Book Review - continued

Looking out for #1 yesterday I linked to the book I reviewed to Amazon. (I get like .05 cents if you buy it right then and there, ahh the life and money of a blogger), but I also did you a disservice. I didn't know about this until right now I promise. If you buy it from the publisher- by phone or through their website, Horseinfo.com - it arrives signed by Mary Marshall at no extra cost. The review of Leslie Combs and his breeding operation is here.

Adventures In Breeding (People From the Rail You're Looking for the post 2 doors down - Big Brown Bonds)

I finished this book a while ago, but I'm a blogger, ie I'm lazy and hadn't gotten around to reviewing it. Sorry for the delay you didn't know about. Great Breeders and Their Methods: Leslie Combs II and Spendthrift Farm It's not your everyday run-of-the-mill horse book. It was a combination resource slash history slash novel. I'll admit that in some parts this felt weird, but for the most part, 90% of the book, it was a great read. I also found myself jumping around and rereading certain chapters as all the important information was repeated in the appropriate places. The intro is the background story of Leslie and the way he ascends to his place at Spendthrift: The Keeneland Sales, the gift of gab, the connections he makes are all overviewed and detailed. The book then splits into chapters about the specific horses: Mr Prospector, Foolish Pleasure, like a who's who of horses. The details are about how they ended up Spendthrift, a little about their racing career, whatever is important or interesting seems to find it's way into the book. I enjoyed this part of the book immensely as I found myself skipping to my favorite horses and then just reading them all. If you are a fan of the history of our sport or you're interested in learning it, you can't go wrong with picking this one up. It could be a great jumping off point for other reading as well.

Edgar Prado Nervous

I was lucky enough to be invited last night to book release party for My Guy Barbaroby John Eisenberg. It was a great time. Rita Crosby was the emcee while Sandy Goldfarb & Michael Dubb hosted the event at the Cutting Room in NYC. Best part of the night: Talking to Edgar Prado for a good five minutes. I butted into the conversation he was having w/ Mr Goldfarb and Dubb who were talking about Diamond Stripes. I asked how he could remain so calm when both Diamond Stripes and Benny the Bull were passed in the stretch. "It's a long stretch." No kidding, the guy is now the king of Dubai without a doubt. He was fun to talk to and I brought up Birdstone. I told him I remembered him winning earlier on the day w/ another Whitney horse. He remembered how quiet it was when he won. So, the title. A guy who just won $6 million dollars worth of races on Saturday, who showed a coolness only .000001% of the world's population has, was noticeably nervous waiting to talk to about 40-50 people, some of which were family and friends. Public speaking is not Edgar's comfort zone, but he did speak about some things close to his heart. The relationship rollercoaster of the loss of his mother, the Derby horse, and the loss of that Derby horse really took a toll on him, and you could tell he still carries that around. He also mentioned specifically the Friends of Barbaro for turning something so tragic into something just as awe inspiring, raising awareness not just for horse welfare, but for people like him who came from Peru. I know a lot of people give the FOB's a hard time, but their hard charitable work, Edgar said, helped him keep going. It was a wonderful book, I wish there was more Edgar in it, but you're not going to get a more personal account of the horse than the man on his back. Book is out today.

Oh. My. God.

Originally published Feb 1st, but the book will be released April 1st, I'm telling you... grab a copy. It's a great read. Those are three words describing the acceleration of Barbaro. And, it's not just anyone's perspective. It's the perspective from the guy who was on his back. It comes from the new book (release April 1st) My Guy Barbaro detailing the teamwork of Edgar Prado and Barbaro. I'm going to admit that I was, and still am a Fan of Barbaro. I picked him early, saw him in Florida, celebrated the Derby win, thought the Triple Crown was a lock, and rode the rollercoaster after the Preakness. I didn't read or watch much after he was put down, because I didn't need people to tell me what to think or how to rewatch what I saw. All that left a bad taste in my mouth for whatever reason. When I sat down to read this book I wasn't really sure how it would affect me, I was leery of it at first. After finishing it, I'm looking forward to reading it again. Edgar Prado's thoughts only help sharpen the memories and give great insight into exactly what happened. He explains pretty much all the things I didn't know about: turf to dirt, morning works, Preakness saddling, the break through, and the quiet times at New Bolton. My favorite thing about the book was the great balance it struck between the life of Prado, and the struggles he went through to get to the Preakness, and Barbaro, with the struggles he faced after the Preakness. Prado also didn't hold back any opinions about his earlier career and other horses he's ridden. I really enjoyed knowing a little bit more about Prado who, as far as I know, stays out of the spotlight pretty well. The book was a quick read, only 180 or so pages, and my only complaint was that I wanted to know more about Prado at the end. I strongly suggest you get on line to buy this book. I know the FOB's will line up to get it, but I think the general racing fan will enjoy the Prado insights and his trajectory with Barbaro just as much.

How to be a Horseplayer Without Really Trying

I just finished a great book. Harvey Pack's May the Horse be With You is a perfect summer read for inbetween races or maybe after a long day at the track. I was lucky enough to get a preliminary copy and I'm grateful for it. Harvey doesn't outright explain why he wrote the book, but I found early a passage where Harvey laments how because of the new internet betting and OTB's, the track is less of a destination than it is a giant TV studio. Because of that the stories that were told and more importantly created at the track have slowed down, and the younger generation (as noted here), aren't showing up. Harvey's book fills that void, and then some, with the best stories of his life at the track. The stories, which jump all over the place much like Harvey's career, are about the most colorful people and the things that go on at the track. You have to figure he's been going to the track for 50 years and squeezed the best memories out of that large sample. It's hard to say there's a strong time line in the book as he jumps back and forth quite a lot. And, there are also a slew of characters that come and go. It also seems that Harvey never met a famous person he wouldn't name drop later, but that's the charm of the book, and that's the reason you'll love it. He is telling you his story, nothing more, thank god nothing less, with all the color and detail you want. Plus there's two pages ripping on Andy Beyer which had me laugh out loud. The beauty of Harvey is that while he's saying some funny things about you, you can tell he does it with affection, and I'm sure Andy even enjoyed the roast. It's co-authored by Pete Fornatale who does a great job of getting Harvey's voice across (though I'm not sure Harvey could attribute an ESPN quote directly) Pete for the most part appears to stay in the background, and lets Harvey be Harvey. The book sets itself up for fact checking, and if anyone wants to they might find a fudge here or there, but again, just enjoy one man's incredible memory. The whole book is about 180 pages and it goes by even faster, it took me about 2 nights pleasure reading. The book isn't out officially until July 25th, but you heard it here first, it's a must summer read, and well worth the price of admission.