THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO OWNING, MAINTAINING, AND ENJOYING HORSES.

The Whole Horse Catalog, the definitive horse guide, is now completely revised and updated to include everything from advances in nutritional thinking to sources on the World Wide Web. With hundreds of illustrations and a detailed, easy-to-understand text, this new edition of The Whole Horse Catalog is the one-stop book for all your equestrian needs.

• Where to look for a horse
• How to select a horse
• How to choose stable construction and furnishings
• Horse health care, feeding, and grooming
• Tack: from bits, bridles, and saddles to halters and harnesses
• Apparel and new equipment advances for riders
• Equestrian sports for participants and spectators alike, including ideas for "holidays on horseback"
• Equestrian magazines, organizations, and Web locations

Filled with advice and contacts, The Whole Horse Catalog is a complete resource guide for the novice and experienced equestrian alike.

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.

Shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award In 1704 a bankrupt English merchant sent home the colt he had bought from Bedouin tribesmen near the ruins of Palmyra. Thomas Darley hoped this horse might be the ticket to a new life back in Yorkshire. But he turned out to be far more than that: and although Mr Darley's Arabian never ran a race, 95% of all thoroughbreds in the world today are descended from him. In this book, for the first time, award-winning racing writer Christopher McGrath traces this extraordinary bloodline through twenty-five generations to our greatest modern racehorse, Frankel. The story of racing is about man's relationship with horses, and Mr Darley's Arabian also celebrates the men and women who owned, trained and traded the stallions that extended the dynasty. The great Eclipse, for instance, was bred by the Duke who foiled Bonnie Prince Charlie's invasion (with militia gathered from Wakefield races) and went on to lead the Jockey Club. But he only became a success once bought and raced by a card-sharp and brothel-keeper - the racecourse has always brought high and low life together. McGrath expertly guides us through three centuries of scandals, adventures and fortunes won and lost: our sporting life offers a fascinating view into our history. With a canvas that extends from the diamond mines of South Africa to the trenches of the Great War, and a cast ranging from Smithfield meat salesmen to the inspiration for Mr Toad, and from legendary jockeys to not one, but two disreputable Princes of Wales (and a very unamused Queen Victoria), Mr Darley's Arabian shows us the many faces of the sport of kings.

On the morning of May 18, 1924, households across America opened their newspapers to the headline: "Derby Winner Property of Indian Woman." The woman in question was Rosa Magnet Hoots, a member of the Oklahoma Osage Nation. The horse, draped in the iconic red roses signifying his victory in the fiftieth running of the Kentucky Derby, was Black Gold. In a sport defined by its exclusivity, the pair's unlikely appearance in the winner's circle set off a firestorm of speculation that would uncover an origin story stranger than fiction. Named for the oil that had been discovered in large quantities in Oklahoma at the time of his birth, Black Gold was born in 1921 to a mare named Useeit. At the start of her hard-knocking racing career, Useeit had been purchased by Al Hoots, for whom she won thirty-two of a staggering 122 races. What the mare lacked in regality, she made up for in gumption, a trait Hoots believed could propel her progeny to the hallowed ground of Churchill Downs. Hoots himself would never see Black Gold, dying unexpectedly in 1917. But the legend that came to define the horse would begin with him. Languishing in his deathbed, Hoots claimed to have a prophetic dream that a colt born to Useeit would win the Kentucky Derby. He extracted a promise from his wife, Rosa, to breed the mare to the stallion Black Toney. The decision, which came to fruition three years after Hoots's death, would set in motion a story that would forever change Thoroughbred racing. In Dream Derby: The Myth and Legend of Black Gold, author Avalyn Hunter explores the personalities and histories that surrounded Black Gold. Told against the backdrop of a make-or-break moment for American horse racing and politics at large and framed by the racial violence that rocked Tulsa in the 1920s, Black Gold's victory at the Golden Jubilee stands at the intersection of sport and history. Hunter's work looks behind every stall and tack room door and celebrates the hard work that goes into a great horse and its rivals.

