Here, for the first time, is the story of how America's first national resort gave birth to, then nurtured, its first national sport, introducing the country to a parade of champions and their spectacular supporting characters. To experience this adventure is to see why the Saratoga Race Course, America's oldest major sports facility remains one of its most beloved and most successful. They're Off! is as much a social history as it is sports history. Edward Hotaling opens with a little-known visit by the first famous tourist, George Washington, who tried to buy the place he called "the Saratoga Springs". Soon the pursuit of happiness at our original vacationland helped redefine America. Even at the height of the Civil War, the country's first organized sport was launched on a national scale.

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.

Forced from American horse racing in 1903 by racism and hard times, two-time Kentucky Derby winner Jimmy Winkfield won every major European race and earned two dazzling fortunes - only to lose one in the Bolshevik Revolution and another in the Nazi invasion of France. In this captivating biography, historian Ed Hotaling traces Wink's extraordinary odyssey from shoeshine boy through the epochal events of the 20th century. 'One of the most extraordinary stories in sports history' - Laura Hillenbrand, author of "Seabiscuit". 'This may be the most fascinating untold sports story in American history' - Charles Osgood, anchor, "CBS News Sunday Morning".