HUNTING REMINISCENCES. By Alfred E. Pease, M.P. Originally published in 1898, this rare early work on fox, hare and drag hunting is both expensive and hard to find in its first edition. READ COUNTRY BOOKS have republished it in an affordable, high quality, modern edition, using the original text and artwork. The author was a well known hunting man of his day, who also wrote several other well received hunting titles, and contributed many articles to the sporting press of that era. "Hunting Reminiscences" has two hundred and eighty eight pages containing nine entertaining chapters: - Reminiscences of the Cambridge Drag and the House of Commons Steeple Chases. - The Life of a Hunter. - Hounds. - Hare Hunting. - Fox Hunting. (two chapters) - Cub Hunting. - The Greatest Run I ever saw. - Badger Hunting with Hound and Terrier. (The author believed the badger's continued existence could only be assured by hunting him) The book was written in the Golden Age of Hunting and will remain a lasting tribute to this popular sport. "Hunting is the sport of kings, the image of war without its guilt, with only five-and-twenty per cent. of the danger..."..John Jorrocks. Many of the earliest sporting books, particularly those dating back to the 1800s, are now extremely scarce and very expensive. READ COUNTRY BOOKS are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Memoirs Of The Life Of The Late John Mytton, Esq. With Notices Of His Hunting, Shooting, Driving, Racing, Eccentric And Extravagant Exploits. By Nimrod. Originally published in 1837. A cracking sporting memoir. Contents include: Pedigree of Mr. Mytton - With Whom Compared - The breaking up of his establishment at Halston - The author's allusion to a second edition of Mr. Mytton's life. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. READ COUNTRY BOOKS are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

"Sullivan has found the transcendent in the horse."--"Sports Illustrated"
Winner of a 2004 Whiting Writers' Award
One evening late in his life, veteran sportswriter Mike Sullivan was asked by his son what he remembered best from his three decades in the press box. The answer came as a surprise. "I was at Secretariat's Derby, in '73. That was ... just beauty, you know?"
John Jeremiah Sullivan didn't know, not really-but he spent two years finding out, journeying from prehistoric caves to the Kentucky Derby in pursuit of what Edwin Muir called "our long-lost archaic companionship" with the horse. The result-winner of a" National Magazine" Award and named a Book of the Year by "The Economist" magazine-is an unprecedented look at Equus caballus, incorporating elements of memoir, reportage, and the picture gallery.
In the words of the "New York Review of Books," "Blood Horses" "reads like Moby-Dick as edited by F. Scott Fitzgerald . . . Sullivan is an original and greatly gifted writer."
"Wisdom that is both personal and universal . . . Brilliant"--"Chicago Tribune"
"A splendid account of [the] Triple Crown . . . In horses' beauty and power, and with their hint of danger even when schooled, Sullivan senses a restoration of what has been lost to us."--"The New York Times"
"As unconventionally lovely a book as you are likely to read for some time."--"The Arkansas Democrat Gazette"
"A clear picture of a highly specialized world . . . A gem of curiosity."--"The Associated Press"
"Sullivan subtly extends the theme of bloodlines to make this book as much about family as it is about horses . . . Its appeal isn't limited to the equine crowd."--"0Outside"
JohnJeremiah Sullivan is a writer-at-large for "GQ" and a contributing editor at "Harper's Magazine."

They had no business being there. They were up against million-dollar horses owned by patricians, oilmen, Arab sheiks, and Hollywood producers. They were ten regular guys, and all they wanted was to win a race. Instead, they won the hearts of America.
In 2003, a three-year-old with the unlikely name of Funny Cide became "the people's horse," the unheralded New York-bred gelding who-in a time of war and economic jitters-inspired a nation by knocking off the champions and their millionaire owners and sweeping to the brink of the Triple Crown.
Trained by a journeyman who'd spent over 30 years looking for "the one," ridden by a jockey fighting to come back after years of injuries and hard knocks, and owned by a band of high school buddies from Sackets Harbor, N.Y., Funny Cide became a hero and media sensation.
Now, Sally Jenkins, award-winning co-author of Lance Armstrong's #1 bestseller "It's Not About the Bike," tells the inside story of the Funny Cide team's ups and downs against overwhelming odds, illness, and even scandal, to capture the imagination of millions. It's a new American classic for the underdog in all of us.

