In the bestselling tradition of Seabiscuit, the extraordinary true story of the world's most famous racehorse, and the rogue who owned him.
Epsom Downs racetrack, 3rd May, 1769: a chestnut with a white blaze scorches across the turf towards the finishing post, leaving his rivals in the dust. Awestruck, his spectators know they are in the presence of greatness.
This is a vivid portrait of high society and low life, of passionate sport and ferocious gambling. It's the story of Eclipse's owner, an adventurer who made his money through roguery and gambling -- a rank outsider who went on to become a national celebrity -- and of his horse, which went on to become the undisputed champion of horse racing; founded dynasties that dominated the bloodstock market in every country where Thoroughbreds raced; and whose influence was such that ninety-five percent of horses racing today are Eclipse's male-line descendants.

In the wake of World War II, as turmoil and chaos were giving way to a spirit of optimism, Americans were looking for inspiration and role models showing that it was possible to start from the bottom and work your way up to the top-and they found it in Stymie, the failed racehorse plucked from the discard heap by trainer Hirsch Jacobs. Like Stymie, Jacobs was a commoner in "The Sport of Kings," a dirt-poor Brooklyn city slicker who forged an unlikely career as racing's winningest trainer by buying cheap, unsound nags and magically transforming them into winners. The $1,500 pittance Jacobs paid to claim Stymie became history's biggest bargain as the ultimate iron horse went on to run a whopping 131 races and win 25 stakes, becoming the first Thoroughbred ever to earn more than $900,000. The Cinderella champion nicknamed "The People's Horse" captivated the masses with his rousing charge-from-behind stretch runs, his gritty blue-collar work ethic, and his rags-to-riches success story. In a golden age when horse racing rivaled baseball and boxing as America's most popular pastime, he was every bit as inspiring a sports hero as Joe DiMaggio and Joe Louis. Taking readers on a crowd-pleasing ride with Stymie and Jacobs, Out of the Clouds -- the winner of the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award -- unwinds a real-life Horatio Alger tale of a dauntless team and its working-class fans who lived vicariously through the stouthearted little colt they embraced as their own.

A hundred years ago, the most famous athlete in America was a horse. But Dan Patch was more than a sports star; he was a cultural icon in the days before the automobile. Born crippled and unable to stand, he was nearly euthanized. For a while, he pulled the grocer's wagon in his hometown of Oxford, Indiana. But when he was entered in a race at the county fair, he won -- and he kept on winning. Harness racing was the top sport in America at the time, and Dan, a pacer, set the world record for the mile. He eventually lowered the mark by four seconds, an unheard-of achievement that would not be surpassed for decades.

America loved Dan Patch, who, though kind and gentle, seemed to understand that he was a superstar: he acknowledged applause from the grandstands with a nod or two of his majestic head and stopped as if to pose when he saw a camera. He became the first celebrity sports endorser; his name appeared on breakfast cereals, washing machines, cigars, razors, and sleds. At a time when the highest-paid baseball player, Ty Cobb, was making $12,000 a year, Dan Patch was earning over a million dollars.

But even then horse racing attracted hustlers, cheats, and touts. Drivers and owners bet heavily on races, which were often fixed; horses were drugged with whiskey or cocaine, or switched off with "ringers." Although Dan never lost a race, some of his races were rigged so that large sums of money could change hands. Dan's original owner was intimidated into selling him, and America's favorite horse spent the second half of his career touring the country in a plush private railroad car and putting on speed shows for crowds that sometimes exceeded 100,000 people. But the automobile cooled America's romance with the horse, and by the time he died in 1916, Dan was all but forgotten. His last owner, a Minnesota entrepreneur gone bankrupt, buried him in an unmarked grave. His achievements have faded, but throughout the years, a faithful few kept alive the legend of Dan Patch, and in "Crazy Good," Charles Leerhsen travels through their world to bring back to life this fascinating story of triumph and treachery in small-town America and big-city racetracks.

