Thoroughbred Books

Ashleigh is in good need of a new saddle, so when she hears from her friend Mona that the prize for scoring the most points during the spring show season is a beautiful saddle, she decides to compete for it. She does fairly well, but her friend Mona is also trying to win the saddle to show a bratty girl that she is the best rider. Who will win the prize and will Ashleigh lose her friendship with Mona?

this book was great. It is like my friend who got mad at me because I am a better rider. I loved this book! This book was the first one I read in the Ashleigh series...

this book was great afhleigh wants a new saddle cause hers is falling apart and her parents cant buy her one cause the want to buy a expensive mare so she goes in to a 4 week show and the person with the most points wins well before the last show stardust gets kicked buy moe and is lame so she akes the mare her parens brought and mona gets mad cause she thinks ashleighs being selfish and wanrs to win the saddle but then she heres mona crying and she pulls out of the show then mona wins and gives the saddle to ashleigh

This book was Great.It's about how Ashleigh really needs a new saddle and the winner of the most points for showing season wins it. Ashleigh decides to compete for the saddle. But Mona is also competing. They both really want it. Along the way Mona gets really competitive. At the final show Ashleigh uses a big beautiful thoroughbred instead of stardust. Ashleigh takes the lead in points and Mona get really mad. Is the saddle more important than their freindship? Read "The Prize" and find out what happens.

This book was ok. It's definately not the best Thoroughbred/Ashleigh book in the series, though.
In this book, Ashleigh needs a new saddle really badly. so when she hears that the local show circuit is giving away a free saddle for the rider with the most show points at the end of a show series, Ashleigh decides 2 give competition a try. But her friend Mona loves to show and really wants to win the saddle 2 prove to a snobby girl that she is the best junior rider.
As the show series goes on, both Mona and Ashleigh get more competitive and start 2 fight with each other.Plus, Mona is jealous of how well Ash has been doing. But then Ashleigh does something to save their friendship, even though the girls STILL arent talking. But Mona hasnt called Ashleigh at all, and Ashleigh hasnt spoken to Mona. Will Mona and Ashleigh fianally make up, or will they stay mad at each other forever? Read 2 find out. (personally, i thought this plot was kinda stupid. but u should still read it cause it's kinda amusing to read about mona and ashleigh's stupid little fights)

I liked this book, but it was not my favorite. I think Christina was a little too protective of Star. I mean I would be worried too if it was my horse. But, why did she move Star to Townsend Acres? Well, it has great safety, but will Brad have something up his sleeve? But I liked how it added the mystery! It overall was a good book!

This book was neat. I liked how the aythor kept u in suspense. It's also neat to see Christina go to Brad for help. I'm not bying Brad as a nice guy though. One thing I didn't like was how much it got Christina worked up. I liked the fact that the girl sent little notes and things to Christina. But since she loved Star alot I can understand why she would be alittle upset. A very good book with a mystery.

I must say that the Thoroughbred series is becoming less and less well written. They are getting shorter and more predictable, and like a fellow reviewer mentioned, the cover art just plain sucks. It looks as though it was designed by someone with no knowledge whatsoever of horses. Galloping a horse in a halter. Riding on a saddle pad with no girth. I didn't find this book to be very enjoyable. Just reading the back of the book, it was clear who the stalker would be. There could at least have been some suspects. In fact, the sheer predictabiliy made me disappointed in Christina's intelligence. If I could figure it out, shouldn't she have been able to? Only my faith in the Thoroughbred series let me rate it 3 stars.

