Million-dollar deals and sexual shenanigans set against idyllic
rural backdrops feature prominently in this book - but it isn't an
American blockbuster... it's about the world of horse breeding. For
150 days of the year the greatest thoroughbred farms in the US open
their doors for business - that of producing as many first-rate
foals as possible. This is an incredibly high-risk industry. Invest
huge sums in a stud stallion that proves infertile and you will be
in line for a sizeable insurance payment; buy into a horse that
produces a series of mediocre foals and you can kiss your cash
goodbye. But an indifferent racehorse can sometimes produce a crop
of high-achieving offspring and thereby push his stud fee through
the stable roof. A breeder needs a good eye, plenty of ready money
and a rarer commodity - luck. Kevin Conley's extraordinary book
takes a broad look at this bizarre yet fascinating world. At
Overbrook Farm, Kentucky, he meets with Storm Cat, a stallion
attracting a record-breaking stud fee of $500,000, and in the
Keeneland auction hall he watches Arabian sheikhs and Irish buyers
bid millions of dollars against each other to buy Storm Cat's
offspring. But it is the variety of eccentric characters he meets
along the way that elevates this book into the high entertainment
arena - people like the coarse-tongued Doc Copelan and his
wisecracking sidekick Randy, and the owners of Seattle Slew, who
paid astronomical veterinary fees to keep their favourite pet in
active duty. Conley certainly cannot be accused of shying away from
the more intimate details of the subject. Artificial insemination
devices, dummy horses, teaser stallions and hormone injections all
form an everyday part of this amazing business. Horse breeding has
never seemed so interesting - or so lurid - before. (Kirkus UK)
The most expensive thirty seconds in sports. Every year, on
Valentine's Day, the great Thoroughbred farms open their breeding
sheds and begin their primary business. For the next one hundred
and fifty days, the cries of stallions and the vigorous
encouragement of their handlers echo through breeding country, from
the gentle hills of Kentucky to the rich valleys of California.
Stud takes you into this strange and seductive world. We move from
Lexington's Overbrook Farm, where the world's leading sire, Storm
Cat, a lightly raced eighteen-year-old, brings in around thirty
million dollars a year; to the auction halls, where sheiks and
Irish bookies (known more casually as the Doobie Brothers and the
Boys) bid millions for Storm Cat's well-bred offspring. We visit
Three Chimneys, where the twenty-seven-year-old Triple Crown winner
Seattle Slew, a senior citizen by equine standards, makes a rousing
return to active duty after spinal surgery, and stroll through
Running Horse Farm, on the banks of the Rio Grande, where a nearly
unmanageable colt, Devil Begone, has found peace and prosperity
servicing desert mares like Patty O'Furniture. Cheap stud, top
stud, old stud, wild stud, from the Hall of Fame horse to the harem
stallion with his feral herd, Stud looks at intimate acts in
idyllic settings (and the billion-dollar business behind them),
providing a voyeuristic glimpse of just how human the equine world
can be.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
