Logans Book Corner – Recommended Reads
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Below is a list of interesting thoroughbred, racing and aquaculture books. This is a suggested reading list. Logans do not sell books. You may be able to purchase these books fromoneof the following links.
The Horseman�s Book Shop – http://www.horsemansbookshop.com.au/
Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/
Jack Glengarry – Glengarry@glengarybooks.co.nz� http://www.glengarrybooks.co.nz/
THE HORSE IN AUSTRALIA: Fiona Carruthers
Published by Random House
The Horse in Australia is a comprehensive new book htat examines the central role the horse has played in Austeralian history since its arrival with the First Fleet.
The horse has remained fundamental to our sense of national identity. Despite urbanisation, we retain one of the world’s highest rates of horse ownership. Through the stories of our most iconic horse events – such as the Melbourne Cup, the Golden Slipper, the Inter Dominion, the Garryowen Perpetual Trophy, the Warwick Gold Cup, the Tom Quilty Endurance Ride and the Pony Club movement in Australia – Fiona Carruthers captures how we have embraced the horse. This comprehensive, beautiful book rattles to the pounding of hooves, exploring the much-loved Australian Light Horse, the all-Australian sports of campdrafting, polocrosse, bush polo and picnic racing and the evolution of the Australian Stock Horse.
GOOD LUCK & GOOD PUNTING: Ken Callander
Published by Pan MacMillan Books
For over 45 years, Ken Callander’s been involved in horse racing as a journalist, TV and radio commentator, punter and owner. Ken’s love of horse racing has taken him around the world and in this wonderful memoir he recounts some of the great stories of the people, places, races and horses he’s know.
From strarting out as a newspaper copy boy to becoming the best-know face and voice of racing, Ken’s memoirs are fascinating, warm-hearted and highly entertaining.
PUNTER�S LUCK: A John Punter Racing Mystery
By Peter Klein Published by New Holland
Is this Australia�s new Dick Francis? Racing mystery genre readers might well make the comparison as PUNTER�S LUCK, Peter Klein�s debut novel continues the tradition.
Klein�s racing autobiography A STRAPPER�S TALE was a best seller and the author has followed up with his first novel, which is an absolute cracker.
PUNTER�S LUCK is set against the glamorous, yet rough and tumble world of Australian thoroughbred racing. John Punter�s father is a leading racehorse trainer, but Punter turns his back on the family training business to pursue a life as a professional gambler. So it�s punter by name and punter by trade. His office is the betting ring and his associates are the colourful and shady characters who abound at the track. When an old friend goes missing and Punter finds the body of his sister, Punter becomes the prime suspect. To get to the truth, he starts his own investigation. After all, if Punter doesn�t know what goes down at the track, then who does? Enlisting the help of Kate, an old flame and now a respected crime reporter, they set about tracking down the real killer. Revealing the truth is one thing, but keeping out of trouble is another. As the body count mounts up, Punter and Kate find themselves in deadly danger and there�s only one way out…
Klein writes with a rare passion and knowledge about the turf. Regular racegoers will enjoy identifying contemporary racing characters and some (not so) thinly disguised ones. A book not just for racing buffs, but for all crime mystery readers in general.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Peter Klein�s well qualified to write about racing. The son of legendary Australian children�s author Robin Klein, he�s spent a lifetime in horseracing working for some of Australia�s top
trainers like T J Smith and Bart Cummings and was a one time strapper of champion galloper Kingston Town.
Excuses, Excuses: 100 Reasons Why Your Horse Lost the Race!
By James A. Vena
Trainers hate it, owners find it funny, and everyone is talking aboutit! An inside look at the world of Thoroughbred Racing with an informative and yet comical view of the”Sport of Kings” asseen through the eyes of an owner! Thoroughbred owners will find this book entertaining and informative while handicappers and the casual bettor, will get an inside look at what owners are told after their horse loses a race.
Can be purchased at http://www.thoroughlybredstore.com/
The Complete Encyclopedia of Horse Racing
by Bill Mooney and George Ennon. 2006
This book tells the story of �The Sport of Kings� from its earliest inception to the present day. It provides worldwide, essential information on the top jockeys, leading owners, trainers and famous racehorses.
The biography of a great racehorse Barbaro
�A Nation�s Love Story�
Authors Tom Philbin and Pamela K Brodowsky available from Amazon.com
This up to the minute book provides the full story; racing, veterinary care and the veterinary surgeon who tried to save Barbaro.
It also covers his breeding background, foaling, training and the owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson and their courageous determination to save his life.
It is an absorbing story and well worth a read for any horse lover.
The authors;
Tom Philpin. This New Yorker has written numerous books and is co-author of �Two Minutes to Glory � the official history of the Kentucky Derby�.
Pamela K. Brodowsky. Pamela lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two children. She is the founder of the International Literary Authors and is a popular speaker at many writers� conferences.
The Best and Worst of Thoroughbred Racing
Author � Steve Davidowitz, Daily Racing Form Press, 2007
This is a great book about the thoroughbred racing industry in the USA.
Who�s the fastest 3 year old filly, the best jockey, or the sharpest horseplayer of the modern era? Steve Davidowitz, who has seen and known them all, answers these provocative questions and dozens more, but that�s just the beginning of the opinions and observations in The Best and Worst of Thoroughbred Racing.
Davidowitz, a veteran reporter, columnist, and handicapper who has worked and gambled at racetracks from coast to coast, is a passionate lover of the racing game and an equally passionate critic of its shortcomings. In addition to starting and settling arguments about the sport�s most talented people and racehorses, Davidowitz takes aim at it�s rascals and reprobates and at an industry that too often fails to address and resolve its most troubling issues.
The result is a provocative and pointed collection of Top 10 lists and essays that touch on every aspect of racing horses, jockeys, trainers, owners, breeders, gamblers stallions, and broodmares as well as its best and worst moments and practices.
Whether you are a novice seeking to expand your knowledge of a complex sport and its history, or a railbird with opinions as strong as the author�s, The Best and Worst of Thoroughbred Racing is sure to educate, entertain and inspire you.
About The Author
Steve Davidowitz has been a professional handicapper, reporter, editor, consultant, and columnist for more than three decades. He is the author of the influential and best selling handicapping book Betting Thoroughbreds, which he updated a few years ago to cover modern handicapping situations and a variety of advanced exotic wagering strategies.
A highly touted baseball star at Rutgers University who lost a potential pitching career due to a freak boating mishap, Davidowitz has a wide ranging background that includes solo travel to Cuba as a teenager; scuba diving in the Caribbean; playing folk guitar in the clubs of New Orleans; and photographic magazine covers and exhibitions of his work. As a single parent, Steve also raised his son, Brad, now a corporate program analyst in Minneapolis, married with two children.
Davidowitz says he �began to major in horse racing studies at Rutgers University, Garden State Park Division�, when a New Brunswick, New Jersey, bookmaker gave him a copy of the 1959 American Racing Manual. Some 40 years later, Davidowitz would help Daily Racing Form bring that prestigious annual back to print as the ARM�s editor from 2000-03.
An active horseplayer who manages a pick six syndicate, Steve has contributed articles to The New York Times and been a featured columnist and/or racing editor for Turf and Sport Digest magazine, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, The Oakland Tribune, The Philadelphia Journal, The Racing Times, the St Petersburg Times, and the Houston Post, among other publications.
Today, Davidowitz writes handicapping columns for DRF Simulcast Weekly, trackmaster.com, and other outlets on the Internet. In addition to his horse-race writings and commentaries, Davidowitz is the co- author of They Can�t Hide Us Anymore with singer/songwriter Richie Havens. He now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Reprinted from: The Best and Worst of Thoroughbred Racing
Available from drf.com or amazon.com
The Infinitive History of Veterinary Practice by W P �Bill� Howey
As a fringe dweller himself and a raconteur of note, long time Scone veterinarian W.P. ‘Bill’ Howey has been well situated to chronicle the input over the past half century of the wild men of the Hunter Valley horse world, particularly those in his profession and stud owners and their staff. He has done this in a light hearted way in a 250-page book entitled “The Infinitive History of Veterinary Practice in Scone.”
Much of it is centred around Scottish born Murray Bain, a veterinary surgeon who died in mid age in 1974 after just on a quarter century based in Scone. He was regarded by many as the father of thoroughbred stud practice, conceiving and introducing techniques that are now standard use by practitioners in Australia.
After Murray Bain’s death, Bill Howey, John Morgan and Nairn Fraser, the veterinary surgeon husband of Kate, a granddaughter of the legendary business tycoon and stud owner W. J. “Knockout’ Smith, conducted a practice covering the whole of the Hunter Valley under their names and then as Scone Veterinary Hospital. At one time they were responsible for the veterinary services for over 10,000 mares, more than in England and Ireland combined.
Bain, Howey, Morgan, Fraser and Rodger are but four of the many veterinary surgeons who have practiced together since World War 11. Prior to that era much of the veterinary attention was delivered by experienced stud hands.
“The Infinitive History of Veterinary Practice in Scone” reviews many of these vets and reports on some of the skeletons in their closets that were not only of equine variety, of their long trips, day and night, to tend to sick horses and at times themselves to get ‘poisoned’ by some of the brews kept on hand in case of snake bite.
Howey tells tales of the legendary George Ryder, for a time the biggest breeder in Australia from his base at the Woodlands Stud, and his henchmen Ron Jefferies and Jim Gibson, also of Cliff Ellis who spent half a life time in the Widden Valley, of the Widden Stud Thompsons and so many other men and women who have been part of the lives of Scone veterinarians.
Printed by Pritchards Press, Muswellbrook, The Infinitive History of Veterinary Practice by W.P. ‘Bill; Howey was launched at the Howeys’ Scone home before a gathering of many of the characters in the book and many others in veterinary science, horse breeding and racing by Murray Bain’s daughter Morag Borsje on Saturday evening November 25.
It is available from Hunt-a-book, Kelly Street, Scone or from Bill and Sarah Howey, P.O. Box 509, Scone, 2337, email howeywp@westnet.com.au at a cost of $50 including postage costs.
By Brian Russell from Breednet.com.au
Packer�s Lunch by Neil Chenoweth, 2006
This book has nothing to do with animals!!! It is in fact a rollicking tale of Swiss Bank Accounts and Money Making Adventurers in Sydney Town during the last decade of the 20th century – and what a cast.
Just for starters � the real stars are Trevor Kennedy, Graham Richardson and the late Rene Rivkin.
Throw in for good measure Jodee Rich, Rodney Adler and Jolly John Singleton plus another handful of Sydney characters and you have an intriguing cast of insiders in this scathingly hilarious account of the final decade of the roaring 90�s in Sydney.
New Book on Horse Genetics
The NZ Equine Research Foundation has recently published a book on �Horse Genetics�. It is aimed at horsemen and women who have little or no knowledge of modern genetics and is written in simple and understandable terms. It explains the basic principles of horse genetics, the inheritance of coat colours, pedigree and breeding plans, breeds of horses, breeding for performance, parentage verification, genetics of equine diseases, and the international equine genemapping programme.
The recent explosion of new technologies in molecular genetics will inevitably lead to new tools to breed even better horses and those with a fundamental understanding of horse genetics will be best placed to use these technologies.
The book was written by Professor Ann Bowling, one of the world�s top horse geneticists and a horse breeder herself. Tragically, Professor Bowling died after producing the first draft of this book and it was completed by a subcommittee of the NZ Equine Research Foundation comprising, Drs. Ian Anderson, Tony Charleston and Brian Goulden. The costs of the book�s production were supported by The Pye Foundation, The NZ Equine Veterinary Association and NZ Bloodstock. The NZ Equine Research Foundation is appreciative of the commitment of these organizations to the education of horsemen and women throughout New Zealand.
Those wishing to obtain a copy of this excellent book (cost NZ$45) should forward their requirements to:
David Jewell, Secretary NZERF, PO Box 52, Palmerston North, NZ.
Great Thoroughbred Sires of the World
Great Thoroughbred Sires of the World is a definitive reference highlighting the racing and stud careers of 205 stallions which shaped the thoroughbred breeding and racing world in the 20th century and beyond. Over 10 years of original research has resulted in this superbly produced hard-cover volume.
The statistical information includes each horse�s race and stud record, its record as a broodmare sire plus the stud record of its principal sire plus the stud record of its principal sire sons and grandsons. There is a comprehensive index.
Page size is an impressive 300mm x 230mm with a double page spread presentation format (Northern Dancer and Mr Prospector both have 7 double page spreads). The book weights a hefty 4kg.
This is the first time in history that a work of this magnitude and significance has ever been undertaken. Researched and produced by three Australians (Jennifer Churchill, Andrew Reichard and Byron Rogers), there are contributory articles on each of the featured stallions by 50 highly respected authorities from around the world.
Publication is scheduled for early November 2006.
For further information about the publication, contact the publisher, The Australian Bloodhorse Review on (+61 2) 4588 5355 or visit http://www.greatsires.com.au/
A Fine Place to Daydream by Bill Barich
Twenty five years after Laughing in the Hills, his racetrack classic, Bill Barich gives us another � about how he fell in love and found a new life in Dublin, where he was soon caught up in the Irish obsession with horses and luck.
At venues grand and lowly, Ireland�s steeplechase season hits its stride in October and reaches a crescendo at England�s Cheltenham Festival in March, when the Irish take on the Brits for bragging rights before a crowd of 50,000. To prepare himself for the fierce rivalry, Barich travelled his adopted country and met the leading trainers and jockeys; such champion jumpers as Florida Pearl and the quirky Moscow Flyer; the beleaguered bookies who work rain or shine; and a host of passionate, like minded fans � from Father Sean Breen, the �Racing Priest�, to T.P. Reilly, whose peculiar betting system turns on a horse�s looks.
