The juvenile, or two-year-old, racing careers of Colin, Man o' War, Ruffian and Landaluce provide the foundation and focus for discussing the question of thoroughbred greatness and its measure. These four thoroughbreds were arguably the best juvenile runners of the twentieth century. Close on their hooves, pun intended, however, were the colts Sysonby and Secretariat and the fillies First Flight, La Prevoyante and Personal Ensign. The latter five runners are honorably mentioned and also compared in the book. As in The Greatest Horse of All: A Controversy Examined, basic statistics are used informally to provide readers a basis for their own studies in thoroughbred data comparison and evaluation. The author realizes that many people avoid mathematical ideas like the plague. Therefore, he has minimized statistical usage to its most common elements, and he explains these thoroughly for the uninitiated as the book progresses. Only two of the ten chapters use statistics to any degree. The text also includes seven figures and two tables to aid in understanding the statistical concepts. If one feels remotely comfortable with eight-grade mathematics concepts, one will have no problem with this material. Relative to the statistical comparisons, two novel concepts are discussed. These pertain to addressing the so-called era effect. Many racing fans continue to argue that horses from different eras cannot justly be compared. A strong case against this argument is presented from at least two standpoints. First, a device is described and suggested to scientifically test and compare the true relative speeds of two racing surfaces. Second, an inverse use of the well-known 't test' for comparing the differences between two or more data sets is presented. The text demonstrates how using this inverse test can equitably adjust earlier era data so that it may be fairly compared with later era data.

Since the thoroughbred horse was first developed over three centuries ago, these magnificent creatures have given the global race-going public limitless joy, and filled our memories with wonder and respect, and Punch a Hole in the Wind focuses on the stories of 50 champion Flat racehorses since the dawn of film. Taking a far more global look than other attempts to capture the lives and victories of the greats from the past, it celebrates our heroes from the UK, France, US, Ireland, Australia, Hong Kong and Japan, and each story is told with a mixture of humour, passion and solid research. Every horse that has ever raced has given its connections a thrill but very few can truly by thought of as great and this is a celebration of them, rather than an artificial competition between them, and it is an essential companion to race lovers around the world. Featuring 32 pages of stunning photographs and statistics for each horse, this is sure to appeal to any horseracing fan.

In the 1890s, feisty Tod Sloan (1874-1933) abandoned the centuries-old jockey tradition of riding in a straight sitting position and instead crouched low on the neck of his horse. The result was not only a string of victories for young Sloan but also a revolution in horse racing. In this entertaining book, award-winning author John Dizikes recounts the remarkable story of the Indiana boy who rose from obscurity to become the most famous jockey in the United States and Great Britain at the turn of the century. Dizikes evokes the turbulent, colorful world of horse racing and gambling in which Tod Sloan rocketed to celebrity -- and from which he was just as dramatically ejected.

Sloan's innovative riding style helped to transform horse racing into the first nationally popular spectator sport, drawing in huge crowds and vast amounts of betting money. But Sloan's career was crushingly ended by those who resented and envied him. A dandy, a big spender, a man whose company women loved, Sloan related to horses in an almost magical way, yet foundered in his dealings with people. This book is the biography of a diminutive man who lived in large style, and lives on in George M. Cohan's musical Little Johnny Jones and Ernest Hemingway's short story "My Old Man". The book is also much more -- a fascinating cultural history that illuminates the history of horse racing and betting, the democratization of sport, changing conceptions of masculinity, the hypocrisy of Victorian morality, the lionizing and demonizing of celebrities, and a variety of other inviting topics.

After a 40-year career taking the bets that no one else would take for William Hill after expanding the company's offerings to its customers beyond purely sporting contests, in Strange Stuff Graham Sharpe chronicles the weirdest, oddest, strangest, craziest antics and events to happen on racecourses to horses, jockeys, trainers, owners, bookies and racegoers over the years. His previous titles include biographies of arch-eccentric racehorse owner Dorothy Paget, whose horses won the Grand National, Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle and Derby; and William Hill, who founded his eponymous company in 1934, when he was betting on-course and transforming the bookmaking scene. His Magnificent Seven chronicled the story of Frankie Dettori's greatest day, when he almost single-handedly bankrupted the country's biggest bookies. In his latest book you'll find hundreds of stories and unusual racing facts to dip in and out of, making this the perfect gift for any horse racing fan, and it is sure to appeal to young and old alike.

