Horse racing Books

Book SynopsisRed Rum''s classic win in the 1977 Grand National is the stuff of sporting legend. Red himself became a national treasure, and his charismatic trainer - the redoubtable Ginger McCain - became a sporting hero. While the public adored Ginger, there were those who sniped that he was a one-horse trainer. All that changed 27 years later when, in a thrilling race, Ginger won his fourth National with Amberleigh House, equalling the record of Fred Rimmer. Once again Ginger had taken the sporting world by storm. In the 70s, the popularity of Red Rum and Ginger almost single-handedly saved the great race when there were plans afoot to turn the track into a housing estate. Ginger himself is a remarkable individual - charming, forthright, not afraid to speak his mind and a hugely entertaining raconteur. This is his story, at times funny, sad, exciting and always captivating, told in his own inimitable style.

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Book SynopsisCelebrating a Century of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe charts the history of Europe's - and arguably the world's - greatest horse race. Established in 1920 and staged in Paris on the Bois de Boulogne, the Arc is a truly international contest attracting runners from England, Ireland, Japan, Italy, Germany and the USA. This illustrated race-by-race account traces the exploits of many all-time racing legends. From Ribot, Sea Bird, Allez France and Mill Reef, to Dancing Brave, Sea The Stars, Treve and Enable. It's also a who's who of the turf starring the Rothschild, Aga Khan, Wildenstein, Wertheimer and Head families, as well as Marcel Boussac, Vincent O'Brien, Lester Piggott and Yves Saint-Martin. The modern era features luminaries such as Andre Fabre, Coolmore, Godolphin, John Gosden, Frankie Dettori and Khalid Abdullah. You'll discover which champion hurdler won the title, which horse came back from stud to recapture his crown and which jockey ended up in prison as a result of his win.

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Book SynopsisIf you enjoyed The Racing Post Quiz Book by Mart Matthews, published in 2019, you are sure to appreciate this follow-up to the hugely popular first volume. The author has delved deep into the archives of the horseracing world to come up with another 1,000 questions on one of the nation s favourite sports, sure to challenge every fan. Try these questions for size: which Classic has been won this century by a capital city, a poet, a country and a cricketer? Which surname has cropped up twice among Derby-winning jockeys since the war? And which King George VI Chase winner sounds optimistic concerning a fish, but pessimistic in regard to a dog? Put your horseracing knowledge to the test again and see if you can come out on top. This is the perfect gift for all horseracing fans from anoraks to armchair fans alike it really does have something for everyone.

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Book SynopsisThe Racing Post Royal Ascot Guide 2024 is packed with tips and information for the world-famous five-day extravaganza of top-class Flat racing. Royal Ascot is always extra special on and off the track and this guide from the best team in the business is the perfect companion. It features an in-depth look at all 35 races across the five days, accompanied by a host of betting pointers and analysis to help punters find those all-important winners. Along with profiles of the leading contenders from Britain and Ireland, you''ll get the lowdown on the international challenge, eyecatchers to note, the best early two-year-olds and the standouts on Racing Post Ratings. With all angles covered, this is the ideal way to get set for Royal Ascot 2024.

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Book SynopsisDo you know what the oldest horse race in Britain is, where the term ‘gee-gee’ comes from, or who is credited with bringing racing to Ascot? Fact-packed but light-hearted in style, this reliable reference book and quirky guide reveals little-known facts, details of classic races, famous riders, racing records, amusing anecdotes and criminal goings-on. A compendium of the fascinating, strange and entertaining, The Little Book of Horse Racing can be dipped into time and time again to reveal something new about this ancient sport.

