports figure in the history of horseracing, a champion who won or placed in thirty different contests in his career and whose spirit continues to captivate the American public.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780878332922
Publisher:	Taylor Trade Publishing
Publication date:	03/03/2003
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	1,048,631
Product dimensions:	6.24(w) x 9.26(h) x 0.74(d)

About the Author

Phil Georgeff, author of And They're Off! (also published by Taylor Trade Publishing) and two novels on horseracing, he lives in Fairhope, Alabama. Tommy Trotter, longtime racing secretary at Belmont Park, lives in Hallandale, Florida.

Editorial Reviews

His writing style makes for a very entertaining yet informative read, perfectly suited to the subject at hand. ...his complete order of finish is one that every race fan would enjoy reading and debating over. Georgeff's work is strongly recommended to all racing fans especially history buffs. His aim was to ensure that Citation is never forgotten, and through this book he won't be.

Horse-Races.Net

It's hard not to compare this straightforward story of 1948 Triple-Crown winner and racing legend Citation with Laura Hillenbrand's elegant and uber-selling Seabiscuit. But Georgeff's book, which differs greatly in both tone and style, should be judged on its own merits. A racing insider, Georgeff holds the Guinness World Record for most horse races called (over 96,000), and his prose reflects his experience in its narrative immediacy and snap-crackle-pop. In describing Citation, Georgeff writes, "If he were a matinee movie idol he'd be Harrison Ford as opposed to Clark Gable. For pure beefcake, he'd be Bruce Lee, not Arnold Schwarzenegger." The author of And They're Off! uses conversations with jockeys, trainers and other racing folk from the 1940s on to bring Citation's story-and by extension, the sport's story-to life. One of Calumet Farm's many sons of Bull Lea, Citation lost only twice in 29 starts in his first two seasons. After his stunning three-year-old season of 1948, Citation had a tougher time-he was injured; he lost some heart-breakers. His owner's insistence that Citation be a million-dollar winner (indeed, he was racing's first) kept him racing when he might have been put to stud, but Citation was a champion, a horse of both speed and stamina. Georgeff's writing is generally brisk, though he waxes overly poetic here and there. "Fame, like life, is sweet and awfully short," he writes of the untimely death of Citation's first jockey, Al Snider. "The young rider at that exact moment in time rode tall in the saddle as king of American jockeys, only to have all his hopes, dreams, and joy dashed abruptly in a horrific whirlpool of surreal mystery." Despite such missteps, Georgeff's admiration and affection for Citation, often hailed as "The Greatest Thoroughbred Who Ever Lived!," is catching, and his raw enthusiasm for the sport will excite any fan. 16 pages b&w photos. (Apr.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly