Butcher the Bookie with: The Adaptive System By Rod Watson, a Certified Accountant, former employee of the Secretaries to the Jockey Club and a professional punter, he has spent thirteen years developing The Adaptive System. The System will almost certainly put a brake on your loses, and practised with discipline and restraint, should, generate a nice secondary tax free income for you from horse racing All you need is a few hours a week (when it suits you), access to the internet and a small sum of seed capital. This little book packs a mighty punch! It is full of original tips and ideas that have been born out of over fifty years of observing horse racing.

This is the second edition of the classic on the history of British horse racing. It provides a detailed and far-ranging social and economic analysis of the major changes in British flat racing, in particular in the period between 1830 and 1939. Four major themes are explored. Firstly, the changing character and structure of the sport. Secondly, the morality of racing, which was a corrupt sport par excellence for much of the nineteenth century. Thirdly, on four categories of participants in racing jockeys, trainers, owners and breeders. Here, the author assesses whether or not these could make money out of racing. Fourthly, the book examines gambling and its important symbiotic relationship with racing. The televised, sponsored, carefully governed sport today is a vastly different affair from that of the 18th century. Then racing was a free, social event, the highlight of the entertainment calendar for the bulk of the local community. By the late 19th century most race meetings were highly commercial enterprises, requiring payment from all spectators, many of whom had travelled some distance to attend. The excitement and historical interest of these meetings is well captured here."

Racing in Doncaster contains a fascinating selection of photographs, charting the ups and downs of this historic course. Famous races, horses, jockeys and trainers can all be found here, along with much detail about the St Leger, Doncaster's most celebrated and lucrative race of all. Peter Tuffrey has gathered together well over 200 images, many unpublished, to present a comprehensive photographic history of the course, the meetings, and the runners and rider who have graced Doncaster's turf. This is must-have for all racing enthusiasts.

The first Japanese American jockey, Kokomo Joe burst like a comet on the American horse-racing scene in the summer of 1941. As war with Japan loomed, Yoshio "Kokomo Joe" Kobuki won race after race, stirring passions far beyond merely the envy and antagonism of other jockeys. His is a story of the American dream catapulting headlong into the nightmare of a nation gripped by wartime hysteria and xenophobia. The story that unfolds in "Kokomo Joe" is at once inspiring, deeply sad, and richly ironic--and remarkably relevant in our own climate of nationalist fervor and racial profiling. Sent to Japan from Washington State after his mother and three siblings died of the Spanish flu, Kobuki continued to nurse his dream of the American good life. Because of his small stature, his ambition steered him to a future as a star jockey. John Christgau narrates Kobuki's rise from lowly stable boy to reigning star at California fairs and in the bush leagues. He describes how, at the height of the jockey's fame, even his flight into the Sonora Desert could not protect him from the government's espionage and sabotage dragnet. And finally he recounts how, after three years of internment, Kokomo Joe tried to reclaim his racing success, only to fall victim to still-rampant racism, a career-ending injury, and cancer.

The great myth of horse racing is that the game is the regal and royal Sport of Kings. It isn't. Not by a long shot.
Anyone who doubts this need look no further than Suffolk Downs, a once-proud racecourse graced in its glory years by boisterous throngs and champions such as Seabiscuit. Now the blue-collar East Boston track is one of many that have fallen on hard times. These days "Sufferin' Downs" is where grizzled Thoroughbreds come to end their careers, hopeful young jockeys aspire against daunting odds to begin them, and diehard fans cheer, curse and gamble on the entire fascinating spectacle. These bit players are not just cogs of a single, struggling horse track. They are the unseen supporting cast for a $15 billion betting industry.
In fifteen years as a racing reporter and press box personality, T.D. Thornton gained access to remote corners of racetrack life off limits to the general public. He got to know the raucously Runyonesque characters and the quirky personalities of the horses; he learned the tricks of the trade from trainers, owners, and jockeys; he witnessed the tragedies and small triumphs of racing lives lived below the radar. One recent season, he finally decided to write it all down.
"Not by a Long Shot" is a deeply textured portrait of an industry where even the best in the business lose 75 percent of the time.

When Nan Mooney was seven years old, she sat in her grandmother May-May's living room to watch her first horse race ... And so began a turbulent romance between a woman and a sport.

Part memoir, part journey into the compelling world of Thoroughbred horse racing, My Racing Heart gallops headlong into the wild culture and fabulous creatures that rise up around a racetrack. Nan Mooney looks at the horses, jockeys, and trainers; the gambling and corruption; and racing's age-old history and forever offbeat society. From the dusty backstretch at a small-town track to the stands at magnificent Churchill Downs, Nan Mooney captures the risks and the glory, the excitement and the passion, for horse lovers, sports fans, and anyone who has ever craved a place to run wild.

Now in paperback, reporter Elizabeth Mitchell introduces her readers to the mysterious, mercurial world of horse racing in a book that's as fast-paced and colorful as a day at the track. Focusing on the 1999 Derby winner Charismatic, Mitchell traces this horse's amazing and ultimately tragic story, from the birth of a foal through its surprising rise to fame. Mitchell also follows the major players in Charismatic's life, including the family who bred him, the trainer, the owners, and the famed jockey Chris Antley, whose own story is more tragic than that of his horse. Through these interlocking stories a sense of familiarity with the key players in the industry evolves, as well as a greater understanding of the heart and soul of a sport that has fascinated human beings for centuries.

Master storyteller Ralph Moody tells the thrilling story of a plucky horse who refused to quit, a down-on-his-luck jockey who didn't let horrendous accidents keep him out of the saddle, and a taciturn trainer who brought out the best in both. During the Great Depression, Seabiscuit captured the hearts of Americans from the streets to the White House, winning more money than any horse at that time and shattering speed records across the country. In this real-life story Moody captures the hoof-pounding excitement of the explosive early races to an unforgettable showdown with the feared Triple Crown winner War Admiral. Moving and inspirational, Come on Seabiscuit! is a reminder of the qualities that make a real American champion. Ralph Moody is best known for his eight Little Britches books, which have delighted generations of readers and are all available in Bison Books editions. Ralph Moody captured the hearts of young readers everywhere with his beloved Little Britches saga. In this Bison Books edition of his 1963 classic, Moody brings to life the story of a knobby-kneed little colt called Seabiscuit, who against all odds became one of the most celebrated racehorses of all time. Although Seabiscuit was the grandson of the legendary Man O' War, he was neither handsome nor graceful. His head was too big, his legs too short, and his gallop was awkward. His owners gave up on Seabiscuit when he was two, raced him too heavily, and tried unsuccessfully to sell him. It took the keen eyes of trainer Tom Smith to recognize the heart, courage, and gallant determination of Seabiscuit, the qualities of a truly great horse. Smith's unfailing patience and astute treatments, the love and skill of jockey Red Pollard, and the continued support of owner Charles Howard forged Seabiscuit into a champion. Purchase the audio edition.

First staged at Cardiff's Ely Racecourse in 1895, the Welsh Grand National is a vital element in the sporting heritage of Wales. This is the definitive history of the event, encompassing more than 100 years of history and including all the great jockeys, trainers, and horses.

For decades Peter O'Sullevan was one of the iconic sports commentators, providing the sound track for half a century of horseracing as he called home such legends of the sport as Arkle, Nijinsky, Red Rum and Desert Orchid. His rapid-fire commentary seemed to echo the sound of horses' hooves, and it was not long before he became known as 'The Voice of Racing'. But in addition to his legendary status as a TV personality, Peter O'Sullevan was also a notable journalist and much-admired writer, and it is a measure of his standing both within and beyond the world of racing that his compulsively readable autobiography Calling the Horses, first published in 1989 and reprinted eight times, reached the top of the SUNDAY TIMES non-fiction bestseller list. The most recent edition of Calling the Horses was published in 1994, and the twenty years since then have brought many fresh episodes in the ongoing Peter O'Sullevan story, including the last racing days of his great friend Lester Piggott in 1995, his commentary on the 'Bomb Scare' Grand National of 1997, and his retirement from the BBC. He also describes setting up the Sir Peter O'Sullevan Charitable Trust, which has raised over GBP3.5 million for animal welfare charities, as well as offering his appreciation of a new generation of racing heroes, including jockey AP McCoy, who has come to dominate jump racing in a manner unparalleled in any sport, and the wonder-horse Frankel. The heartening news for the legions of Peter O'Sullevan fans is that, despite his years, his enthusiasm for racing is undiminished, and so are the elegance, fluency and wit which infuse his writing style. This new and extensively updated edition of Calling the Horses is a very remarkable book by a very remarkable man.

In The Ghost Horse, Joe Layden tells the inspiring true tale of a one-eyed, club-footed thoroughbred racehorse and a journeyman trainer, Tim Snyder, who scraped together every penny he had to purchase the broken and unwanted filly. Snyder helped the horse overcome its deficiencies, eventually naming her in part after his deceased wife, Lisa, the great and only love of his life - a bright and sweet-tempered woman whose gentle demeanour seemed eerily reflected in the horse. The trainer (and now owner) was by nature a crusty and combative sort, the yin to his wife's yang, a racetrack lifer not easily moved by new-age mysticism or sentiment. And yet in those final days back in 2003, when Lisa Snyder lay in bed, her body ravaged by cancer, she reassured her family with a weak smile. "It's okay," she'd say. "I'll see you again. I'm coming back as a horse." Tim Snyder did not then believe in reincarnation. But he acknowledged the strangeness of this journey, the series of coincidences that brought them together, and the undeniable similarities between the horse and his late wife. And so did those who knew the couple well, and who could now only marvel at the story of the filly, Lisa's Booby Trap, and the down-on-his-luck trainer who apparently had been given a new lease on life. The Ghost Horse is a powerful horseracing story of underdogs and second chances.

This book presents an in-depth, qualitative exploration of the practice of horse-riding by "disabled" and "non-disabled" riders and their horses. Situated as part of an "affective turn" within human geography, creative and original use is made of poststructuralist theory to bring together animal studies and disability studies in order to decentre the human as we think about the social. Eighteen months of multi-sited performance ethnography "on the hoof" were conducted with riders recruited from local riding schools, an internet forum and three Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) groups. The study employed various methods, including diary-keeping, participant observation and video-recording of riding activities, in order to capture moments of horse-human relating. Through these methods, the embodied expressions of horses are taken seriously as demonstrative of their individual thoughts and intentions.

The ultimate betting companion in the build-up to the 2018 Festival. Packed with invaluable advice from the best writers in the business, this comprehensive guide has everything you need for jump racing's biggest meeting. Includes: Race-by-race guide, with in-depth assessment of the main contenders in every championship race by Racing Post betting editor Paul Kealy Key trends for all the established races The Irish challenge Views from the British training centres What the bookmakers say Tipsters' forum with the views of the Racing Post team on the big questions Plus: Racing Post Ratings, Topspeed, trainers and jockeys to follow, pedigree pointers and analysis of the key trials.