Eclipse
The Horse That Changed Racing History Forever
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Watching Eclipse is the man who wants to buy him. An adventurer and rogue who has made his money through gambling, Dennis O'Kelly is also a known companion to the madam of a notorious London brothel. Under O'Kelly's management, Eclipse would go on a winning streak unparalleled for the next two centuries. As journalist Nicholas Clee explores in this captivating romp, while O'Kelly was destined to remain an outcast to the racing establishment, his horse would go on to become the undisputed, undefeated champion of the sport. Not only a consummate winner, Eclipse exemplified the perfect thoroughbred -- a status he retains even today. Eclipse's male-line descendants include Secretariat, Barbaro, and all but three of the Kentucky Derby winners of the past fifty years.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this colorful history, British journalist Clee (Don't Sweat the Aubergine) argues that Eclipse "is the most influential stallion in the history of the Thoroughbred," pointing out that "all but three of the Kentucky Derby winners of the past fifty years" are his descendants. He covers the horse's undefeated racing career, from 1769 to 1771, and his days as a stud, which extended nearly to his death in 1789. Since no horse ever came close to defeating Eclipse, Clee focuses on the people whose lives were intertwined with Eclipse's, like Prince William, duke of Cumberland, Eclipse's original owner, whose death sent the horse to auction, where it was bought under unusual circumstances by a butcher named William Wildman. But the real star is gambler and roughneck Dennis O'Kelly, who along with his companion, Charlotte Hayes, the madam of England's foremost brothel, owned Eclipse for most of the horse's life. By combining stories of royals and commoners; sex and breeding lines; art and debauchery; fortunes lost and purses won, Clee creates a portrait of 18th-century England that is, at times, Dickensian. Solidly written, this work will give horse racing fans a glimpse of one of history's great horses as well as the colorful heritage of their favorite present-day steeds.
