The Horse God Built : The Untold Story of Secretariat, the World's Greatest Racehorse

He was the perfect horse, it was said . . . "the horse God built." Most of us know the legend of Secretariat, the tall, handsome chestnut racehorse whose string of honors runs long and rich: the only two-year-old ever to win Horse of the Year, in 1972; winner in 1973 of the Triple Crown, his times in all three races still unsurpassed; featured on the cover of Time, Newsweek, and Sports Illustrated; the only horse listed on ESPN's top fifty athletes of the twentieth century (ahead of Mickey Mantle). His final race at Toronto's Woodbine Racetrack is a touchstone memory for horse lovers everywhere. Yet while Secretariat will be remembered forever, one man, Eddie "Shorty" Sweat, who was pivotal to the great horse's success, has been all but forgotten---until now. In The Horse God Built, bestselling equestrian writer Lawrence Scanlan has written a tribute to an exceptional man that is also a backroads journey to a corner of the racing world rarely visited. As a young black man growing up in South Carolina, Eddie Sweat struggled at several occupations before settling on the job he was born for---groom to North America's finest racehorses. As Secretariat's groom, loyal friend, and protector, Eddie understood the horse far better than anyone else. A wildly generous man who could read a horse with his eyes, he shared in little of the financial success or glamour of Secretariat's wins on the track, but won the heart of Big Red with his soft words and relentless devotion. In Scanlan's rich narrative, we get a groom's-eye view of the racing world and the vantage of a man who spent every possible moment with the horse he loved, yet who often basked in the horse's glory from the sidelines. More than anything else, The Horse God Built is a moving portrait of the powerful bond between human and horse. This amazing and heartwarming story of Secretariat and the African-American man who knew him best is “detailed in all its equine awesomeness” (Maxim).Most of us know the legend of Secretariat: the only two-year-old ever to win Horse of the Year, in 1972; winner in 1973 of the Triple Crown, his times in all three races still unsurpassed, Yet while Secretariat will be remembered forever, one man, Eddie “Shorty” Sweat, who was pivotal to the great horse's success, has been all but forgotten—until now.In The Horse God Built, bestselling equestrian writer Lawrence Scanlan has written a tribute to an exceptional man that is also a backroads journey to a corner of the racing world rarely visited. As a young black man growing up in South Carolina, Eddie Sweat struggled at several occupations before settling on the job he was born for—groom to North America's finest racehorses. As Secretariat's groom, loyal friend, and protector, Eddie understood the horse far better than anyone else. A wildly generous man who could read a horse with his eyes, he shared in little of the financial success or glamour of Secretariat's wins on the track, but won the heart of Big Red with his soft words and relentless devotion.In Scanlan's rich narrative, we get a groom's-eye view of the racing world and the vantage of a man who spent every possible moment with the horse he loved, yet who often basked in the horse's glory from the sidelines. More than anything else, The Horse God Built is a moving portrait of the powerful bond between human and horse. In The Horse God Built Lawrence Scanlan Gives The Reader A Groom's-eye View Of The Most Exciting Time In Racing History. But More Than Anything Else, It Is A Moving Portrait Of The Powerful Bond Between Human And Horse. Prologue: A Horse And His Groom -- Rarity -- Red Horse, Black Angel -- Connection -- Backstretch: Eddie's World -- Grace -- Your Miracle Has Arrived -- Greatest -- Eddie Was A Prince -- Parade Of Stallions -- Full Of Run -- Gift -- Catching A Glimpse Of Glory -- Adulation -- Ghost Of Eddie Sweat -- Thoroughbred Stallion -- Pilgrimage -- My Baby -- Eulogy For A Horse -- Knowing Horses -- Epilogue: In Praise Of A Bond. Lawrence Scanlan. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 319-320) And Index. The story of Secretariat, the legendary Triple Crown winner whose record-breaking accomplishments in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes have never been equaled, is seen through the perspective of the bond between the horse and his African-American groom, Eddie Sweat Through the lens of Eddie Sweat, Secretariat's African-American groom, this is the record of one man's search for the horse's legacy and the heartwarming story of their bond