I've always been a fan of "Old Bones," so this book was a treat for me. He's a great athlete whose legend needs to be rescued from people's ignorance of the past. Eliza McGraw provides an in-depth study of one of the greatest racehorses of the twentieth century. We learn much about Exterminator's early years and racing career. Equally important, she does a fine job of explaining the background of the people connected to him, the cultural context of the gelding's life, and the history of horse racing. I was particularly interested in the Exterminator-Sir Barton-Man o' War nexus.

This book is not as long as my "I've been reading it forever" pace implies. It's just that every time I pick it up I end up watching old video of horse races on YouTube and getting lost in Wikipedia as I look up the people and stories. Then I gave away my book to someone I thought would like it and just picked up a second copy today to finish it.

Here's what I knew about horse racing before starting this book: "There was a horse named Seabiscuit. They made a movie about him (or is it her - do girl horses race?). Maybe Angelina Jolie was in it? It's sad that they shoot horses. I don't think I would look good in one of those big hats." Literally. That's it. I picked up this book on the recommendation of a friend who has an enormous amount of knowledge on the subject and I trusted her judgement.

The first half of the book was slower reading in that it was packed with history, with background, and with context that helps to understand why, although he never posted the times that Man o' War did, Exterminator nonetheless captured the hearts and imagination of America in a way no other horse ever had. McGraw had incredible access to family members and original sources and the roughly 80 pages of notes and bibliography testify to the research that went into the book.

The second half of the book breezes by so quickly as we come to see Exterminator transform into a celebrity just as surely as any movie idol of the time; he even got a profile in Vanity Fair! By the end of the book I reached the point where I was truly sad that I could never see Exterminator myself. His personality really came through in McGraw's writing and I just wanted to hug that big goofy horse and his best buddy Peanuts (1-3). I was really moved by the love Exterminator had for racing and the long and painful last years of his career. I'm not going to lie, I cried through most of the last 20 or so pages. Perhaps Exterminator was best summed up by a quote from an unnamed reporter, "Turf fans worshipped many horses...But they loved Old Bones."

I really enjoyed this book and I would love to see a movie made about the relationship that formed the primary bond of the book, that of Exterminator and his long-term trainer, Henry McDaniel.

As a horse racing fan, I learned a lot about a great horse whose story I had never heard. But as a read, it was just average. Too many pages were a simple list of races that a Daily Racing Form page would have recreated. Decent enough, but I wouldn't go out of your way to read it.

More on Exterminator than just the enticing morsel in "Old Bones". He was a fascinating horse with an honest heart. Too bad his owner was Kilmer, who was fixated on his pretty stud Sun Briar. In races with Sun Briar, he had Exterminator held back so Sun Briar could win - which was legal then with the owner or trainer stating that the horse would be held back to allow his stablemate to beat him. Then, toward the end of his racing career when he was having physical problems, he entered him in a lot of races in order to pass the winnings of Man O'War. There was real affection between him and his trainer. His trainer just couldn't take Kilmer anymore. Kilmer was notorious for running through trainers, thinking he knew all about racing and horses....
The book tries to portray Kilmer in an understanding light, but I still didn't like him. He came across as a better person than in "Old Bones", but I still thought him obnoxious. But, Exterminator and Henry McDaniel were the stars and the best characters.