Fully updated with a new chapter on A.P.'s knighthood, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement award and his new role as a TV pundit When Tony 'A.P.' McCoy announced his retirement from racing, the shockwaves reverberated across the world of sport. With more than 4,300 winners to his name, McCoy seemed to be at the peak of his powers when he suddenly brought down the curtain on an extraordinary career. But then A.P. McCoy has always done things his way. In Winner: My Racing Life, AP reflects upon his unparalleled career, taking the reader from his humble beginnings in County Antrim to the emotional day at Sandown when horse racing bade a tearful farewell to arguably its greatest ever star. McCoy relates in forensic detail the process that led to his decision to retire, recalls some of his greatest rides, lifts the lid on his family life and looks ahead to a future no longer driven by the constant pursuit of victory. The result is a remarkable insight into the private and public life of a true winner.

Before his career as a champion racehorse, and his death following a devastating injury, Barbaro was a colt like any other. In her traditional poetic style, Lifshin outlines the life of the champion horse before his fame, highlighting the beauty and grace of the young colt from his birth, through his youth, and finally to his time as a champion on the track. The artistic rendering of Barbaro's life from his early years to his first races culminate in the celebration of his life after his death in this poetry collection. from "Those Nights in the Stall" did Barbaro dream horses galloping? In the dark, starless, did he feel the ground shaking? Imagine the sound of hooves on turf? Was there some thing in the wind? The scent of horses thundering past the barn, of flying manes, the beating of his own heart, louder than hooves?

Each year, for a few hours on a Saturday afternoon in April, Aintree Racecourse becomes the focus of the sporting world and the stage of the world's greatest steeplechase, the Grand National. More than 70,000 spectators at the course along with a global live broadcast audience of millions thrill to the spectacle of 40 horses and their riders racing over the world's most famous steeplechase course.There have been many accounts of the Grand National, but this book, Aintree, tells the story of the iconic racecourse from its early days as a flat racing venue, through William Lynn's inspired inauguration of the first Liverpool Grand Steeple-Chase in 1836, the redesign of fences in the 1880s, and subsequently the impact of wartime occupations, followed by dramatic postwar decline to the more recent and welcome renaissance as a three-day festival of jumping. Aintree also reveals previously unexplored aspects of the racecourse's colourful history: its spectators, buildings, animal welfare issues, and some unexpected, remarkable stories such as the early history of women's football and development of powered flight.After years of dedicated research, John Pinfold, a leading historian of the Grand National, exposes some of Aintree's tales as myths, while adding many a new one to the rich tapestry of the annals. Aintree, The History of the Racecourse is lavishly illustrated with numerous pictures never before reproduced. The author draws on previously untapped sources, including the Topham family archives, to weave a fascinating story that spans three centuries.This book will appeal to both the horse racing enthusiast and the general reader.

Each year on the first Saturday in May, the world turns its attention to the twin spires of Churchill Downs for the high-stakes excitement of the "greatest two minutes in sports," the Kentucky Derby. No American sporting event can claim the history, tradition, or pageantry that the Kentucky Derby holds. For more than 130 years, spectators have been fascinated by the magnificent horses that run the Louisville track. Thoroughbreds such as Secretariat and Barbaro have earned instant international fame, along with jockeys such as Isaac Murphy, Ron Turcotte, and Calvin Borel. The Kentucky Derby: How the Run for the Roses Became America's Premier Sporting Event calls this great tradition to post and illuminates its history and culture. Rising from its humble beginnings as an American variation of England's Epsom Derby, the Kentucky Derby became a centerpiece of American sports and the racing industry, confirming Kentucky's status as the Horse Capital of the World. James C. Nicholson argues that the Derby, at its essence, is a celebration of a place, existing as a connection between Kentucky's mythic past and modern society. The Derby is more than just a horse race -- it is an experience enhanced by familiar traditions, icons, and images that help Derby fans to understand Kentucky and define themselves as Americans. Today the Kentucky Derby continues to attract international attention from royalty, celebrities, racing fans, and those who simply enjoy an icy mint julep, a fabulous hat, and a wager on who will make it to the winner's circle. Nicholson provides an intriguing and thorough history of the Kentucky Derby, examining the tradition, spectacle, culture, and evolution of the Kentucky Derby -- the brightest jewel of the Triple Crown.

