BH 100: Making Book Part II

This feature originally appeared in the October 1, 2016 issue of BloodHorse.

Through most of a personal history connected in one way or another to Thoroughbred racing, the appearance of a new book on the subject was greeted as a rare and happy event. There was no problem in maintaining a feeling that we were up on virtually every new book about what is something of an arcane subject to the general public. Beginning around 1997 this changed, and we admit to having been soundly defeated in any ambition to have “read them all.”

Jacqueline Duke, who was in the forefront of that change, recalls that two specific books published by The Blood-Horse—Royal Blood featuring the work of artist Richard Stone Reeves and Cigar: America’s Horse, by Jay Hovdey—proved highly successful in the 1990s. Stacy Bearse, publisher of The Blood-Horse at the time, concluded that the success of those two volumes indicated there was “a lot of upside” to becoming more active in turning out books, she said. Theretofore The Blood-Horse had produced numerous books sporadically, but certainly not as a regular adjunct to the mission of publishing a weekly trade magazine.

Duke recalls that the first volume in her new role as head of a book division was Crown Jewels of Thoroughbred Racing, a coffee table volume featuring more of the art of Richard Stone Reeves. That was followed by a library of horse owners’ education books, the Horse Health Care series: Understanding Basic Horse Care, Laminitis, Equine Business Basics, Nutrition,” and so forth, some two dozen separate volumes. Various authors, including a number of veterinarians, were tapped to write those books.

The next step was the establishment of a specific mark for the book division, and the name Eclipse was chosen, to evoke thoughts of the amazing Thoroughbred progenitor of that name while connoting a very high standard of quality. Over the next decade Duke’s Eclipse Press staff grew to as many as seven, and books were produced at a rate of 15-18 per year. Various Turf writers from within and outside the magazine staff were given the writing assignments. (The Eclipse staff also took on custom projects such as special publications produced for Keeneland, the Kentucky Derby, and Breeders’ Cup, as well as venturing into the video field.)

Quality was, indeed, kept high, and the subject matter was varied. There were books of photography and art—contemporary and historic—along with volumes about distinguished stallions, broodmares, breeders, trainers, memorable races, Kentucky Derby winners, upsets, rivalries, and queens of the Turf. This menu was spiced with the occasional venture into Olympic equestrian sport, historic mysteries, and even one go at fiction.

Among the most successful in terms of sales was the compilation of the 100 greatest racehorses in the United States of the 20th century. Also exceptionally popular were books by the excellent photographer Barbara Livingston, who employed the names Old Friends and More Old Friends in recalling some of her favorite equine subjects over the years.

While some of the Eclipse volumes called for lavish color and even leather bound collectors’ editions, one of the key series was comprised of 20-plus small volumes, biographies of champion Thoroughbreds in a series aptly entitled Legends. The undersigned savored the honor of authoring Man o’ War, War Admiral, Nashua, and Bold Ruler. We admittedly skulked off in jealousy upon learning that other authors were assigned certain additional personal favorites. Nevertheless, those champions and their stories were so compelling that we eagerly consumed the resulting biographies, finding many gems of history and authorship:

Barry Irwin in Swaps: “…it is ironic that an actor whose signature role was that of Alexander Graham Bell made the telephone call that led to Washington Park’s getting the match race between Nashua and Swaps. One July evening in 1955, horse racing fan and owner Don Ameche chanced upon William Woodward Jr. at the 21 Club in Manhattan. When the star of stage and screen became aware that Nashua’s owner seriously wanted to match his colt against Swaps, Ameche contacted his friend Benjamin F. Lindheimer, the owner of Washington Park in Chicago.”

Timothy Capps in Secretariat, recalling works leading up to the Preakness: “Sham was brilliant, ripping off his five eighths in :582⁄5…Secretariat, with (Ron) Turcotte aboard, made Sham look like a station wagon in a Formula One race. He sailed the half-mile in :451⁄5, nailed the five-eighths in :572⁄5, and galloped out six furlongs in 1:10. The doubts about him prior to the Derby were like chaff in the wind. Secretariat was breathtaking.”

Eva Jolene Boyd, in Native Dancer, recalling the circumstance of Straight Face having a formidable lead in the Metropolitan Handicap: “Native Dancer fans were heartsick. For those who had seen (his loss in) the Derby, it felt like déjà vu. But with Native Dancer, the difficult was easy; the impossible just took longer. (Jockey Eric) Guerin felt the power shifting under him, something, he said, that was difficult to describe…A few yards out, the Gray Ghost caught Greentree’s runner, and in one great lunge shoved his neck in front…‘Was I scared?’ Guerin’s voice quivered. ‘You’re damned right—right down to 50 yards away.’ ”

Pohla Smith in Citation, commenting on the subject’s Kentucky Derby: “Also, according to Red Smith of the New York Herald-Tribune, (jockey Eddie) Arcaro set another mark: first jockey to win a Derby while under bail. The night before the race, Arcaro had gotten into an argument with a traffic cop and landed in jail.”

Steve Haskin, in Kelso, recounting the fifth consecutive two-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup victory: “Kelso drew off with every one of those rhythmic strides, and (Milo) Valenzuela just sat wrapped up on him. What was most amazing was that, despite winning with such ridiculous ease…Kelso broke his own track and American record…(Turf writer Dave) Alexander called it a ‘matchless experience of watching a perfect creature perform at the peak of its perfection, of seeing a living thing move down the stretch with the cadenced assurance of a Beethoven symphony.’ ”

Eclipse Press had been attuned to staying with the times and had been publishing books in a digital format as well as hardbound. Still, the recession of 2008, and readers’ changing preferences in the age of digital media, were too much to absorb and still generate books—each with its long lead time between expense and revenue. The wonderful flow could only ebb. The mark Eclipse Press still is owned by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, now minority partner with The Jockey Club in ownership of BloodHorse.

Edward L. Bowen is former editor of BloodHorse and president of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation.

Read more BloodHorse 100 features here.