Witty philosophical, vividly written, A Fine Place to Daydream is a paean to the real Ireland, a moving account of a surprise romance, and the thrilling record of a hugely exciting season at the track.
The Author
Bill Barich is the author of six previous books of fiction and non-fiction. Amazon lists Laughing in the Hills among its ten best sports books of the twentieth century, while Sports Illustrated calls it one of the 100 best of all time. He has been a Guggenheim Fellow, a frequent contributor to The New Yorker, and a literary laureate of the San Francisco Public Library, having lived in the Bay Area for many years before moving to Dublin.
Wink by Ed Hotaling
�One of the most extraordinary stories in sports history is also one of its least known. Jimmy Winkfield was a gifted jockey and a remarkably intrepid man, and his life was a singular adventure. His is a story of persistence, hardship and triumph, and it should be long remembered�. Laura Hillenbrand, author of Seabiscuit: An American Legend.
He was a giant of a man who stood barely five feet tall; a fierce competitor with a gentle manner; a gifted jockey whose outstanding accomplishments made him a pariah in his native land. At age twenty-three, two-time Kentucky Derby winner Jimmy Winkfield was forced from American horse racing by a virulent combination of racism and hard times. He could have become one more victim of Jim Crow injustice, but Jimmy never allowed himself to be anyone�s victim. Instead he launched himself on an amazing adventure through the epochal events of the twentieth century, and in Wink, Ed Hotaling weaves that story with rich historical detail.
This vivid and compelling biography has already led to Winkfield�s induction into horse racing�s Hall of Fame � one of only three black jockeys honoured there. Wink tells the story of Jimmy�s rise from humble beginnings as a shoeshine boy in Lexington, Kentucky, to the top of the turn of the century American racing. Bursting with talent, confidence, and charm this brilliant horseman was poised to become the greatest athlete in what was then the world�s biggest sport when he was blackballed by stable owners in 1903. Desperate to continue racing, Wink left his beloved Kentucky, bought a steamer ticket for Europe, and made the world his racetrack.
Hotaling follows Wink on a decades-long odyssey through the capitals of Europe. From the splendour and repression of Czarist Russia to the upheaval and brutality of the Bolshevik Revolution, from the militaristic pomp of the Kaiser�s Germany to the sophisticated elegance of Josephine Baker�s Paris, Wink excelled in his sport, winning purses that far surpassed is Kentucky Derby prizes.
But history seemed always to be gaining on Jimmy. He was the �black maestro� in Moscow, living large, when he and others were forced by the Bolshevik Army into an eleven hundred mile overland trek to Poland, herding two hundred thoroughbred horses and surviving on horse flesh. Two decades later, on top once more in France, he had to flee yet again � this time to protect his family from Nazi occupiers. In his sixties, Wink wielded a jackhammer with his 105 pound frame on the streets of Queens for Roosevelt�s Works Progress Administration. In his seventies, he re-established himself as a top French trainer and stable owner. He died in Paris at age ninety four, still homesick for the rolling bluegrass meadows of his boyhood.
No athlete has ever had a more spectacular career or demonstrated more courageously how to ride past any hardship. Jimmy Winkfield achieved a human greatness that transcends the limits of sport. Wink tells this wonderful story � this American story � in all its rich and vibrant power.
The Author – Ed Hotaling, a leading social historian, is the nation�s pre-eminent authority on early American racing. A recent Emmy-winning reporter for the NBC television station in Washington, D.C., he is the author of the The Great Black Jockeys and They�re off! Horse Racing at Saratoga.
American Classic Pedigrees 1914 � 2002 by Avalyn Hunter
This landmark work is an important resource for pedigree analysts and breeders everywhere who continue the quest to breed a Classic winner � a horse like Secretariat, Man o�War, or 2002 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner War Emblem.
�Avalyn Hunter has managed to combine the chronicles of American racing and American breeding into a rare mix that will appeal to the fans of the sport as well as to pedigree junkies. Rather than the usual flat recital of who won what, we are treated to new angles and research on who these champions were and where they came from. Their stories are related in Ms Hunter�s easy style, which puts the horses, their ancestors and their influence on the breed in a pleasant and refreshing perspective�.
– Pedigree consultant Anne Peters, Co-Author of Patterns of Greatness II.
A Fine Place to Daydream by Bill Barich
Twenty five years after Laughing in the Hills, his racetrack classic, Bill Barich gives us another � about how he fell in love and found a new life in Dublin, where he was soon caught up in the Irish obsession with horses and luck.