Chicago may seem a surprising choice for studying thoroughbred racing, especially since it was originally a famous harness racing town and did not get heavily into thoroughbred racing until the 1880s. However, Chicago in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was second only to New York as a center of both thoroughbred racing and off-track gambling. Horse Racing the Chicago Way shines a light on this fascinating, complicated history, exploring the role of political influence and class in the rise and fall of thoroughbred racing; the business of racing; the cultural and social significance of racing; and the impact widespread opposition to gambling in Illinois had on the sport. Riess also draws attention to the nexus that existed between horse racing, politics, and syndicate crime, as well as the emergence of neighborhood bookmaking, and the role of the national racing wire in Chicago. Taking readers from the grandstands of Chicago's finest tracks to the underworld of crime syndicates and downtown poolrooms, Riess brings to life this understudied era of sports history.

Every year the Grand National produces very different stories from jockeys and horses alike; uplifting scenes from a victor and heartbreak when a mere inch divides the loser from the winner at the end of nearly four-and-a-half miles and thirty challenging fences. In 1839 the first winner was aptly named Lottery. Back then, huge crowds rode to Aintree by horseback, in carriages, carts or on foot. Today the Grand National is probably the world's most famous horse race, with a global television audience of some 600 million in 140 countries. This richly informed book focuses on the race's various record-breakers, rather than being a purely chronological history of this greatest of all steeplechases. Many records have stood the test of time: in 2019, Tiger Roll's second consecutive victory was the first time that the feat had been achieved since Red Rum in 1973-74. Anne Holland's authoritative history celebrates one of the world's greatest sporting spectacles. 'A well-organised and cheerily anecdotal volume' Spectator

Now a major motion picture starring Sam Neill In Life As I Know It, Michelle Payne tells her deeply moving story. It will lift your spirits, stir your heart and give you courage. Michelle was put on a horse aged four. At five years old her dream was to win the Melbourne Cup. At thirty she rode into history as the first female jockey to win the Cup. It was a moment that inspired everyone who dreams of beating the odds.

'Eclipse first, the rest nowhere'. 'Betting shops are a licence to print money'. Just two of the most enduring and commented upon quotes about horseracing and betting. Great quotations reverberate down the years because of their ability to pithily encapsulate a feeling, a significant event, a universally understood truth, in just a few, striking, memorable words. Here you will find tributes, insults, sarcasm, sympathy, bad language, good humour, insight, ignorance - all the vital ingredients, in fact, of a great day at the races.

Jockeys perform the most perilous job in sports yet are among the most underrated athletes in the world. They put their lives on the line every time they get on a horse, often riding seven or eight horses a day, five days a week. Most must diet to keep their weight at levels lower than the average twelve-year-old boy, yet they need immense strength to control thousand-pound Thoroughbreds. A select group of riders has risen to the top of their sport, sought after by racing's leading owners and trainers and paired with the sport's greatest equine stars. In Ride of Their Lives, Lenny Shulman profiles riders whose love of racing and desire to win have propelled them to the top echelon their profession. Pat Day, Gary Stephens, Jerry Bailey, Corey Nakatani, and Laffit Pincay, Jr. are among the jockeys who share their stories of how they became race riders and what it is like to deal with the pressures of riding fragile, willful racehorses at top speeds day in and day out. They also tell what it is like to win the Kentucky Derby and just miss capturing the Triple Crown. In this updated edition, Shulman profiles Kendrick Carmouche, who had five straight seasons with more than 200 victories and in 2021 became the first Black jockey to compete in the Kentucky Derby in seven years.