Book brief: 'Crazy' revives iconic horse
Crazy Good: The True Story of Dan Patch, the Most Famous Horse in America, written by Sports Illustrated editor Charles Leerhsen, chronicles the life of Dan Patch from his birth in 1896 Indiana to his epic rise to stardom, at one time drawing about 60,000 people to a single race. He died in 1916.
Dan Patch was a household name and one of America's first athlete celebrities. Long before big-dollar NBA and NFL contracts, the horse earned roughly $1 million in merchandise and prize money in one year for its final owner, M.W. Savage.
Crazy Good captures a long-forgotten time in American sports. In a time before thoroughbred racing became popular, Dan Patch was a celebrity in the sport of harness racing, which has horses pull their riders on small chariots.
