This is an outstanding history of one of racing’s best rivalries and the sport’s golden age. My younger racing obsessed self would have eaten this up (and much is familiar to anyone who reads deeply about thoroughbreds). I very much appreciated the final chapter where the authors connect their story to the current multi decade decline of the sport, and how self inflicted many of its failures are. There is a reason why even True Fans like myself have drifted away.
As a library purchase, this is a very niche topic that I’d only buy for large or relevant collections.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

Very good read!! As a horse crazy little who grew up into an even more horse crazy adult I really liked this book, it was engaging and informative!

This was a fascinating read for horse racing enthusiasts.. I followed these horses in the 70’s when they were racing, but the background on their owners, riders, and sires added much to my actual memories of two great horses.mmi wish there were more pictures, but overall, this was a really good history of Affirmed and Alydar. Who knew they came from the same lineage? Thanks for the memories!

This book chronicles the rivalry between Affirmed and Alydar during the 1977-78 racing seasons. It was initially published in 2014 and was recently updated to reflect the history of these two horses, their trainers, owners, and jockeys in the interim. I got into racing about three years after the historic 1978 Triple Crown, so much of what was in the book was new to me.