Sports & Recreation : Equestrian

From a legendary horseman?the definitive guide to training horse and rider Charles Wilhelm earned acclaim for his remarkable horse-training talent. What made him a bona fide celebrity was his equally uncanny gift for coaching people?novice and expert, trainer and weekend rider alike. more...

Price: $24.99

Racing fans and horse lovers alike will enjoy this biography of the 1948 Triple Crown winner and record-setter Citation. This book looks at the colt's earliest training, his rise to prominence as a three-year-old, his triumphant return to racing after a leg injury, and his success as Thoroughbred racing's first millionaire with an unprecedented 16 straight victories. The story of Citation is also a history of Calumet Farm, the famed breeding and racing operation that dominated American racing during the 1940s. Citation's owner, Warren Wright, the father-and-son training team of Ben and H. A. (Jimmy) Jones, and legendary jockey Eddie Arcaro figure prominently in the story. more...

Price: $9.99

A hundred years ago, the most famous athlete in America was a horse. But Dan Patch was more than a sports star; he was a cultural icon in the days before the automobile. Born crippled and unable to stand, he was nearly euthanized. For a while, he pulled the grocer's wagon in his hometown of Oxford, Indiana. But when he was entered in a race at the county fair, he won -- and he kept on winning. Harness racing was the top sport in America at the time, and Dan, a pacer, set the world record for the mile. He eventually lowered the mark by four seconds, an unheard-of achievement that would not be surpassed for decades. more...

Price: $26.00

Dead Heat, William Murray’s final novel, is a story of obsessions — of people driven to pursue their dreams and their desires at whatever cost. A haunted young woman who wants to become a famous jockey, an ex-mob enforcer fleeing his past, a trainer struggling with his own demons, and a potentially great racehorse inhabit the richly idiosyncratic racing milieu that is Murray’s hallmark. Set against the panoramic backdrop of Santa Anita racetrack, Dead Heat is an evocative and elegiac tale of conflicting desires, sudden tragedy, and personal redemption. Amid the turbulence, the rhythm of the racetrack remains a constant. William Murray, who died in March 2005, is often described as America’s answer to Dick Francis. Murray was also a journalist, a playwright, and a 30-year veteran of The New Yorker. He wrote four non-fiction books as well as nine novels involving the world of horse racing. Two novels, The Sweet Ride and Malibu, were produced for a feature film and a TV miniseries, respectively. Murray lived in San Diego, California, and was a regular at Del Mar racetrack. more...

Price: $9.99

George Rowand’s inspired but sometimes misguided quest to own winning racehorses results in many lean years and innumerable setbacks. “I had been in the business six and one-half years, and that time was marked by defeats, failure, disappointment, bad decisions, bad judgment, and bad horses. I couldn’t point to a single thing I had done right, and because of that, the window of opportunity was almost sealed shut,” Rowand writes. Yet almost miraculously, a tough gelding and a feisty filly emerge to save Rowand and his Bonner Farm from ruin and brings Rowand the success in horse racing that had always been his dream. In this refreshingly candid memoir about his experiences as a Thoroughbred owner and breeder, Rowand shows that dreams really can come true. more...

Price: $9.99