At venues grand and lowly, Ireland�s steeplechase season hits its stride in October and reaches a crescendo at England�s Cheltenham Festival in March, when the Irish take on the Brits for bragging rights before a crowd of 50,000. To prepare himself for the fierce rivalry, Barich travelled his adopted country and met the leading trainers and jockeys; such champion jumpers as Florida Pearl and the quirky Moscow Flyer; the beleaguered bookies who work rain or shine; and a host of passionate, like minded fans � from Father Sean Breen, the �Racing Priest�, to T.P. Reilly, whose peculiar betting system turns on a horse�s looks.
Witty philosophical, vividly written, A Fine Place to Daydream is a paean to the real Ireland, a moving account of a surprise romance, and the thrilling record of a hugely exciting season at the track.
The Author – Bill Barich is the author of six previous books of fiction and non-fiction. Amazon lists Laughing in the Hills among its ten best sports books of the twentieth century, while Sports Illustrated calls it one of the 100 best of all time. He has been a Guggenheim Fellow, a frequent contributor to The New Yorker, and a literary laureate of the San Francisco Public Library, having lived in the Bay Area for many years before moving to Dublin.
Man o�War by Dorothy Ours.
His trainer said that managing him was like holding a tiger by the tail. His owner compared him to �chain lightning�. His jockeys found their lives transformed by him, in triumphant and distressing ways. All of them became caught in a battle for honesty.
Born in 1917, Man o�War grew from a rebellious youngster into perhaps the greatest racehorse of all time. He set such astonishing speed records that The New York Times called him a �Speed Miracle�. Often he won with so much energy in reserve that experts wondered how much faster he could have gone. Over the years, this and other mysteries would envelop the great Man o�War.
The truth remained problematic. Even as Man o�War � known as �Big Red� � came to power, attracting record crowds and rave publicity, the colourful sport of Thoroughbred racing struggled for integrity. His lone defeat, suffered a few weeks before gamblers fixed the 1919 World Series, spawned lasting rumours that he, too, had been a victim of a fix.
Tackling old beliefs with newly uncovered evidence, Man o�War: A Legend Like Lightning shows how human pressures collided with a natural phenomenon and brings new life to an American icon. The genuine courage of Man o�War, tribulations of his archrival, Sir Barton (America�s first Triple Crown winner), and temptations of their Hall of Fame jockeys and trainers reveal a long-hidden tale of grace, disgrace, and elusive redemption.
Author – A lifelong horse enthusiast, Dorothy Ours grew up in the history-rich states of Virginia and West Virginia. She worked for seven years at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York, while researching Man o�War and has been cited for research contributions to several books on Thoroughbred racehorses. Her other fascinations include music, art, and ghost stories
The Byerley Turk: The True Story of the First Thoroughbred
by Jeremy James (Wakefield Press)
The incredible story of the most remarkable horse in history. In 1678, a beautiful mahogany bay Karaman colt is foaled in the Balkans. Yet this is no ordinary colt: he is destined to become the magnificent Byerley Turk, the first Foundation Sire of the thoroughbred line.
In 1683, in diamond-and ruby-studded harness of the glittering Ottoman sipahi, the young horse fights as a charger at the Siege of Vienna. Seized as an exotic prize from the Siege of Buda three years later, he is ridden across Europe to the Royal Barracks of King James II in Hounslow, England, where he is acquired in 1687 by Captain Robert Byerley. In 1690, as a charger in the ranks of King William�s army, he faces sabre and cannon at the Battle of the Boyne, but not before romping past the winning post at Downroyal and snatching the King�s Plate.
The stallion died at the age of 25 in 1703. Until now his story has never been told. Yet on every racecourse in the world today, his bloodline thunders on.
Darby McCarthy – Against All Odds
by Lauren Callaway
He rode his first winner at the age of 10 in borrowed silks and boots, and went on to win over 1000 races in Australia, England and France. He created history by winning the Epsom and Derby Double at Randwick, but then plunged into a series of controversies and personal dramas that dominated his career.
Darby holds nothing back, sharing the rags to riches to rags story of a champion who battled the odds to stay in the winning circle, and struggled to find his true identity in the midst of a whirlwind of women, affairs, suicide and breakdowns.
“I learnt some precious lessons from Darby who taught me in his own charismatic and crazy way what it takes to be a real contender, to rise above everything and everyone else to be your very best… I will forever be thankful.” Cathy Freeman
From Rocking Horse to Rocking Chair
The Memoirs of Carl Waugh by Jan Peacock
Carl Waugh and Jan Peacock are well-known in the Australian thoroughbred horse industry through their joint effort in formulating, introducing and running the Magic Millions Sale and Race at the Gold Coast in Queensland from its inception in 1985/86.This concept was a world first, putting Queensland and Australia on the world thoroughbred horse-sales map. The idea was copied in many countries, but the fact remains that the success of Carl and Jan as promoters and managers of the concept has so far never been eclipsed. This book consists of a group of yarns from the life of Carl, who was one of Australia�s great horsemen and stockmen. The book is full of history, heritage, humour and human interest.
