Books by Phil Georgeff

When Citation (1945-1970) retired in mid-1951, he was horseracing's first and, to that point, only millionaire racehorse. Following his 1948 triumphs at the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont in 1948, it would be twenty-five years before another horse (Secreteriat) would again wear the coveted Triple Crown. Citation, by legendary announcer and longtime horseracing insider Phil Georgeff, reveals all about the thoroughbred, his remarkable career, and those in his inner circle. Georgeff delves into Citation's unusual bloodline; the death of his original rider, Al Snider, swept out to sea while fishing off the Florida keys; Citation's stunning 1948 Triple Crown victory; and the ultimate effects of the horse's excessive, aggressive schedule (racing on little rest after traveling cross-country in sweltering vans and railroad boxcars).Based on interviews from those who knew the thoroughbred, including famed jockey Eddie Arcaro and renowned son-and-father trainers Ben A. and Jimmy Jones; Citation is more than merely the biography of a gifted horse. It the full story of the greatest sports figure in the history of horseracing, a champion who won or placed in thirty different contests in his career and whose spirit continue to captivate the American public.

Beloved for his thunderous, commanding voice and affable personality, Phil Georgeff, known as "e;The Voice of Chicago Racing,"e; holds the world record for calling the most horse races-an astounding 96,131. During his fifty years in the sport, Georgeff brushed shoulders with every great jockey and saw just about every great horse, from 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation to 1973's Secretariat. Part memoir, part historical analysis, and part nostalgic remembrance, this book is the quintessential guide to the history of thoroughbred racing in the twentieth century.