This is one of the best books in the series! Christina is happy with Wonder's Star's wins on the track. But along with fame comes danger. Someone has been following Star around lately. Star's 'Stalker' has been giving strange visits to him and gifts. Christina starts to worry about Star. She has to move him to different stables everywhere [the stalker follows him to the other stables as well.] Chris gets so scared she has to scratch Star from the Travers. But everything turns out O.K. in the end.
One thing though, why is Star's girth attached to the saddle pad? And why does the saddle have no stirrups? And in the books they say Star is a chestnut. But on the cover he looks more like a bay?

okay, so i'm going to preface this by saying that this is the best new generation book i've ever read. better than any jennifer chu book, better than any others. mary anderson really pulled this one off. and no, i'm not just saying it cause i got a dedication it was like...everything that we had been complaining about came together in this book and suddenly was better. there ISN'T anything to complain about here.

so anyway, like i said, this was a great book. chris wasn't a brat, at all. she was a likeable character. we saw an explination of her actions, and what was remarkable, that chris realized she'd been a bit of a brat, and made a marked decision to be more respectful and thankful. there wasn't just some random change. also, there were the heartwarming family scenes, the return of kevin as an important character, and the development of the bond between chris and star. this books makes it easy to believe that once star stops racing, chris will move into vet school. really, this book addressed a lot of complaints we'd made about....well, everything. and turned them around. plus, it didn't seem like overkill. i'm actually excited to read more about this version of chris and star! a very different feeling from the one i got at the end of #62.

the only real mistake was that catwink, who was claimed in #57, was magically back at whitebrook. but other than that...i give this book 4 stars for quality and one for effort, so all together, that's five stars.

recent books indicate the series will continue on this track, and i hope the editors reconsider their decision to end the series.

A lot of methods and ideas from previous books I've read. Not really impressed.

Thanks, PSL King

I have read the first edition of this title over and over and the latest version is only an improvement on a fine work. I agree that a lot of the information provided in the chapters in not in great depth, but it's difficult to take a 200 page book and condense it into a few pages. Quinn has done a great job of doing just that. And since the author provides information on the various sources, it gives the reader the opportunity to reach out to those sources if they have interest in the topic. This is definitely a great addition to any handicapper's library. I have had the opportunity to meet Quinn and he is just as wonderful a person as he is an author.

The beauty of James Quinn's updated anthology is not any one revelation that he brings to the table, but that he's synthesized so many voices and give you so many more angles to consider. Those of you who play regularly know how easy it is to identify the obvious chalk-- and how hard it is to get past the two or three "best on paper" types to get to live, mid-priced overlays. You know, the horses that are the difference between a minus day and a wildly profitable day.

In addition, the fact that he has brought so many voices together on money management-- the topic I see the least amount of literature on-- alone makes this worthwhile.

This isn't the type of book I'd toss to a novice, but it will make the intermediate player much more flexible and creative.

This book is outstanding, well written, insightful, and pulls together so many different angles on handicapping. The only problem is trying to digest all that is here. Excellent work.

Drawing from so many experts in the field and publishing their original material makes for a great work. Of the dozen or so handicapping volumes I have, this is the one I refer to most often because every each aspect from handicapping factors to money management and tote watching is covered by a true expert in that field. What I discovered after reading this is that I started looking for volumes by the writers herein that contributed chapters of interest. It has introduced me to a lot of guys I would never have found without this book.

I love the Thoroughbred series, but this is one of the best yet. It is so cool how Ashleigh discovers the problem with Alladin after she sneeks a ride on him. (She's not allowed to ride) I won't give the rest away. FANTASTIC BOOK! HORSE LOVERS- READ THIS BOOK!!!

In this book Ashleigh Griffen and her family spend a week at the Danworths' farm in Florida. Aladdin's Treasure, a colt the Griffens sold to the Danworths isn't running well and Ashleigh is devastated. She figures out his secret, but will she tell Peter who owns Aladdin? This book was great, even though Ashleigh acted a little bratty.

"Before Thoroughbred, Ashleigh Griffen lived at Edgardale, her family's farm in Kentucky. Nothing could be more perfect than life on the farm with her family, her favorite horses, and her best friend, Mona. Ashleigh loves helping with the horses-and dreaming of become a jockey some day..."