" On the first Saturday in May every year in Louisville, Kentucky, shortly after 5:30 PM, a new horse attains racing immortality. The Kentucky Derby is like no other race, and its winners are the finest horses in the world. Covered in rich red roses, surrounded by flashing cameras and admiring crowds, these instant celebrities bear names like Citation, Secretariat, Spectacular Bid, and Seattle Slew. They're worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. But in 1992, a funny thing happened on the way to the roses. The rattling roar of 130,000 voices tailed off into a high, hollow shriek as the horses crossed the finish line. Lil E. Tee? ABC broadcasters knew nothing about him, but they weren't alone. Who knew about Lil E. Tee? A blacksmith in Ocala, Florida, a veterinary surgeon in Ringoes, New Jersey, a trainer a Calder Race Course, and a few other people used to dealing with average horses knew this horse -- and realized what a long shot Lil E. Tee really was. On a Pennsylvania farm that raised mostly trotting horses, a colt with a dime-store pedigree was born in 1989. His odd gait and tendency to bellow for his mother earned him the nickname "E.T." Suffering from an immune deficiency and a bad case of colic, he survived surgery that usually ends a horse's racing career. Bloodstock agents dismissed him because of his mediocre breeding, and once he was sold for only $3,000. He'd live in five barns in seven states by the time he turned two. Somehow, this horse became one of the biggest underdogs to appear on the American sporting landscape. Lil E. Tee overcame his bleak beginnings to reach the respected hands of trainer Lynn Whiting, jockey Pat Day, and owner Cal Partee. After winning the Jim Beam stakes and finishing second in the Arkansas Derby, Lil E. Tee arrived at Churchill Downs to face a field of seventeen horses, including the highly acclaimed favorite, Arazi, a horse many people forecast to become the next Secretariat. A 17-to-1 longshot, Lil E. Tee won the Derby with a classic rally down the home stretch, and finally Pat Day had jockeyed a horse to Derby victory. John Eisenberg draws on more than fifteen years of sports writing experience and a hundred interviews throughout Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Florida, and Arkansas to tell the story almost nobody knew in 1992. Eisenberg is a sports columnist for the Baltimore Sun and has won more than twenty awards for his sports writing, including several Associated Press sports editors' first places."

It's been a half century since Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing made the first ascent of Everest. Their success capped a thirty-year struggle that cost more than a dozen lives--and touched off a new era in the history of the mountain. The past fifty years have seen Everest become an even greater magnet for adventurers--both foolish and heroic. Some of the world's best climbers have carved out incredibly dangerous new routes on the peak, and many have died trying. Meanwhile, hundreds of nonclimbers have taken on Everest, with mixed results. This history has created an entire literature in itself--a story of triumph and tragedy of epic proportions. Whether it's Peter Boardman on being forced to leave a friend to die near the summit, Stephen Venables on spending a night out near the summit--an experience only a handful of men have survived--or Chris Bonington on the death of Boardman and Joe Tasker on the Northeast Ridge, almost every great climbing writer has tackled some aspect of the mountain, and Epics on Everest includes their best work.

Built in 1864 as the nation's first horse racing facility, Saratoga (New York) racecourse is one of the sport's hallowed sites. This text details the development and social history of Saratoga the resort, historically a magnet for the wealthy and famous.

A day at the races, with its colorful variety and fast-paced action, appeals to people from all walks of life. Not surprisingly, the idea of going home with a few more dollars than when one arrived is part of horseracing's charm. In this entertaining but substantive volume, two distinguished economists, who happen to be horseracing buffs, outline a tested strategy for placing bets that will increase the reader's chances of a happy outcome at the track.

