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While this book will be compared to Lauren Hillenbrand's Seabiscuit, probably to its detriment, it is exciting in its own way. Seabiscuit told a rags-to-riches story. Man O'War's story was a riches-to-riches tale and so lacks some of the suspense.
I am a geezer who, at age 7, actually saw Man O'War "in person" the year before he died so the book had special meaning for me. Even though I have read other books on Big Red, this one was wonderfully detailed with racing lore and life among the rich in that era.

I'm from Michigan and my parents took me, a horse-crazy girl, to Kentucky to visit the horse farms of the area which one could do back then. One could even drive through most of the pastures, stopping to open and close the gates on the way. You could walk through the barns and many grooms would lead out a prized and loved horse for you if you showed knowledge about and interest in horses. I still remember seeing Man O'War. He was in a four-stall stallion barn with three other horses- his sons War Admiral and War Relic and a stable pony. The other horses were shown to us first and then the groom stepped to THE stall and opened the door for those of us waiting in the barn aisle. The adults in front saw that I couldn't see and let me stand in front. There was Big Red with his head high in the air, giving us a disdainful glance. He knew why we were there and it really was all about HIM.

This book brought all those memories back and gave me new insights. Not as fine a book as Seabiscuit, but a good story of racing and sport in the 10s and 20s.