Australian Racing Fact Book (See arb@australian-racing.net.au)
“There is a consistently high level of demand for records relating to the health and performance of the industry. Since first being published in 1999, and with this the 7th edition, our objective for the Fact Book has been to provide the best way to reference key racing industry data,” Australian Racing Board Chairman, Andrew Ramsden, said.
“In providing a statistical and pictorial account of the past racing season the Fact Book gives us the chance to look back on the many great achievements both on and off the racetrack, while the inclusion this year of greater trend analysis will assist decision makers to shape the direction of the industry in the future.”
See the full article in our newsletter section Growth in Australian Racing.
From the Desert to the Derby: Inside the Ruling Family of Dubai’s Billion Dollar Quest to Win America’s Greatest Horse Race by Jason Levin (DRF Press)
This book covers the conflict between Sheik Mohammed Rushed al Maktoum and the old-line Kentucky racing establishment. The book also brings to life some of the world’s most exquisite Thoroughbred facilities in the world, and a battle that involves sports’ such fertile ground; money, power, ego and tradition.
A Strapper’s Tale – Recollections of Kingston Town’s Strapper by Peter Klein (New Holland Publishers Australia)
Described by some as the ‘racing book of the year’, A Strapper’s Tale describes stable life in the 70’s through the eyes of crack young horseman and gun strapper, Peter Klein. Racing stables were a pretty tough place for a kid to grow up back then. And at the infamous G. T. Murphy stables in Booran Lodge, it didn’t get much rougher. Strappers dubbed it Pentridge Prison and a fair percentage of its workforce came from that establishment. But somehow Klein survived the drugs and the legendary tongue lashings from Murphy to move on and become a travelling foreman to T. J. Smith, a strapper to Kingston Town and eventually a racehorse trainer at Epsom in his own right. As he tells it as it was his introduction to racing, the famous horses, owner and jockeys, strappers, stewards, drugs, fights, betting coups, crooks and sensations of that era. They’re all fascination Australian racing tale.
Great Australian Racing Stories by Jim Haynes (ABC Radio & Books/BBC Books)
A collection of the best literature about the Australian racetrack, this volume of stories and verses, by some of our greatest writers, is all about the Aussie love affair with the Sport of Kings, from bush picnic races to the Melbourne Cup. The stores and verses in this collection are not just anecdotes, racing history pieces or rehashed feature articles from sports journalists; first and foremost they are good literature. The common thread running through the wonderful Australian short stories featured in this volume is the real Aussie character and passion for life that racing seems to bring out in our culture. There are tales of childhood dreams, great achievements, victory in adversity and also tales of tragedy and heartbreak. There are stories of crazy schemes and hilarious events that could only happen on an Australian racetrack. There is also a fine collection of stirring ballads, hilarious verses and poignant and moving poetry. Racing is the sport of kings and deadbeats. No Australian activity better reflects our national character and its weaknesses and strengths. This volume captures all the colour and passion, tragedy and emotion that thoroughbred racing brings to the lives of the owners, breeders, trainers, jockeys, punters, battlers and dreamers who live with horses every day, or just love a bet on the Melbourne Cup.
Finished Lines: A Collection of Memorable Writing on Thoroughbred Racing by Frank Scatoni (Daily Racing Form Press)
In this book, author and editor Frank Scatoni captures the essence of the sport that is exhilarating and breathtaking, frustratingand cruel.
Horse of a Different Color by Jim Squires (Publicaffairs)
Everybody in the thoroughbred horse business wants to win the Kentucky Derby but the odds on making it to the winner’s circle at Churchill Downs are about 35,000-to-1. In 2001, Jim Squires beat those odds. Horse of a Different Color tells the wild, comic tale of Squires’ journey from obscurity to glory alongside Monarchos, the charismatic grey colt blessed with extraordinary speed, poise and stamina – who carried his motley band of human handlers to the highest level of their profession. This is a book with all the ingredients – a great tale to tell and a gifted writer at the helm.
Saratoga Tales by Bill Heller (Whitson Publishing Co Inc)
Saratoga has always been a special place for people who love thoroughbred racing. Famous for its historic upsets, the “graveyard of champions” has also been home to many of the most bizarre incidents in racing history. Saratoga Tales is filled with extraordinary stories of racing legends Secretariat, Affirmed, Alydar, Fourstardave and Funny Cide. The events at this magnificent track have been lauded or vilified by jockeys, trainers, owners, stewards and bettors since its ill-times opening. Nobody is more qualified to tell them than Eclipse Award winner writer Bill Heller, who has covered the Saratoga meet for 30 years.