Ashleigh Griffen is thrilled when she hears that she and her family are going to see the wealthy Danworths...and also one of Ashleigh's favorite stallions, Alladin! But, as she watches Aladdin racing and working out, she sees that he has a 'moose-like' way of racing which causes him to lose nearly all races. Ashleigh just knows that she can find out why Aladdin is like that if she can ride him, but she can't because she had terrible math grades and her parents forbid her to ride any ANY horses until she get her grades up.

But if she don't help Aladdin, Peter Danworth would no longer love or even care for Aladdin anymore. Ashleigh gets news that if Aladdin loses his next race, the Danworths will retire him to stud at Edgardale...but as she accidentally discovers the secret of how to run him to win, will she tell Peter about it or keep it to herself so that Aladdin would come to Edgardale?

I thought that this book wasn't the BEST in the Ashleigh series I've read so far. It was still fun and interesting to read though, and I recommend it to kids and maybe teenagers too. Though I kind of think teenagers would find it a bit easy to read.

I think this was a pretty good book. The only thing is that if you read Ashleigh's Diary (A super special) none of this ever happened. Also think it was sort of bratty that Ashleigh gets her way practically every time. I also think they should concentrate on the origanal Thoroughbred series a little more than letting it just disinigrate.

THIS BOOK IS GREAT I READ IT A LOT. I LOVE THE BOOK. I LOVE READING IT AND ANONE WHO LOVES HORSE ADVENTURE BOOKS WILL SURLY ENJOY THIS WONDERFULLY WRITTEN BOOK. THIS BOOK IS WRITTEN BY THE SAME PERSON WHO WROTE WILLOW KING AND THAT IS A GREAT ONE TOO. HAVE FUN YALL!~_~KARI~_~MICHIGAN~_~

Mike Vaccaro does it again. His New York Post columns are great, but his ability to pull a book together is fantastic. He also just recently wrote the foreword to the SportsByTheNumbers Yankees book: New York Yankees: An Interactive Guide to the World of Sports (Sports by the Numbers) If you love Mike Vaccaro, the New York Yankees, or baseball, then you need to buy both of these books.

Every summer I like to read a baseball book about the history of the game. Adding boxing and horse racing gave me an even better perspective about sports in that bygone era

Simply a magnificient book, a great read, absolutely the best sports book of 2007. This one shouldn't be missed. Mike, thank you for authoring a classic.

An eminently readable, enjoyable and enlightening work, one that weaves together not only Joe DiMaggio's and Ted Williams' early spectacular achievements, Vaccaro adds world history to the mix, breathing life into the memorable year, 1941. Throw in Billy Conn versus Joe Louis and mention the leading race horse of the day, and you have a full year of records, successes, and noteworthy competition -- darkened by Lou Gehrig's rapid demise and death and the Japanese and German march across the globe. Using daily highlights of games and events, quotes and personal angles on the stars, interviews with men who were there, and other sporting details, Vaccaro makes 1941 a wonderful year for sports fans.

Mike Vaccaro's 1941 THE GREATEST YEAR IN SPORTS reads with all the excitement that well written sports stories should. Whirlaway's Triple Crown, the Louis-Conn title fight, Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak and Ted Williams' .406 batting average are four of the most significant events in sports history and for them to have occurred in the same year is remarkable. The political events in Europe and America are the backdrop for these events.

Whirlaway a three year old thoroughbred, that many thought was past his prime wins the Triple Crown and ultimately becomes the leading money winner, surpassing Seabiscuit. Eddie Arcaro replaces the regular jockey hours before the Derby, "connects" with him and rides Whirlaway to records that would stand until Secretariat in the 1970's. Vaccaro's writing style captures the drama and excitement of the Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes such that it seems you're there, against the rail, shouting "here comes Whirlaway" along with the rest of the crowd.