Punters have never had it so good. In a world of rapidly progressive technology and ever-changing ways to bet, the days of punting solely in the betting shop and on the racecourse are long gone. Since the invention of Betfair in 2000 and the mass move online, bookmakers have never been closer to their customers. Punters are able to place bets at the click of a button - on the move, from the pub and even in the office - and the gambling industry has boomed because of it. Football has taken over as the market leader but horseracing is still hugely popular, while odds on other popular sports have opened them up to a fresh audience - the punters. But in a world of flickering screens and rifling numbers can come confusion. Whether you're a newcomer or a seasoned bettor, the Racing Post Betting Guide provides a lighter look at betting in the current climate, covering horseracing, football and other major sports such as golf, cricket and tennis. The views of our unparelled team of experts can help shape your thinking. Call on the Racing Post's unrivalled expertise, soak up all the knowledge you can and become a better bettor. Among the chapters to consider are: Ten top tips by Pricewise supremo Tom Segal-Studying the form by tipping judge Paul Kealy-Football accas and in-play by Mark Langdon-Punting at the big festivals by David Jennings-Golf betting and the Majors by Steve Palmer-Betting on the favourites by Richard Birch-Tackling the handicaps by Keith Melrose. Other forms of betting covered are: Betting exchanges, pool betting, multiple bets, ante-post betting, pedigree punting plus betting on NFL, darts, rugby, UFC and cycling plus more!

His trainer said that managing him was like holding a tiger by the tail. His owner compared him to "chain lightning." His jockeys found their lives transformed by him, in triumphant and distressing ways. All of them became caught in a battle for honesty.
Born in 1917, Man o' War grew from a rebellious youngster into perhaps the greatest racehorse of all time. He set such astonishing speed records that" The New York Times "called him a "Speed Miracle." Often he won with so much energy in reserve that experts wondered how much faster he could have gone. Over the years, this and other mysteries would envelop the great Man o' War.
The truth remained problematic. Even as Man o' War---known as "Big Red"---came to power, attracting record crowds and rave publicity, the colorful sport of Thoroughbred racing struggled for integrity. His lone defeat, suffered a few weeks before gamblers fixed the 1919 World Series, spawned lasting rumors that he, too, had been the victim of a fix.
Tackling old beliefs with newly uncovered evidence," Man o' War: A Legend Like Lightning "shows how human pressures collided with a natural phenomenon and brings new life to an American icon. The genuine courage of Man o' War, tribulations of his archrival, Sir Barton (America's first Triple Crown winner), and temptations of their Hall of Fame jockeys and trainers reveal a long-hidden tale of grace, disgrace, and elusive redemption.

**WINNER OF THE GENERAL OUTSTANDING SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD** **SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017** Coping with your own death, when you are not yet dead, is a strange thing... A natural on a horse since he was able to walk, and imbued with a pure love of riding, Declan Murphy became one of the most brilliant jockeys of his generation before his world came crashing down at the final hurdle of a race at Haydock Park. His skull shattered in twelve places, he was believed to be dead, the last rites were read and the Racing Post prepared his obituary. Miraculously, and the word is not used lightly, he survived and defied medical thinking in recovering to the extent that eighteen months after his fall, he was able to saddle up for one more race. As usual, he won. For 23 years, Declan has been unable to tell his story, to bring to words existence on the frontier between life and death, to describe the incredible bond between man and horse. But now, in an extraordinary collaboration with Ami Rao, she has helped him find those words, a way to piece together what happened before, during and after, what it all meant and what it means to us all. It is a story of triumph, fear, love and loss, by turns primal, heartbreaking and inspirational, and ultimately, it is the story of hope, and of life.