The Big Horse by Joe McGinniss (Simon & Schuster)
McGinniss�s book finds him trying to recapture his lost love of horse racing by following P G Johnson, an ageing trainer, and his �big horse�, Volponi, through the 2003 racing season. Johnson, a Hall of Fame trainer, is a tough-as-nails, tell-it-like-it-is horseman, and McGinniss uses him and his 2002 Breeder�s Cup Classic-winning horse as the linchpins holding together this varied collection of factoids, trivia and personal observations of the past, present and future of horse racing. Interspersing his own memories of Triple Crown Winners Citation, Seattle Slew and Affirmed with observations about the present state of horse racing and a retelling of Johnson�s life story, McGinniss paints a compelling and bittersweet picture of the dying sport of the horse racing and the dying breed of old school horse trainers like Johnson. McGinniss is a master storyteller, but the story he has chosen to tell is not as strong as those he has told in past works, like The Miracle of Castel di Sangro. Volponi is not a superstar, and Johnson� story, while touching, holds few of the twists and turns that make for momentous tale. Still, there�s no questioning McGinniss�s writing ability. This book is a lot like the racing career of Volponi: impressive yet, despite its flashes of excellence, not transcendent enough to qualify it as great.
Tesio � In His Own Words, Federico Tesio (The Russell Meerdink Company Ltd)
Federico Tesio (1869-1954) is the most successful breeder of thoroughbreds in the history of racing. The horses he bred at his Dormello Stud on the banks of the Lake Maggiore in northern Italy continue to have a genetic impact on thoroughbreds around the world. This faithful translation of Tesio�s 1947 work Puro-Sangue � Animale da Esperimento (The Pure Blood � An Animal of Experimentation) captures every idea and nuance of the original Italian text. In it, the reader will find this great breeder�s own views on genetics and the thoroughbred as a hybrid, what he looks for in the first 64 ancestors of a horse�s pedigree, why heavily-raced horse rarely produce successful progeny and much more.
Wild Ride: The Rise and Fall of Calumet Farm., America�s Premier Racing Dynasty by Anne Hagedorn Auerbach
This book is amazing. Sure it�s a fun tale, brilliantly told, of one of the most famous horse farms in history. But it�s so much more. It�s also a fantastic insight into excess and fraud and how businessmen commit it. Read it for the blood and guts and glory of horse racing. The story of Calumet is wonderful but hang onto your hats. Auerbach�s in-depth investigative journalism shows the anatomy of a swindle. How J. T. Lundy, owner of Calumet, and his cohorts turned the most beautiful animals in the world into cash machines. How they debased the tradition of one of the noblest sports. Auerbach is undaunted by the complicated financial shenanigans that these people concocted to milk the banks out of millions. In fact, I believe that her reporting is the reason that Lundy would up getting indicted and convicted. And she tells it in such a compelling way that even someone who can�t add 2 plus 2 can see how the rich sometimes get richer at our expense. Read it and week. But know that in the end, justice was done.
The Arabian Horse Volume VI
Anyone with an interest in horses will find this book enlightening. Because of the versatility of the Arabian Breed it is inevitable that anyone reading this volume will find reference to a horse with which they can identify.
It is a magnificent book, well designed and researched. The extensive assemble of facts and figures are easy to read.
Available from AHSA Limited telephone 02 4587 7059.
The Great Match Race – John Eisenberg available through Amazon.com
History meets horse racing in the USA in this grand, galloping story about what happened when the greatest horse from the North met the greatest horse from the South.
In the early 1800s, the notion of sport was still quite new to America, unless you counted cockfighting, chasing foxes, or hunting stags. But on a bright afternoon in May 1823 a horse race held at the Union Course changed everything. Astonishingly, sixty thousand people attended � a number equal to roughly half the population of New York City at the time. Two horses � the best from the North and the best from the South � battled it out in three gruelling heats, the equivalent of nine Kentucky Derbys, in only a couple of hours. And the whole thing was based on an outrageous dare.
Author John Eisenberg is a sports columnist for the Baltimore Sun and the author of four acclaimed books, including most recently, Native Dancer: Hero of a Golden Age. In 2003 his commentary was part of a radio broadcast that earned an Eclipse Award, the highest honor given for coverage of horse racing.