The authors are the first to point out that getting rich at the racetrack is unlikely. They do maintain, however, that with attention to their systematic approach, the racing fan can achieve the best possible chance at winning. In the process, the reader learns some of the most important measurement techniques in the social sciences, as well as the basic methods of market analysis.

The rise and fall of one of America’s first Black sports celebrities   Isaac Murphy, born enslaved in 1861, still reigns as one of the greatest jockeys in American history. Black jockeys like Murphy were at the top of the most popular sport in America at the end of the nineteenth century. They were internationally famous, the first African American superstar athletes—and with wins in three Kentucky Derbies and countless other prestigious races, Murphy was the greatest of them all.   At the same time, he lived through the seismic events of Emancipation and Reconstruction and formative conflicts over freedom and equality in the United States. And inevitably he was drawn into those conflicts, with devastating consequences.   Katherine C. Mooney uncovers the history of Murphy’s troubled life, his death in 1896 at age thirty-five, and his afterlife. In recounting Murphy’s personal story, she also tells two of the great stories of change in nineteenth-century America: the debates over what a multiracial democracy might look like and the battles over who was to hold power in an economy that increasingly resembled the corporate, wealth-polarized world we know today.

'Poignant and compelling, an equine Bridget Jones.' Racing Post Being a stable lass is probably one of the hardest jobs in the country, and yet for Gemma Hogg it is the most rewarding. She works in the beautiful Yorkshire market town of Middleham and if her colleagues are occasionally challenging, then the horses are downright astonishing. Now, in Stable Lass, she takes us into the closed world of a top racing yard, from the elation of having several winners in one day to the almost indescribable grief of losing a horse. Like most stable lads and lasses, Gemma arrived in her yard as a teenager fresh out of racing college and had to cope with living away from home for the first time, as well as adapting to the brutal long hours, backbreaking work and often treacherous weather. She describes falling in love with Polo Venture, the first racehorse in her care, the pure exhilaration of riding him on Middleham Gallops for the first time and what happens when a horse takes against you, from the growling gelding Valiant Warrior to the potentially lethal Broadway Boy. She brings to life the characters around the yard, from straight-talking boss Micky Hammond to the jockeys starving themselves to make weight, the wealthy owners and the other stable lads and lasses who come from a range of different places and backgrounds. Stable Lass by Gemma Hogg is a unique look into the world of horse racing filled with heart-warming stories and amazing thoroughbreds - some loveable, some cantankerous, all impressive.

Calumet, Claiborne, King Ranch - these iconic names are among the owners and breeders revered by Thoroughbred industry professionals and racing fans around the world. As campaigners of many of the 20th century's top racehorses, their prestige has been confirmed by decades of competition in the Triple Crown, the most esteemed series in American Thoroughbred racing. Even with these substantial legacies, their success is measured against the benchmark set by one of racing's earliest dynasties, the historic Belair Stud. The story of this legendary operation began with William Woodward's childhood memories of grand days at the racetrack, inspiring dreams of breeding a champion or two of his own. During a year working for the American Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Woodward frequented English racetracks, rekindling that childhood dream of breeding and owning champion Thoroughbreds. Woodward turned those dreams into reality, building Belair Stud on his family's Maryland estate, launching what would become the preeminent Thoroughbred breeding and racing empire in America and chasing racing's biggest prizes in both the United States and England. The defining moment for Belair came when Woodward bred the imported stallion Sir Gallahad III to his mare Marguerite. Their colt, Gallant Fox, became only the second horse in history to win the Preakness Stakes, the Kentucky Derby, and the Belmont Stakes in the same year. In 1935, the farm cemented the Triple Crown as the gold standard for three-year-olds when Gallant Fox's son, Omaha, duplicated his sire's trio of victories, a sweep that sealed the farm's legacy and carved its name in the annals of racing history. In The Foxes of Belair: Gallant Fox, Omaha, and the Quest for the Triple Crown, Jennifer Kelly examines the racing legacies of Gallant Fox and Omaha and how William Woodward's service to racing during the 20th century forever changed the landscape of the American Thoroughbred industry.