Guilty Pleasures: Kentucky Derby edition
The first Saturday in May means one thing to horse lovers: Kentucky Derby! Yes, I love the “ponies”. There is something so beautiful and majestic about those animals. I don’t know a ton about racing but through the reading of books, watching several documentaries as well as some feel-good movies, I understand it better than I used to!
In honor of all things horse-racing, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite movies and books about horse racing in general, not just the Kentucky Derby.
Seabiscuit: An American Legend
This is the book that brought horse-racing back into the public eye. If you don’t have time to actually read the book, I highly recommend the Audio Book
–that’s how I first “read” it and was amazed at author Laura Hillenbrand’s ability to make the biography of a horse really come to life.
You can watch the movie Seabiscuit 
but sometimes real life is much more interesting. I thought the PBS documentary Seabiscuit
told the story better than the movie.
The Most Glorious Crown: The Story of America’s Triple Crown Thoroughbreds from Sir Barton to Affirmed
Very cool book about the race for the Triple Crown that comes with a DVD of a program that ran on The History Channel called Win Place, Show.
Thoroughbred Champions: Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century
Another very cool book that highlights the most famous horses, from Seabiscuit to Man O War.
Speaking of which, Man o’ War: A Legend Like Lightning
is a great biography of a horse ahead of his time: Man O War. Some say he was better than Secretariat, others say he was just a modern horse that happened to live in the early 1920s.
Secretariat by William Nack
. THE writer of horse-racing, Nack has done a good job documenting Big Red’s life and races. Considered by most to be the best racing horse ever, if you’re interested in finding out more about the sport, you have to read about him.
The Disney movie Secretariat
was pretty good in a Disney sort of way, but the movie is really about Secretariat’s owner, not the horse. But the DVD did have extras like his infamous Belmont Stakes race. Which, if you don’t know, was sporting perfection; I tear up every time I see it because it is just an incredible race. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check it out on YouTube. (You might also want to check out his performance in the Preakness, where he tripped at the gate, but managed to go from last to first in about 100 yards.) Like I mentioned, sometimes real life is just so much better than any movie.
Now pull out the big floppy hats and start making mint juleps, it’s almost Derby Time!
Guilty Pleasures are posts of things that personally interest me, NOT necessarily the things that are tearing up the blogging world because of fabulous deals. Many time I do find good deals on the items but sometimes they’re just okay. Sometimes I just like to share, hoping they inspire you with ideas.
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