British Stayers � Persian Punch
If you have ever wondered about the quality of British thoroughbred stayers here is your chance to read an absorbing account of England�s favorite racehorse Persian Punch. Winner of most of the United Kingdom�s major staying races Persian Punch also ran 3rd on two occasions in Australia�s 1998 and 2001 Melbourne Cups.
There has never been a racehorse quite like Persian Punch, never in the United Kingdom has a flat racer touched so many people in such an amazing way. In a long and glorious career, he thrilled his massive band of followers with inspirational performances of courage, grit and determination.
This authorized tribute by highly respected racing journalist Lee Mottershead is an irresistible read.
Persian Punch embodied everything that is great about a racehorse. Available from the Horseman�s Bookshop http://www.horsemanbookshop.com.au/
The Wootton Family – Australia to Epsom by Bill Eacott
Written and compiled by Bill Eacott this is an informative read on the famous Wootton Family and their contribution to the English and Australian racing industries. Available direct from the author C W Eacott, 32 Mount Pleasant Ewell Epsom Surrey KT17 1XE or http://www.browzers.co.uk/ or www.epsom.townpage.co.uk/bhmwootton.htm.
Bernborough – Australia’s Greatest Racehorse by Duncan Stearn (Mitraphab Press)
In the history of Australian horse racing only five have captured the imagination of the public to the extent of dominating their era. In 1890 it was Carbine; in 1930 Phar Lap; in 1957 Tulloch, while in 2005, Makybe Diva won her third successive Melbourne Cup and became a legend.
Sixty years earlier, after a decade of economic depression and six years of total war, Australians embraced another great. He emerged in the unlikely form of a giant six year old stallion from outback Queensland. His name was Bernborough.
Bernborough’s weight-carrying ability has never been equalled and his clashes with the might Flight are the stuff of legends. To this day, Bernborough’s life and career is surrounded by a web of mystery, intrigue and rumour. This fascinating account offers unique insight into his parentage, ownership and early career.
Horsetrader – Robert Sangster and The Rise and Fall of The Sport of Kings by Patrick Robinson with Nick Robinson
During the boom years of the 1980s, the massed oil wealth of the princes of Dubai and Saudi Arabia were pitted against British millionaire Robert Sangster in a battle for control of one of the world’s rarest, most precious and most unpredictable commodities: top-pedigree thoroughbred racehorses. From the Jockey Club to Kentucky, from Royal Ascot to Belmont Park, high society and new money celebrated a horsebreeders’ bonanza as hundreds of millions of dollars were waged in the ultimate racing gamble. Horsetrader is the thrilling, compulsive story of the rise and spectacular crash of the Sport of Kings.
Their Turf – America’s Horsey Set & Its Princely Dynasties
by Bernard Livingston (available Amazon.com)
Bernard Livingston has been a Lawyer, Documentary Film Maker and Author. His book Their Turf is a Doubleday Bookshops Bestseller.
Their Turf is an in-depth behind the scenes look at the lifestyle most will know only from the bleachers and many, many more will never know at all. Their Turfis about a group of USA citizens who are above Presidents, Generals and tycoons. In its fashion, this group is not unlike the British monarchy; it endures while Prime Ministers and political parties come and go. It is the establishments establishment – popularly known as the “horsey set”.
This book describes the inside story of their world; a world which, though it may seem far removed from the average American’s life, is in fact a most profound influence on the lives and fortunes of every one of us.
Designing Speed in the Racehorse
by Ken McLean (The Russell Meerdink Company, Ltd)
Ken McLean is an internationally recognised bloodstock advisor and pedigree expert. He has spent over 50 years studying the Thoroughbred and the work of breeders who produced the great racehorses. In this book McLean discusses genetic affinities and pedigree patterns, analyses the pedigrees of important sires and ancestors to isolate elements of speed and stamina, explains what characteristics to look for in a sire, and updates the ‘elite’ mare list.
Breeders will be especially interested in McLean’s analysis of the conformation of many of the breed’s most illustrious sires and the physical attributes and faults they passed on to their progeny.
Fact, Fiction and Fables of the Melbourne Cup: More Fact, Fiction and Fables of the Melbourne Cup
Two best-selling books about Australia’s legendary Melbourne Cup. A must for all Aussies and for anyone who wants an inside into the “Aussie” character. These books will enthral, regale and entertain you with some wonderful stories about Australia’s most famous horse race.
Aquaculture Books
Cage Aquaculture by Malcolm Beveridge (Fisheries Research Services)
Aquaculture: Principles & Practice. Second Edition by TVR Pillay and MN Kutty
Eco-Labelling in Fisheries: What is it all about? Edited by Bruce Phillips, Trevor Ward and Chet Chaffee
Aquaculture Marketing Handbook by Carole Engle and Kwamena Quagrainie
