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Sure this has been done before and my surprise is that as much more a jumps fan, the best reads have been on the flat
Seabiscuit No question. Arguably the most extraordinary and moving story of them all but beautifully written too
Not by a long shot TS Thornton Superb year in a life of Suffolk downs at the middling/lower end of US horse racing. Extraordinary
Kieran Fallon bio. Not usually keen on bios but this is gripping. No jockey has described horse riding so well and its brutally self critical and honest
Horse sweat and tears – Simon barnes.
also I recall the Richard pitman Pipe bio being surprisingly good and also the Sangster book (horse trader?)
Disappointments
Long time gone. Adored by anoraks but does anyone read it? Great photos but found it very dull
Henry Cecil Brough Scott. Couldn’t bear the self regarding writing style. Gave up
Thoughts?
Enjoyed most of Fallons, but his constant incredulous prose at being accused of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, in various continents (!), grated somewhat.
More honest than Dettori’s mind you. “I don’t know why I agreed to put my friends Cocaine in my pocket”.
BUY THE SUN
I bought Fallon’s book the other day and am enjoying it so far
Richard Hughes bio is good but he is my fav all time jockey so a little biased
Sea the Stars was difficult to put down and read it within a weekGaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
I’m not a big book reader for various reasons but I have a copy of Dick Francis’s autobiography, Heard In The Paddock, a book on Red Rum and the comic strip Spot The Winner and am quite attached to all four.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Re A Long Time Gone, I’d say it’s something to dip in and out of rather than read cover to cover. Like an encyclopaedia, it’s one of those books that I’m very glad exists and that somebody has gone to the trouble of recording all the information. It’s a wonderful source of reference and something to be admired, but not a page turner in the way a more literary work might be.
When Bobby met Christy, by Declan Colley, about the great Captain Christy, is the best I’ve ever read. Full of triumphs, but the author does not airbrush the human and equine tragedies.
The worst? Dawn Run, by Anne Holland; it’s like it was written by a six year old child.Can’t offer an original one for the best and it’s a close call between ‘Sea Biscuit’ by Laura Hillenbrand, ‘Long Time Gone’ and ‘Going Down To The Beaten by Chris Pitt. As a bit of a racing history nut I’m a good deal more positive about the last two than some on here.
Recently read a number of racecourse histories by Jim Beavis and anything this man writes is worth a read.
Worst read was ‘AP McCoy – THe Autobiography’. In my opinion the greatest jockey there has been, but the book is a perfect cure for insomnia.
Mince Pie for Starters by John Oaksey is an excellent read.
Born Lucky by John Francome is decent as well.
The disappointment was an 80s book on Cheltenham by Alan Lee. I hoped for a history of the course but instead it was just a series of behind the scenes stories.
Can anyone recommend books which tell the history of Cheltenham and Aintree racecourses, especially the changes to the course layouts over the decades?
“Long time gone. Adored by anoraks but does anyone read it? Great photos but found it very dull.”
Agree. I bought this a few years ago and expected it to be really good but sorry to say it is not.
The lost racecourses have a great story to tell but it needs a more imaginative and literary writer to tell it. Pitt’s dry, factual journalism completely failed to bring the past alive.
Perhaps this is not surprising. For a sport with such a long and rich history, racing has inspired a surprisingly dull literature, especially when compared to cricket – the sport which has inspired the best writing.
Having said that, I agree that Fallon’s biography is an unusually good ghost written biography – Oliver Holt did a good job. Also enjoyed Jenny Pitman’s autobiography and Nick Townsend’s book about Barney Curley is good.
I would quite like to read the autobiography of Charlie Smirke but it is long out of print.
A somewhat controversial figure, he still rode 11 Classic winners, including 4 Derbies. That was after he had been warned off when younger for allegedly pulling an odds on favourite at Gatwick, widely seen as an injustice.
He is responsible for a funny story, which I hope is true. One day he was convinced that Gordon Richards had got a flyer at the start. Before the next race began, he told the starter he could not possibly let them go because Gordon was not ready. When the starter told him not to be impertinent, he replied “Sorry sir. Mr Richards is not ready.”
You put it better than me cork. No one likes to rubbish the results of someone’s pet project so I won’t say more
Racing lacks a Gideon haigh or Duncan Hamilton or even from football a david tossell
Funny that by far the best two I’ve read on the sport are on American racing too.
The T d Thornton book is on kindle I see and couldn’t recommend highly enough. Really gets into the gritty end of the sport
The award for the worst book ever written about horse racing (and read by me) undoubtedly goes to Julian Wilson’s autobiography, ‘Some You Win’.
The best book has numerous contenders but I’ll give a shoutout to R.C Lyle’s story of Brown Jack. It chronicles this legendary horse’s career meticulously and, at the same time, evokes images of 1930s racing which are never less than interesting.
Some may find the book a trifle anthropomorphic.
The definitive history of Aintree is Aintree : the History of the Racecouse by John Pinfold. All the various configurations of the GN course are described in detail.
I actually enjoyed Francis’s autobiography – mainly because I as a teenager at the time found it educational about the rules of racing – more than his crime novels.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Working way through Gerahty’s bio. Its ok. Similar in style and tone to Fallon but his race riding descriptions do not grip in the same way. Also he’s pretty straightforward character (maybe) which makes it less interesting. so far.
Henrietta knights book on trainers is an example of lack of writing skills (as with a Long time gone) Its brisk but repetitive and read like a series of school essays. I like her a lot and she has good observations but writing takes a certain amount of flair and experience
The Vincent O’Brien biogrpahy co written by his wife was very good with some good insight.
Would agree on the Henry Cecil book being underwhelming. I always enjoyed Cecils interviews and observations on horses so was expecting a lot more with the access Brough Scott had with him but have tried and failed a number of times to finish it. Its currently staring back at me on a shelf as I write this
I started ”Doped”by Jamie Reid a few days ago which won the William Hill sports book of the year in 2013, it looks promising enough so far but have only read a few chapters
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