The second event is the Joe Louis Billy Conn heavyweight fight. Louis was the reigning heavyweight champion while Conn held the light heavyweight crown neither fighter was being challenged by their competition and Conn knows that the only way to get respect and larger purses was to fight Louis and win. Vaccaro describes the pre-game hype and the personal side of each fighter; the description of the fight itself is like being ringside. The fight set records for gate and size of the purse as well as radio listeners. Louis wins in what may have been his toughest fight.

DiMaggio and Williams battled it out during the entire summer; both had significant hitting streaks with DiMaggio's likely never to be broken; while Williams' .406 batting average made him the last major leaguer to reach that milestone which is also destined to last for a long time. The two men had very different personalities, DiMaggio quiet and reserved; Williams cocky and verbose. Both exceptionally talented; DiMaggio assumed the mantle of Lou Gehrig, who died during the 1941 season, and led the team to a World Series win while Williams played for a Red Sox team that was mediocre at best. Both feats required incredible abilities and luck. Changes to baseball make the likelihood of a 56 game hitting streak or hitting over .400 unlikely.

These events served as a distraction to what was becoming the imminent involvement of America in the War and many of the sports figures, including Louis, DiMaggio and Williams would leave sports behind and do their part, even Whirlaway would compete in races that sold war bonds.

For the sports fan and general reader 1941 THE GREATEST YEAR IN SPORTS is an exciting, informative and enjoyable book.

Good insight into the impact Northern Dancer had on racing in... a lot of detail on lineage ... Enjoyed Stud a pretty good offering for pedigree enthusiasts

Great book and fast service. New condition that was just what I needed for gift-giving. Thanks!

Beautifully and sensitively written history of this most influential thorougbred, probably never another like him. His line still features strongly in both hemispheres. (American readers may be interested to know that our Australian Horse of the Year for 2006 - Makybe Diva - yes a filly! - won our Melbourne Cup 3 consecutive years (the first horse to do so) and amassed over US$10 million dollars, the all-time leading Australasian money-earner. Her grandsire was Danehill (USA), and his grandsire was Northern Dancer.
Great collection of photographs, but would have loved to have seen more of the King at various stages of his career/life. AND there is an index!
A must-have for anyone only vaguely interested in thoroughbred racing.

Avalyn Hunter brings to life the outstanding racing career of Northern Dancer and his legacy through his sons of establishing a royal dynasty in the Thoroughbred industry.

There is enough information packed into the tight 200 pages of writing for those interested in an insider's look at history or for the casual fan wanting to learn about the life of Northern Dancer.

The book is about equally split on Northern Dancer's racing and breeding careers. The opening pages trace ND's bloodline, which may drag for some readers who don't have a background/appreciation in such research. But it is the past matings - along with a little luck - that set the foundation for ND to launch the spiralling prices obtained in the auction ring for his progeny.

Especially interesting are the features on the people surrounding ND, including his owner, Canadian industrialist E.P. Taylor, trainer Horatio Luro and the jockeys that were aboard the multiple-stakes winner. And talk about luck, Luro had wanted young ND gelded as a means to bring better results in training and racing.

There are infrequent times where a book on Thoroughbreds can deliver so much to a wide audience. The Kingmaker is a classic read.

The book is a fine piece of research by Hunter and does a good job of telling the story of Northern Dancer's life and how his connections contributed to the game. While it is a fairly quick read, it's not a page turner on the level with some of the classics such as Nack's "Secretariat" or Schwartz's "Ruffian". The book does do a wonderful job of conveying the importance of Northern Dancer immeasurable contribution to the breed through his numerous offspring. It really is quite a remarkable legacy that the little colt from Canada has left behind.

Would u peoples stop whining? This book was great, I mean, the authors aren't perfect and can't make everything realistic. Afterall, the Heartland series is very realistic, but boring. Anyway, Chris is not a brat. She didn't get everything she wanted, like her mom's support when she loved eventing or her "dream horse" (Sterling) to behave or Star to stay at Whitebrook for a while... Whatever. The list goes on. By the way, Chris dumped Sterling for a good reason. It wouldn't be fair to Sterling to keep her but not event her properly because she didn't have the time. So quit whining. This series rules!!!

