Citation: Thoroughbred Legends

There are only two bios of Citation that I know of. This one and another by Phil Georgeff. There is a world of difference between them. Smith is primarily a writer, and this book is one of a series of books about racehorses, including the Great (Man o' War) and the near Great (Sunday Silence). It is pretty standard stuff, well done, but standard. Phil Georgeff is primarily a caller of horseraces and his book is mainly a labor of love. He knows a lot of people around horseracing (good friends with Eddie Arcaro, Citation's main jockey in his phenomenal third year) and interviewed many of them for his book. There are lots of quotes from people who knew the Joneses, the Joneses themselves, sports writers, etc., plus much gossip, and detailed writing. Georgeff feels that Citation was without a doubt THE best racehorse of all time, and he is not shy about letting you know it. The Smith book does have some things the Georgeff book lacks. Its photo section is slightly better. Georgeff's book was a major disappointment in one area: it did not include Citation's race record, although it had a very nice index. Smith's book rectifies this in an extremely satisfactory manner: it not only has Citation's lifetime record, it has the DRF report for many of his 3-year-old races. In my opinion, the true Citation fan needs both books for they really complement each other.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about horses, and to the Thoroughbred race fan in particular, who likes to read and learn more about racing's greats. As a long-time fan myself, I couldn't wait for this book to be released. Being one of racing's greatest, I have always wanted to read about Citation, to learn more about him, get the full story on his life and racing exploits. This book does not disappoint. It is well written and very informative. I couldn't put it down. Now I feel like I really know the story of "Big Cy". I have this book in my collection. I strongly suggest others to add it to theirs.