When Citation (1945-1970) retired in mid-1951, he was horseracing's first and, to that point, only millionaire racehorse. Following his 1948 triumphs at the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont in 1948, it would be twenty-five years before another horse (Secreteriat) would again wear the coveted Triple Crown. Citation, by legendary announcer and longtime horseracing insider Phil Georgeff, reveals all about the thoroughbred, his remarkable career, and those in his inner circle. Georgeff delves into Citation's unusual bloodline; the death of his original rider, Al Snider, swept out to sea while fishing off the Florida keys; Citation's stunning 1948 Triple Crown victory; and the ultimate effects of the horse's excessive, aggressive schedule (racing on little rest after traveling cross-country in sweltering vans and railroad boxcars). Based on interviews from those who knew the thoroughbred, including famed jockey Eddie Arcaro and renowned son-and-father trainers Ben A. and Jimmy Jones; Citation is more than merely the biography of a gifted horse. It the full story of the greatest sports figure in the history of horseracing, a champion who won or placed in thirty different contests in his career and whose spirit continue to captivate the American public.

In the December 30, 1967, edition of the weekly Thoroughbred trade publication, the Blood-Horse, was an announcement that took up one inch of space -- James E. "Ted" Bassett III had been named assistant to the president of the Keeneland Association. It was sandwiched between equally short news items about a handicapping seminar at an East Coast racetrack and a California vacation trip by a horse-owning couple. Bassett's new job, in his own words, "was not earthshaking news." More than four decades later, Ted Bassett is one of the most respected figures within the global Thoroughbred industry. He has served as Keeneland's president, chairman of the board, and trustee, playing a critical role in its ascendency as a premier Thoroughbred track and auction house. Bassett was also president of Breeders' Cup Limited during its greatest period of growth and has been a key architect in the development of the Sport of Kings as we know it today. Written in collaboration with two-time Eclipse Award--winning journalist Bill Mooney, Keeneland's Ted Bassett: My Life recounts Bassett's extraordinary journey, including his days at Kent School and Yale University, through his U.S. Marine Corps service in the Pacific theater during World War II, and as director of the Kentucky State Police during the turbulent 1960s. He helped found the College of Justice & Safety at Eastern Kentucky University, and his continuing service to the Marine Corps has gained him the highest honors accorded to a civilian. During his forty-plus years with Keeneland, Bassett has hobnobbed with hot walkers in the track kitchen, hosted the first visit by Queen Elizabeth II to a United States track, and participated in many of the most important events in the modern history of horse racing. With self-effacing humor, characteristic charm, and candor, Bassett describes his association with historic figures such as J. Edgar Hoover and Kentucky governors Albert B. "Happy" Chandler, Edward T. "Ned" Breathitt, and John Y. Brown; and his friendships with racing personalities D. Wayne Lukas, Nick Zito, Ron McAnally, Pat Day, and Joe Hirsch. Bassett shares details about difficult corporate decisions and great racing events that only he can supply, and about the formation of Equibase, the premier data collection agency within the Thoroughbred industry. He tells about his role as an international ambassador for racing, which has made him a highly influential figure on six continents. Bassett often describes his life as a fascinating blur. That "blur" and all its unique components are brought into sharp focus in a book that is as wide-ranging as it is personal, filled with a gold mine of firsthand stories and historical details. In addition to highlighting Keeneland's reputation as the jewel of the Thoroughbred industry, Bassett chronicles the business of racing and accomplishments of many prominent people in the horse world, and elsewhere, during the twentieth century.

