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There are plenty of them but which would you rank as the best, the one you would take to a desert island? My choice would probably be Dick Francis’s Lester Piggott biography. A great story, well told.
Have well over a hundred racing books but one you can just pick up and start reading more or less anywhere in the book is A Long Time Gone by Chris Pitt,about all of Britain’s now extinct racecourses.
I’ve not read one which I would call a “classic”, but loved Go Down To The Beaten, by Chris Pitt, which looks at The Grand National experiences of a few of the less successful jockeys over the years.
Queen of the Turf – The Dorothy Paget story – Quitin Gilbey
I found this one fascinating. Lots of historic stuff covered, the Aga Khan selling nearly all his horses before the war due to him thinking Germany would win I found very interesting. Her utterly ridiculous enormous bets ‘bancos’ and ‘double bancos’. Lots of Frenchie Nicholson stuff (which is always good to read) And Golden Miller + lots more.
The worst by a long way has to be Alex Bird – The life and secrets of a professional punter. Hard to describe how poor this book is. Should be called Contradictions of a professional punter.
In the spirit of the modern world I have recycled, and refreshed, what I wrote the last time we had this thread back in August 2012.
If I had to choose one book to give to a novice, or indeed to an expert, in the world of horseracing it would be: “McIlvanney On Horseracing”. This is a compilation of about seventy newspaper articles he wrote between 1966 and 1997. Hugh McIlvanney always writes beautifully. and what he wrote in these pieces explains the essence of all that is horseracing, not just in those few decades, but throughout its history. Here are racing politics, great horses, owners, trainers, stable lads, gamblers, officials and of course many great racing events. But his describing of those events places into your mind all the emotions and motivations of the horseracing world.
Hugh McIlvanney is still (in 2016) the only sportswriter to be voted Journalist of the Year. That was in 2005 when he was 71 years old. As Peter O’Sullivan said: “… his fellow professionals accept him for what he is – superior.”
He retired from sports writing in March this year at the age of 82. Undefeated, in all senses of the word.
Totally. His writing is the opposite of the cliche written drivel you often see in print media these days.
Thanks, sounds excellent.
Will have to buy it.I had to give up buying the racing post, all you had to do was change the horses/trainers/jockeys names and it was the same bollocks articles throughout the seasons.
“the annual pilgrimage to cheltenham” blablabla etcHave to mention “When Bobby Met Christy,” by Declan Colley, about Bobby Beasley and Captain Christy; bitter-sweet, far from the usual hagiography
Couldn’t decide between 2 David:-
Eclipse
The Horse That Changed Horse Racing Forever
by Nicholas CleeSecretariat
(made in to a great film)
by William NackI loved them both
JacThings turn out best for those who make the best of how things turn out...One I particularly like is “Days Like These” by Jamie Reid.
It is a good book to read a few weeks before the Cheltenham Festival.
In random order…
Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand.
Men And Horses I Have Known by George Lambton.
Sods I Have Cut On The Turf by Jack Leach.
Thanks, sounds excellent.
Will have to buy it.I had to give up buying the racing post, all you had to do was change the horses/trainers/jockeys names and it was the same bollocks articles throughout the seasons.
“the annual pilgrimage to cheltenham” blablabla etcI see that the book is ridiculously cheap in certain places. I suppose that is where we are lucky with books; if there were 50,000 copies of the Mona Lisa they would now be worth little more than the canvas, paint and frame. McIlvanney’s writing has huge value but costs little. But don’t tell Gingertipster, he will only want to compare its value against all other writing it competes with.
If you would like a foretaste of the man’s style you can obtain a quick-fix by going to the sixth part of BBC Scotland’s podcast of “The McIlvanney Converstations” from Nov 15 to Jan 16. Number Six is the one where most of the horse racing chat is. The other five parts are also good. All of it is a little spoiled by the BBC thinking that was a good idea to play soppy music while the great man was reading from his past work. BBC house-style over great writing makes shockingly poor art because it does not add, but only detracts.
The podcast is at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03fdgcs
Good thread, I can’t answer the title
but it has inspired me to get the key to the lock up out and dust off the Ouija Board book for a read sometime this week or so.Blackbeard to conquer the World
Thanks for the McIlvanney tip MV – just ordered it from Amazon. At his best he was untouchable.
On his recent retirement the Observer ran a few of his old pieces – the boxing ones are my favourites. A few hours after Ali beat Foreman, McIlvanney went to his villa, mostly on spec, and Ali spoke to him for 2 hours. The article is here: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/mar/05/hugh-mcilvanney-muhammad-ali-rumble-in-the-jungle
…opening para is a cracker.
And it’s the final sentence of his Johnny Owen piece that’s a heartbreaker https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/mar/05/hugh-mcilvanney-johnny-owen-last-fight-vault
Hi Joe,
I have just logged on, and seeing “Best horse racing book ever written” alongside “Steeplechasing” as the last poster made me slap the side of my head and say “How could I have forgotten that already?” So a quick trip to Amazon informed me that TRF’s own published author is still going strong with the Eddie Malloy series, up to number eight now. I remember buying Warned Off when you were helping Richard Pitman raise money for kidney transplant/treatment charities. I am glad to see that you are still going strong in that sphere. Feel free to put “The next best writer to Hugh McIlvanney! – an erudite and discerning TRF poster” on your next book cover. It would not do you, or the quote, any justice if you used my TRF logon name!
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