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Book SynopsisKatherine C. Mooney recaptures the sights, sensations, and illusions of America’s first mass spectator sport. Her central characters are not the elite white owners of slaves and thoroughbreds but the black jockeys, grooms, and horse trainers who called themselves race horse men and made the racetrack run—until Jim Crow drove them from their jobs.Trade ReviewKatherine Mooney’s enthralling account of an all-but-forgotten population of elite slaves in the American South reads like a novel. Race Horse Men is both the story of 19th century thoroughbred racing—‘America’s first mass-audience sport’—and a detailed portrait of the expert equestrian slaves and free black horsemen upon whose competence in the stables wealthy white ‘turfmen’ depended… Mooney makes a strong case for why these forgotten histories continue to illuminate systems of inequality to this day. -- Thomas Chatterton Williams * San Francisco Chronicle *It is that history—of rich white men, enslaved black men, and the birth of American horse racing—that Katherine C. Mooney tells in Race Horse Men. Scholarly yet accessible, the book argues that far from subverting the racist notions of the slave-holding South, black horsemen were seen as ‘the perfect slaves, precisely calibrated extensions of a master’s will’ and ‘central figures in turfmen’s vision of the harmony of a slave society.’ -- Kate Tuttle * Boston Globe *Mooney’s book draws on the stories and memoirs of a range of figures across racing, as the sport became simultaneously a Southern specialty and an object of popular fascination. Race Horse Men is stitched out of these portraits, many of which are wonderfully effective in revealing just how ambiguous, for example, the situation of enslaved grooms, trainers, jockeys, and breeding-shed managers could be… Mooney’s book is at its strongest when it peers not into the clubhouse but out into the stables… She positions her history to thread together a large chunk of time, when racing carried the burden of chattel slavery and civil war. -- Eric Banks * Chronicle of Higher Education *Black men were active in 19th-century racing, most prominent in the South, as jockeys, grooms, and trainers for this first large spectator sport in the United States… But Mooney shows how white resentment of black presence and success at the race track increased. Whites feared that the example of success that these race-horse men set would incite other blacks to demand more rights and become violent. With the rise of Jim Crow in the South, blacks were driven out of the sport. -- Patsy Gray * Library Journal *Writing with exceptional polish and élan, Katherine Mooney succeeds brilliantly at restoring humanity to black jockeys and trainers. This superb book says as much about the cruelties and distortions wrought by racism in nineteenth-century America as any single book can. -- W. Fitzhugh Brundage, author of The Southern Past: A Clash of Race and MemoryKatherine Mooney leads us inside the paddock and beyond the finish line to reveal how horse racing shaped American society and molded race relations. In doing so, she brings to life the struggles of numerous individuals long lost to history. The result is an eye-opening and important book. -- Louis P. Masur, author of Lincoln’s Hundred Days: The Emancipation Proclamation and the War for the UnionKatherine Mooney gives us a vivid, pioneering study of the horse-racing world, a mainstay of nineteenth-century American and Southern culture. Her portrayal of the lives of black jockeys is a revelation. She uses sporting drama to illuminate the interplay between callousness and selective personal affection that pervaded white attitudes toward blacks. -- Melvin Patrick Ely, author of Israel on the Appomattox: A Southern Experiment in Black Freedom from the 1790s Through the Civil War

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Book SynopsisFrom the length of the track and the need to ride small horses, to the risks, techniques, and training methods involved in racing, Meijer recreates ancient Rome's favorite pastime in impressive detail.Trade ReviewFans of Ben Hur will find this very readable book entertaining and informative... It is an in-your-seat, in-your-face ancient history worthy of any bookshelf. -- David Lee Poremba Past In Review 2010 Readers will find an excellent overview of knowledge... The material is presented in a way which both interested lay people and undergraduate students will readily digest. -- John D. Muccigrosso Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2010 This is definitely a 'must have' book for your library. The Lone Star 2010Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsChronologyIntroduction1. The Nika Riot: Thirty Thousand Dead in the Hippodrome2. Chariot Races of the First Century BC and Earlier3. The Circus Maximus4. Preparation and Organization5. A Day at the Circus Maximus6. The Heroes of the Arena7. The Spectators8. Changes around the Racetrack9. The Heroes of the Hippodrome10. The Disappearance of Chariot Racing11. Ben-Hur: Chariot Racing in the MoviesList of RacetracksNotesGlossarySelected BibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisThe 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. His is a story of the American dream catapulting headlong into the nightmare of a nation gripped by wartime hysteria and xenophobia. His story is at once inspiring, deeply sad, and richly ironic.Trade Review“Christgau masterfully unearths a story about a small man with a giant spirit struggling to realize a dream in the midst of racial hatred and war.”—Satsuki Ina, producer of From a Silk Cocoon“John Christgau has given us the bittersweet story of ‘Kokomo Joe’ Kobuki, who carried the American dream on his tiny shoulders, and of those whose fear of others tried to wrest the dream from him.”—Stephen Fox, author of Fear Itself: Inside the FBI Roundup of German Americans during World War II"Through his detailed writing Christgau makes Kokomo Joe's rise representative of the rise of Japanese America."—Kerwin Berk, Nichi Bei TimesTable of ContentsList of IllustrationsAcknowledgments1. The Pocket Baby2. Kokomo Joe3. Mister Charley4. Brilliant Queen5. The Yankee Doodle Boys6. Joltin' Joe7. The Railbird Witch8. The Oriental Invaders9. Lumberjacks and Truckers10. Joe Btfsplk11. Miserable Saboteurs12. Nipponese Dynamite13. Hoover's Lists14. Fibber McGee15. The Whiz Kid with the Jive Drive16. The Canadian Mounties17. Chester from Gunsmoke18. StargazersSources

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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