I read the Legend like Lightning book about six months ago. It was a pretty good read, and I definitely don't think it was biased towards the horse himself.
As for Man O' War the horse: he set a gang of world, track, and stakes records at a variety of distances - some of which were never broken - and even broke a world record in a race where the place horse finished an estimated 100 lengths in arrears. It's estimated that on that particular day - in a virtual walkover - Man O' War bested the world record by as much as eight lengths. He gave up as much as 33.5 pounds to his competitors, beat the first Triple Crown winner in a match race, and won 20 races by a median of 9.5 lengths.
Secretariat, by contrast, never gave up more than 12 pounds, and won 17 of 21 starts by a median of 3.5 lengths.
Stats can work both ways, eh?
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The world's foremost expert on virtually everything on the Redskins 2010 season: "Im going to go out on a limb here. I say they make the playoffs."
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