Being a die-hard Thoroughbred fan, I couldn't possibly not like one of the books. However, this one was definitely not one of the best. The basic idea of the story is that when Chris is riding Callie in a race, Callie stumbles and gets injured, eventually having to be put down. Christina spends most of the book wallowing in self-pity, which is where I think the book's downfall is. Her reaction is very similar to Melanie's when Image broke down after the Derby, but Image was actually Melanie's horse. Callie was just a horse that Christina rode. Some people may think I'm being a little unfair, but in my opinion Chris (and Mel) needs to grow up. We don't need to read 120 pages of Christina being convinced that it's her fault that Callie had to be put down, despite the fact that she loves being a jockey and everyone constantly convinced her it wasn't, and the stewerds even blamed Callie's owners! The book was kind of overly-dramatic and I can't help but feel that as the Thoroughbred series goes on the focous is being shifted from it's origanal theme of horses to teenage issues. Think back to the early books, when Joanna Campbell was still writing. Did we ever have love triangles? No; Ashleigh and Sammy both ended up marrying their first boyfriends. I bet if Joanna Campbell had kept writing then Cindy would've ended up married to Max, too. Did Ashleigh even consider completely give up her jockeying career after Wonder was injured in that workout and have to be retired? No, she and Mr. Townsend bred Wonder and Ashleigh went out and bought Fleet Goddess. Did Ashleigh continually try to convince herself that it was her fault that Wonder was so high-strung at Belmont and Saratoga? No, she just accepted that things happen and rose to the challenge of riding Wonder herself. I know that the Thoroughbred series is over, but I think the stories just kept going downhill after Joanna Campbell stopped writing.

I loved this book, it's sooo good. But it's really sad that Callie died. I would suggest this book to anyone who loves horses, and any of the books in the Thoroughbred series. I just heard that they are going to end the Thorougbred series. I didn't even know they were going to make more, but they have. I love the Thoroughbred books, so DON'T STOP WRITING THEM!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I thought this one was okay, and I did like how it had two points of view; I loved the opening as a description of Belmont and all as well. I'm happy Chris and Parker got together, too! THis book also makes me wonder if Amanda and Patrick are trustworthy trainers or not... they gave some hints to make you think they were a bit untrustworthy. Still, a good read.

First of all, I love that this book was written from both Christina and Melanie's point of view. Finally, the authors realize that they can fit more than one character's point of view into one book.
In this book, Calm Before The Storm, aka Callie, dies when he fractures his leg. Christina blames herself, saying that she didn't stop him soon enough. She realizes that being a jockey might not be the best thing after all.
Melanie is bored not being able to race Image, and she doesn't know if she wants to go through the whole 'buy a racehorse and train it' thing again. She went through enough with Image.
Lastly, I'll touch on the fact that Christina and Parker get back together. I wish people would stop calling her a brat, I admit I'm not fond of her, but basically, you have to remember that she was given just about everything she wanted since she was young, so it's not entirely her fault.
Also, in the case of Parker's decision to get back together with Christina, consider this: maybe he actually liked her(OMIGOSH!) I am personally not sure how, but he must have seen something in her that he liked.
So all in all, this is a pretty good book. Mel and Chris are trying to decide what to do next in their lives, and although this story gets unrealistic here and there, it's still a great read.

I really like Allie, of course she has to be really good with animals but what ever. I still really like this book. I'm glad Legacy get's some one who loves him after Christina traded him for Sterling Dream. It's just a nice way to end the series. I think this is the second to last book in the series and it was really good.

I'm not writing about this book, but rather the last book in the lot. What happens to Christina and Star, Mel, Image and Jinx? and all the other people and Samantha's twins?
And it sounds a bit like Stardust's Foal. But the Book does sound good and so does this one.
Have a nice read?