In 2021, horse racing's most recognizable face - Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert - had five horses that failed postrace drug tests, including that year's Kentucky Derby winner, Medina Spirit. While the incident was a major scandal in the Thoroughbred racing world, it was only the latest in a long string of drug-related infractions among high-caliber athletes. Stories about systemic rule-breaking and "doping culture" - both human and equine -have put world-class athletes and their trainers under intense scrutiny. Each newly discovered instance of abuse forces fans to question the participants' integrity, and in the case of horse racing, their humanity. In Unnatural Ability: The History of Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Thoroughbred Racing, Milton C. Toby addresses the historical and contemporary context of the Thoroughbred industry's most pressing issue. While early attempts at boosting racehorses' performance were admittedly crude, widespread legal access to narcotics and stimulants has changed the landscape of horse racing, along with athletic governing bodies' ability to regulate it. With the sport at a critical turning point in terms of doping restrictions and sports betting, Toby delivers a comprehensive account of the practice of using performance-enhancing drugs to influence the outcome of Thoroughbred races since the late nineteenth century. Paying special attention to Thoroughbred racing's purse structure and its reliance on wagering to supplement a horse's winnings, Toby discusses how horse doping poses a unique challenge for gambling sports and what the industry and its players must do to survive the pressure to get ahead.

In 1955, Reginald Gill - milkman and part-time illegal bookie - took his 12-year-old son Roy to the Spring meeting at Epsom Downs Racecourse. It was a trip that started a life-long passion for racing. In the half-century since, Roy Gill has visited every racecourse in the UK and Ireland at least once. Many courses have been closed down, some have moved their location, but every racecourse he visited is vividly recalled in this very personal and highly readable account. By the time he reached Tralee in 1992, Roy Gill was 99 not out on individual racecourses, and continues to attend race meetings whenever he can. He has included the new courses at Great Leighs and Ffos Las, and returned to Wolverhampton and Limerick, which have moved from their original locations. Along with brief histories of every racecourse visited, the highs and lows of both Flat and National Hunt racing are revealed here by an acknowledged expert - and bona fide Turf Accountant. The book is beautifully illustrated with photographs (many of them previously unseen and unpublished), course diagrams and fascinating racing memorabilia.It includes the noteworthy occurrences and behind-the-scene stories of each venue, as well as personal anecdotes about the courses, the horses, the jockeys and trainers. Told with humour and passion, this entertaining and informative work is essential reading for all lovers of the Turf, and also a valuable spotlight on the sporting and social history of these sceptered isles.

How well do you know your racing? You follow the form, share in the agony of defeat and the elation of success, but how much of that information do you remember? The Racing Post Quiz Book will provide hours of entertainment and challenge horse racing know-it-alls to prove themselves. Categories range from where this uniquely historic sport started right up to the modern day, taking in the best horses, most successful trainers, the heroic jockeys and many more besides. With 1,000 questions, many fiendish, some infuriating, this is the ultimate test for any racing fan.

The Queen's Plate was inaugurated, with royal blessing, on Wednesday, June 27, 1860, at the Carleton track in Toronto, located in bucolic surroundings near what is now the traffic-strangled southwestern corner of Keele and Dundas streets. There is no reason to believe that Queen Victoria was a wild-eyed devotee of horse racing. However, Her Majesty granted the petition of the little turf club in the boisterous Upper Canada community (the population of Toronto was 44,425) and offered as an annual prize, "a plate to the value of Fifty Guineas." And thus Canadian horse racing was established as "the sport of royalty." Today, the Queen's Plate is the first jewel in Canada's Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing and the longest continuously run stakes race in North America. It takes place every June, and the first-place purse is $1 million. The Plate is unquestionably Canada's most famous, one-day social and sporting event. This book explores the colourful history of the Queen's Plate through words and archival photographs.

This is the true story of the most remarkable horse in history. Foaled in the lavish Ottoman stables of the Topkapl Palace in the late 1870s, this dark bay stallion was hard schooled in the disciplines of war. Until now, his remarkable story has never been told.

Here, for the first time, is the story of how America's first national resort gave birth to, then nurtured, its first national sport, introducing the country to a parade of champions and their spectacular supporting characters. To experience this adventure is to see why the Saratoga Race Course, America's oldest major sports facility remains one of its most beloved and most successful. They're Off! is as much a social history as it is sports history. Edward Hotaling opens with a little-known visit by the first famous tourist, George Washington, who tried to buy the place he called "the Saratoga Springs". Soon the pursuit of happiness at our original vacationland helped redefine America. Even at the height of the Civil War, the country's first organized sport was launched on a national scale.