Horse God Built

Most of us know the legend of Secretariat, the tall, handsome chestnut racehorse whose string of honours runs long and rich. Yet while Secretariat will forever be remembered, one man who was pivotal to the great horse’s success has been all but forgotten. Eddie “Shorty” Sweat, Secretariat’s groom, had far more contact with him than anyone, and no one understood the horse better. In The Horse God Built, Lawrence Scanlan has written a tribute to an exceptional man as well as a backroads journey into a corner of the racing world seldom visited. Scanlan contributes not only to one man’s story but also to a portrait of a powerful bond between human and horse.