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Whittingham: The Story of a Thoroughbred Racing Legend
Whittingham is an outstanding biography of an extraordinary man. As a thoroughbred trainer, Whittingharn has scored two triumphs in the Kentucky Derby-both achieved after his 73rd birthday. The story of Charlie Whittingham is also the story of modern thoroughbred racing. Hovdey captures excitement of Thoroughbred racing at its best!
210 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 1993
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December 20, 2021
Dec 15, 745pm ~~ Review asap.
Dec 16, 1245pm ~~ I had not planned to read this book just yet. But when I finished Natural Histories and moved on to the next in the pile, I discovered tiny print, impossible for my old eyes to deal with. So I needed another book, but it was 230am and I did not want to stomp around making noise so I went not to my Haven't Read These Yet bookcase but to my horse bookcase. After my recent horse book fit I ordered a few new titles, and this was one of them, so here we are.
I remember hearing of Charlie Whittingham back in the days when I never missed watching a Triple Crown race, and I remember seeing Ferdinand and later Sunday Silence in their televised races. But other than the name and the human interest stories shown about him during Kentucky Derby air time, I did not know anything this remarkable trainer, and I was very interested to get to know him better and to learn about the zillions of other races he won over the years.
This book was published in 1993, six years before Charlie died at age 88 (he was still training horses at that age, according to Wiki). Various chapters talk about his youth, his time in the Marine Corps, starting work at age 14 for brother Joe (also a horse trainer), his relationships with Strong Women and Money Men (owners of various Thoroughbreds Charlie had in his training barn), jockeys who rode for him, and his approach to training.
What comes through beyond anything else is that Charlie Whittingham understood horses and had a saner approach to racing than many if not most other trainers both of his time and now. He did not believe in stressing a young horse beyond its capabilities. He wanted to find a horse's potential for the long haul, to make sure that a running horse would be able to do just that for many years, not simply appear like a comet at age three and have to be retired due to overwork or injury at age four. He was always thinking of the horse's future well-being. There are unnecessary tragic injuries these days because no one seems to have CW's patience any longer, or his understanding of the equine mind and body.
He was not exactly politically correct about most topics, and he would speak bluntly to anyone about anything. He could drink like a fish and still get to the barn the next day by 4am. He expected his barn rules to be followed, but he also had a soft spot in his heart for the old-timers of any racetrack. He would have been both fun and exasperating to be around, I imagine, but life would certainly always be interesting.
Charlie Whittingham was a true horseman. There simply are not many of that breed left in the world.
Dec 16, 1245pm ~~ I had not planned to read this book just yet. But when I finished Natural Histories and moved on to the next in the pile, I discovered tiny print, impossible for my old eyes to deal with. So I needed another book, but it was 230am and I did not want to stomp around making noise so I went not to my Haven't Read These Yet bookcase but to my horse bookcase. After my recent horse book fit I ordered a few new titles, and this was one of them, so here we are.
I remember hearing of Charlie Whittingham back in the days when I never missed watching a Triple Crown race, and I remember seeing Ferdinand and later Sunday Silence in their televised races. But other than the name and the human interest stories shown about him during Kentucky Derby air time, I did not know anything this remarkable trainer, and I was very interested to get to know him better and to learn about the zillions of other races he won over the years.
This book was published in 1993, six years before Charlie died at age 88 (he was still training horses at that age, according to Wiki). Various chapters talk about his youth, his time in the Marine Corps, starting work at age 14 for brother Joe (also a horse trainer), his relationships with Strong Women and Money Men (owners of various Thoroughbreds Charlie had in his training barn), jockeys who rode for him, and his approach to training.
What comes through beyond anything else is that Charlie Whittingham understood horses and had a saner approach to racing than many if not most other trainers both of his time and now. He did not believe in stressing a young horse beyond its capabilities. He wanted to find a horse's potential for the long haul, to make sure that a running horse would be able to do just that for many years, not simply appear like a comet at age three and have to be retired due to overwork or injury at age four. He was always thinking of the horse's future well-being. There are unnecessary tragic injuries these days because no one seems to have CW's patience any longer, or his understanding of the equine mind and body.
He was not exactly politically correct about most topics, and he would speak bluntly to anyone about anything. He could drink like a fish and still get to the barn the next day by 4am. He expected his barn rules to be followed, but he also had a soft spot in his heart for the old-timers of any racetrack. He would have been both fun and exasperating to be around, I imagine, but life would certainly always be interesting.
Charlie Whittingham was a true horseman. There simply are not many of that breed left in the world.
Displaying 1 of 1 review