A safety pin was all that kept Spectacular Bid from becoming the eleventh Thoroughbred to take the Triple Crown. This work examines Spectacular Bid from his humble beginnings -- he was born in a mud puddle on a horse farm in Versailles, Kentucky -- to his recognition as one of the greatest American racehorses. On the morning of the 1979 Belmont Stakes, Spectacular Bid stepped on a safety pin in his stall, injuring his foot. He had impressively won the first two races -- the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness -- but finished third in the Belmont, most likely due to his injury, making him one win shy of becoming the sport's third straight Triple Crown champion. But that loss did not prevent him from becoming one of horse racing's greatest competitors. After taking two months to recover, the battleship gray colt would go on to win 26 of 30 races during his career, with two second-place finishes and one third. He was voted the tenth greatest Thoroughbred of the twentieth century according to Blood-Horse magazine, and A Century of Champions places him ninth in the world and third among North American horses -- even ahead of the renowned Man o' War. This horse biography tells the story of the honest and not-so-glamorous colorful characters surrounding the champion -- including Bud Delp, the brash and cocky trainer who was distrustful of the Kentucky establishment, and Ron Franklin, the nineteen-year-old jockey who buckled under the stress and pressure associated with fame -- and how they witnessed firsthand the splendor and triumphs of Spectacular Bid. Including contemporary newspaper accounts of Bid's exploits and interviews with key players in his story, this is an encompassing look into the legacy of one of horse racing's true champions.

Just as football evolved with the introduction of the forward pass and basketball with the development of the jump shot, so too was handicapping forever changed by the use of speed figures--and it all started with Andrew Beyer's Picking Winners. This edition features a new foreword in which the author discusses the changes that have swept the sport since the book's original publication. Picking Winners remains a classic in the field of thoroughbred racing.

Today's Kentucky Derby is a multi-million-dollar spectacle incorporating corporate sponsorship, worldwide media coverage, and an annual citywide festival in Louisville, Kentucky. Over its nearly century-and-a-half, the Kentucky Derby has grown to be one of the biggest sporting events of the year, attracting 150,000 spectators at the track and nearly 15 million television viewers on the first Saturday each May. But 1875, the year of the first Derby, was a different time. The Louisville Jockey Club, which would one day bear the name "Churchill Downs," was a small structure that might, on its best day, provide seating and standing room for 12,000 spectators. The grandstand was plain and functional, and included a section reserved for bookmakers, whose trade was legal, and who operated in the open. Perhaps most significantly, the majority of jockeys in the race were Black, in stark contrast to the present-day Derby, where participation by African-Americans is rare. In The First Kentucky Derby, racing historian Mark Shrager examines the events leading up to the first "Run for the Roses," the unsuccessful plot hatched by the winning horse's owner to fix the race, and the prominent role played by African-Americans in Gilded Age racing culture-a holdover from pre-emancipation days, when slaves would be trained from birth to ride for their wealthy owners, and would grow up surrounded by the horses that would be their life's work.

Over the course of nine memorable seasons Tiger Roll entered not just the record books with his achievements on the racecourse, but the hearts of the racing public too. He burst onto the scene in 2014 with victory in the Triumph Hurdle at the end of his first season and he built on that success with four further wins at the Cheltenham Festival. As great as his heroics at Cheltenham were, however, it was his two wins in the Grand National that set him apart. Success in the world s most famous steeplechase is a singular achievement in itself, but winning back-to-back runnings of the Aintree spectacular, emulating the legendary Red Rum, elevated Tiger Roll to a different level. He became a household name and his owners Gigginstown House Stud, trainer Gordon Elliott and principal jockeys Davy Russell and Keith Donoghue played leading roles in this story. We have mined the unparalleled back catalogue of the Racing Post with its award-winning writers and photographers to recount the complete story of this unique horse.

The Definitive Guide to Betting on the All-Weather is a brand-new edition and the ultimate fans' guide. Written by David Bellingham, an expert Racing Post journalist with over 25 years' experience covering the All-Weather, it includes a wealth of his uniquely accumulated data and statistics to help find winners on these surfaces. It covers in detail the seven all-weather tracks in Britain and Ireland, with a chapter dedicated to each, a description of each track, together with statistics covering jockeys, trainers, sires and draw. It delves into the technical stuff, covering subjects such as form assessment, speed ratings, pace and track biases, sectional times and identifying whether the shape of the race will have a bearing on the likely outcome. It also includes a race diary covering a series of race meetings from the author's point of view, as there is no better place to put all the theory into practice than at the racecourse where real money is changing hands. This is a must-have guide for bettors and fans of the sport.