I cannot express how strange it is that just as these books became consistently better the plug was pulled on their production. This is one of the better books in the "New Generation," simply put. Allie is a likeable character and her story is an intriguing one that has breathed new life into the series (no matter how many errors it took to bring Allie to us). This book was more well-written than previous installments, and was a good and worthwhile read.

This book was very good. TB has a new main character: Allison Avery. Us, readers, get to feel how Allie is feeling, from losing both of her parents. We see a little bit of Jilly Gordon and Craig Avery, Allie's parents, who are deeply loved and missed.
We finally get to see Wonder's Legacy back in action! Ben and Cindy buy Legacy and Allie feels attached to him. In this book will find the firece devotion and love for Legacy.
Sadly, the TB series is ending after book #72! [...] Mary Anderson, has written a very good book with lots of description. A very, very good book

This book was very good. TB has a new main character: Allison Avery. Us, readers, get to feel how Allie is feeling, from losing both of her parents. We see a little bit of Jilly Gordon and Craig Avery, Allie's parents, who are deeply loved and missed.
We finally get to see Wonder's Legacy back in action! Ben and Cindy buy Legacy and Allie feels attached to him. In this book will find the firece devotion and love for Legacy.
Sadly, the TB series is ending after book #72! [...] Mary Anderson, has written a very good book with lots of description. A very, very good book

But I seem to have lost my copy. This really is a good story.

This book was given to my mother by her mother when the book hit the stands. I read it for the first time in 1996. Since then I have read it 3 other times and I am currently starting it again. Even though I have read it so many times and I remember the different ups and downs of the story it is still an awesome book to read in repitition. This is the perfect story in deplicting that no matter what back ground you come from if you want something bad enough and your willing to do what it takes to get there, there is no stopping you. I have to say out of all the novels i have read in my life (quite a few, i love to read anything with termoil) this one remains my favorite and probably always will.

I read this book a long time ago and to this day I remember it as my favorite!! Sure wish he would write another!! I still remember riding in the car, reading with tears flowing down my face. Please read this book, you won't be sorry!

This was the best book I've ever read! It's one of those where you can't put it down and at the end of every chapter you want to keep reading to find out what happens next. This book is excellent for students in highschool or even college. When called upon to write an essay on books, Bred to Win will fit into just about any situation!

I'm sorry, I've read wonderful reviews of this book, and I'm not sure why. I kept reading it just because of the racing/horse subject matter, but the plot was so weak. There was more tragedy than I could keep up with and I was never able to like a character. I think in effort to keep the book dramatic, it just became overblown and exaggerated. I would not recommend it if you like an intelligent plot.

what a beautiful and informat book that will have you turning pages for days-well worth the money...

in this book you will find the pp's of the most famous horses ever in USA.

it's a really great book...i reccomend strongly for horse racing fans

I bought this book for my husband as a present as we both enjoy horses and horse racing. He couldn't put it down. The book offers easy to read history that would fascinate anyone with or without an interest in horse racing. The reader becomes excited reading about such races as Secretariat and Affirmed. It renews or introduces interest in horses such as Whirlaway and Nashua. This is a readable book with the past performances (which are hard to read for the non-horse race handicapper) that can be used as a reference book, too. The book is nicely organized with chapters representing the great horses of the decades and brings the reader up to the present (2004). If you like sports and admire athletes - here's a book filled with the greatest of them all!

Bought this as a gift for my Dad. Huge horse racing fan. I guess this is a must have item. I personally have no idea. But he raved and raved about getting it. If you are shopping for a gift also get them the horse racing almanac.

I was disappointed to discover that in this 448 page book, approximately 290 pages are devoted to thousands of lines of statistical data. It was not what I expected. The history of the sport is arranged in a time line format with a story on each decade from the 1890s to 2004, each chapter followed by 30 or more pages of statistics. I am not a horse racing fan but I did find this book enlightening. What I learned is that horse racing is really all about the breeding and the money. I found this very sad, especially in light of the recent tragic deaths of Barbaro and Eight Belles.