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Off a Step Slow and Never Gets Engaged in the Race

Customer Rating:

Like looking over a racing form, there are many angles to peruse in exploring Avalyn Hunter's second book on a sire who defined the Thoroughbred industry. Hunter utilizes the same format that was successful in The Kingmaker - a biography of Northern Dancer - but that grand champion had a significantly longer and successful career on the track than Mr. Prospector, who showed unbelievable promise, but was ultimately derailed by injuries. Because of this, the bulk of the slim 146 pages of text are profiles of Mr. Prospector's major progeny, from the track to the breeding shed. A nearly 70-page Appendix covering such areas as Mr. Prospector's stakes winners and million-dollar yearlings is vastly more informative than the text. The photographs are outstanding. But like with the training of an equine athlete, a book will not have the chance to reach its full potential by simply plugging ideas into a successful plan from another project. There are parts which finds Gold Rush showing good form, but it ultimately fades at the top of the stretch due to the lack of a strong presence from the main character, Mr. Prospector.

A fascinating read for all professional horse racing fans.

Customer Rating:

"Gold Rush: How Mr. Prospector Became Racing's Billion-Dollar Sire" by expert equine pedigree analyst Avalyn Hunter is the fascinating story of how the thoroughbred called 'Mr. Prospector', who had only a modest racing career in terms of wins and losses, when put out to stud in 1975 went on to have an impact on Thoroughbred racing that is almost legendary in scope among horse racing enthusiasts. At the time of his death at the age of 29 in 1999, Mr. Prospector led both the American sire and broodmare sire lists twice. Since his passing, he has come to lead the broodmare sire list seven more times. Among his offspring is the 2000 Kentucky Derby winner 'Fusaichi Pegasus, who sold for four million dollars and was syndicated for stud duty for an estimated seventy million dollars more. "Gold Rush" is the history of a progenitor who, thanks to artificial insemination technology, continued to be a success as a stud horse even eight years after his death. "Gold Rush" is a fascinating read for all professional horse racing fans. Also very highly recommended are Avalyn Hunter's earlier work published by Eclipse Press on Thoroughbred racing, "The Kingmaker and American Classic Pedigrees".

Good reference book

Customer Rating:

When I started reading "Gold Rush," I thought I was going to read an enjoyable story about one of thoroughbred racing's bigger stallion shed stars. Frankly, I had hoped for another Laura Hillenbrand's "Seabiscuit." I wanted a book that could eventually wind up in the hands of thousands of potential racing fans, promote the sport, and be a best seller for Ms. Hunter. Instead, after the first half dozen or so short chapters, the book wound up as a reference book, highlighting the yearly crops of Mr. Prospector. One chapter is merely a list of females he sired, naming them and their progeny. The proofreader also missed a number of errors, both grammatically and content-wise. There are typographical errors and overuse of parenthesis. If Blood Horse still published their Thoroughbred Series' books, this would have been a good addition to that series. However, even that series gave personal behind-the-common-knowledge details about the horses and owners. "Gold Rush" lacks the in-depth research of "Seabiscuit." Personally, I would like to know how Mr. Prospector got his name and who named him. Yes, his dam was Gold Digger, but his sire was Raise a Native, and I can see no acknowledgement towards his sire in this name. On page 53, Ms. Hunter mentions a sire named "Double Jay." She neglects to mention that he sired a horse named Old Bob Bowers and that sire produced John Henry. Even many racing enthusiasts think John Henry's pedigree wasn't very good, but according to Hunter, Double Jay stood at Claiborne Farms for a number of years and sired 45 stakes winners. An excellent point Ms. Hunter makes is the potential towards overbreeding of the current sires. She states, "...Fusaichi Pegasus has to date [as of July 11, 2007] been credited with siring 890 foals in his first five crops. ...That is more foals than Northern Dancer sired during his entire 23 year stud career and equal to the number of foals that Mr. Prospector sired in his first 18 crops." Obviously, time will tell whether these are wise decisions. It would appear that American breeders are also too quick to dismiss a stud if his early crops do not instantly produce winners. Ms. Hunter points out that Forty Niner was sold to Japan before his foals had a chance to mature and prove themselves. Precocious two year olds who are pushed into competitive racing are burned out by age four. The book is very up-to-date, with photos and acknowledgement of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner, Street Sense, and 2007 Preakness winner, Curlin, both descendents of Mr. Prospector. The color photos are a nice touch. The "appendix" takes up nearly as many pages as the story contents, which is charts of Mr. Prospector's stakes winners, and tables of a number of his outstanding colts' get. Because many of his progeny are still racing and producing, the tables are an excellent reference resource up to July 11, 2007. I also read Ms. Hunter's book, "The Kingmaker," which was an in-depth look at Northern Dancer. It also covered the Dancer's progeny. The Kingmaker was a more enjoyable read.

Gold Rush is superb!	Customer Rating:
I love the book! I often look for information on Mr. Prospector and this is such a wonderful resource. Lovely photos! Thanks so much! Lisa