I began this book with the express purpose of making it the definitive comparison of Secretariat and Man o’ War. I feel that I’ve succeeded. By engaging the discipline of applied statistics to compare the legendary achievements of these two horses, I am being completely honest about my two primary audiences—the serious Thoroughbred racing fan and those desiring a clearer comparison of runner quality that only the lens of basic statistics can provide.

The statistics in this book are basic and are completely explained as the text progresses. They are not difficult—provided one is motivated to compare Thoroughbreds on an objective rather than subjective level and to spend a modicum of extra time learning the minimal eight-grade-level computations the statistics require.

I personally wish all readers well on their journey into what is possibly a groundbreaking area, thereby showing their willingness to accept a very modest challenge.