This resource demonstrates how a combination of modern techniques is used to ensure that horseracing is both fair and prevents abuse of the horses involved. Based on the work of the Horseracing Forensic Laboratory (HFL) located near Newmarket in the UK, the book comprises five sections of student material. First, an overview of the work of HFL is presented, followed by sections on immunoassay, metabolism and chromatography. Teachers' notes are also included. Following the explanatory text are questions, which assist with understanding and also illustrate real-life applications of the chemical techniques encountered at school. Chemistry at the Races is designed mostly for ages 16+, but some material is also included for younger students. It is an invaluable resource for teachers, enabling them to demonstrate an up-to-date and interesting context for their work.

Race Horse Men "recaptures the vivid sights, sensations, and illusions of nineteenth-century thoroughbred racing, America's first mass spectator sport. Inviting readers into the pageantry of the racetrack, Katherine C. Mooney conveys the sport's inherent drama while also revealing the significant intersections between horse racing and another quintessential institution of the antebellum South: slavery.

A popular pastime across American society, horse racing was most closely identified with an elite class of southern owners who bred horses and bet large sums of money on these spirited animals. The central characters in this story are not privileged whites, however, but the black jockeys, grooms, and horse trainers who sometimes called themselves race horse men and who made the racetrack run. Mooney describes a world of patriarchal privilege and social prestige where blacks as well as whites could achieve status and recognition and where favored slaves endured an unusual form of bondage. For wealthy white men, the racetrack illustrated their cherished visions of a harmonious, modern society based on human slavery.

After emancipation, a number of black horsemen went on to become sports celebrities, their success a potential threat to white supremacy and a source of pride for African Americans. The rise of Jim Crow in the early twentieth century drove many horsemen from their jobs, with devastating consequences for them and their families. Mooney illuminates the role these too-often-forgotten men played in Americans' continuing struggle to define the meaning of freedom.

'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.

The Life Of Fred Archer By E . M . Humphris. A biography of England's most famous jockey. Preface - "The author has flatteringly asked me to write a preface to this book on the famous Fred Archer, and as I knew him well and saw him ride a vast number of his races it gives me great pleasure to do so; and I commence by speaking of the five Derbys he won, all of which I witnessed. Archer had his first Derby success on Silvio, who started at 100 to 9, in 1877, and, after a pretty finish, won by half a length from Glen Arthur, both the pair outstaying the favourite, Rob Roy, who was beaten three-quarters of a length for second place, with Rhidorroch fourth, a head behind Mr Mackenzie's colt .His next win at Epson was in 1880, when he rode a most remarkable race on Bend Or, as he was greatly handicapped by having has his arm badly injured through Muley Edris savaging him after he had ridden that ill tempered brute in a gallop on Newmarket Heath a short time before, and also by Bend Or coming badly down the hill to Tattenham Corner owing to having sore shins. Archer, for all that, rode with such judgement that, bringing his mount with one long run, he caught Robert the Devil, on whom Rossiter certainly should have won as the race was run, in the last two strides, to beat him by a head." Originally published in 1934. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Obscure Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Women currently occupy a wide variety of extremely significant roles in Thoroughbred racing. Their presence and influence are apparent in every aspect of the sport, which is remarkable when one recalls that hardly more than a generation ago racing was still--as it had been for centuries--almost completely dominated by men. Where did these women come from? What prompted them to penetrate this male bastion and seek such vocations as jockey, trainer, owner-breeder, television commentator, veterinarian, photographer, track official, clocker, chart caller, pari-mutuel clerk, and groom? In Women in Racing, John and Julia McEvoy provided the answers by interviewing eighteen women whose backgrounds ranged all over the socio-economic spectrum, from the landed gentry to former migrant worker, with a rich layer of twenty-first century Americana in between. Donna Barton Brothers, Barbara D. Livingston, Zoe Cadman, and others tell their stories and affirm that they were driven by a shared passion: a love of horses and Thoroughbred racing. This updated edition includes an interview with horse-racing pioneer Diane Crump, the first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby.