Thoroughbred Books

I loved this book! It was really good! Melanie's horse, Hi Jinx, hasn't been doing too well on the track. He finished last on the Fountain of Youth Stakes, and Kevin and Melanie continue to argue about Jinx's training.Then Allie steps in and tells them that Jinx would race better if they quit arguing. But everything turns out well in the end. And not only does Jinx do well in the race but Samantha's twins are born!
Not only was the book great, but the covers are looking better now! Sadly the next book is the last. I'm really gonna miss them. I love these books, I hope they'll change their minds.

This book Suked. they added a ne person in the nending it. They think that its good. but i could write better. they leave so many things out!
Read a better book
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have never read this book,but the front cover looks Charming!
But as they say: "You can't juge a book by the cover". Have a nice read::::::::

This book was really bad! I don't like Allie. She's nothing but a brat who thinks she knows everything about horses. And I don't think she deserves Wonder's Legacy. And I'm sick of Jazz! I thought that that would be the end of him in #69 Melanie's Double Jinx. Hopefully, after this book, this time he'll be out of the picture. Another thing, in #62 Unbrdled Fury, they described Hi Jinx as a tall, gorgeous chestnut colt but in this book they're describing him as a short, little ugly colt. Really, the authors need to stick with what had been written before, not always change things!

I always enjoy reading handicapping books and try to take at least one idea from each that I can use in my handicapping methodology. This just didn't give me that. I don't play quarter horses, so maybe that's where this is useful, but basically this is just another way to calculate speed figures, but the process is more simplistic than even the published figures. Bottom line- I enjoyed the read, but I don't think there is anything I can use to improve my handicapping.

Charles Carroll knows his subject and knows how to communicate. Written in 1991, the book contains excellent insights and is a good read. It is unfortunate that neither the body of the book nor the appendix contains adequate information concerning the results of his study of the initial segment of Quarter Horse races; especially the 50 yard times that are referenced but not quantififed.

...Someone has finally taken the next logical step beyond thecanonical work of Andrew Beyer, 1975's _Picking Winners_, and given usthe next step in looking at speed handicapping. Which is good, because of all the types of handicapping out there, Beyer's is the one that the public seized on, and it's since become so popular that Beyer's figures are published in the Daily Racing Form, and are so deadly accurate in most cases that those races which can be unlocked through their application have become unprofitable. Carroll gives us another way of looking at speed, a new take on velocity that turns the work of Broahmer and Sartin on its head, and in doing so takes the many complex calculations of _Modern Pace Handicapping_ and instead substitutes the kind of one-number handicapping ease that the crowd loves. Does it work? I don't know, I have a whole lot of fact-checking to do before i go endorsing Carroll's methods and theories. But as a book, it's a pretty good one. Carroll doesn't go over the same old racing history as most books, but instead gives us background information that we haven't seen before-- the various schools of handicapping, how the money flows, and most notably conformation, something many handicapping books steer far clear of. Most of it has nothing to do with handicapping speed, but any knowledge a player can get is knowledge he can put to use, if he knows how. A worthwhile addition to the shelf of the horseplayer, and if it works, it becomes the sixth book in the canon.

I purchased this book based upon a review that indicated it was humorous. I found it a "sour grapes" account from disgrunteled owner who seemed to know very little about horse racing. Mr. Vena's premise seems to be that all racing professionals are dishonest types out to get the poor owner. Further, the writing style was very elementary. I suggest excuse number 101: the horse lost the race due to a totally ignorant owner.

Have you ever watched the jockey and the trainers huddle before a race in the paddock? After the race, if the horse loses, they seem to huddle again. I think the trainer and jockey are getting their stories straight regarding what they are planning to say to the owner of the horse who just lost the race. After reading James Vena's book Excuses, Excuses! 100 reasons why your horse lost the race! I believe it is a treatis on what the poor owner gets as his official word from the trainer or jockey. It is hilarious, poignent and sad. If you ever have visited a racetrack or bet $2.00 on a horse you must read this book. It is great!

Stuart Held, author - BEHIND THE YELLOW FILTER

DAVE LITFIN USE TO BE MY IDOL...... But, there's a new sheriff in town, and his name is JOSEPH J TUTTLE. If you want something that is a quick read and only about 11 or 12k in wordage (and only 100+ total pages), then I'd HIGHLY RECOMMEND The Tuttle Way 1 and 2....or his newest release "Three-n-one" which includes a short story about his trainer Father. About this book....Mr. Litfin shows off a side of himself that I wasn't very impressed with. And he is HIGHLY REDUNDANT AND NEVER APOLOGIZES FOR IT.


I'm out

J.R.

IF YOU ALREADY THINK YOU KNOW HOW TO HANDICAP HORSES, YOU SHOULD STILL READ THIS BOOK.

Good god, this book is pure drudgery to read.
I was looking for an engaging description of how FL evolved from being the no man's land of horse breeding to a significant factor.

This book was pedantic and dull. Example (assume horses X & Y are both FL-bred):
"Horse X won $600 dollars that year. Horse Y won $25. The grand total of FL horse earnings that year was $625."
Durrr...thanks for the rudimentary math lesson. Basically 1/3 of the sentences in this book could be discarded without loss of information. I never made it beyond chapter 4.

The tome does contain many excellent historical pictures.

Charlene R. Johnson, Florida Thoroughbred (University Press of Florida, 1993)

In a relatively short span of time, less than twenty years, central Florida's Marion County went from being nothing but swampland to being second only to Lexington, Kentucky, in the production of quality Thoroughbreds. The meteoric rise of Ocala and its dominance in the Thoroughbred world is chronicled by Charlene Johnson in the wonderful book Florida Thoroughbred, a must-read for American fans of Thoroughbred racing.

While the book itself gives a comprehensive look at the state of things in Florida from the pre-depression attempts to open a Thoroughbred track in Miami (which later became Hialeah, one of the great showplaces of Thoroughbred racing, now unfortunately defunct) to Unbridled's 1990 Breeders' Cup Classic win, the book focuses on Ocala, and the two figures who started it on the road to where it is today. One of them was Thoroughbred breeder Charles Rose, whose Rosemere Farm was the first major Thoroughbred outpost in Ocala. The other was Needles, the first Florida-bred to win the Kentucky Derby. Both Rose and Needles are colorful figures who are great fun to read about, and their exploits run through the book like the storied limestone veins of Ocala upon which Rose made his initial fortune.

There's really not much else to be said here; Johnson has given us a fine and eminently readable history of the Thoroughbred breeding industry in Florida. With any luck, University Press of Florida will try to capitalize on the sudden popularity of horseracing, thanks to Seabiscuit and Funny Cide, and get a paperback edition of this printed and distributed through a major house. Even if they don't, it's worth tracking down a copy of the original pressing. This is a fine piece of work. ****

Glib and useless. The book is basically a 75 page money management guide, (and not a good one), with 25 pages of handicapping advice tacked on at the end.

The handicapping section can only be harmful to the beginner. The task of handicapping a horse race can hardly be addressed in 25 pages. The advice is so oversimplified as to be completely useless, if not harmful.

For example, Border's "par times," which he offers as an alternative to Beyer speed, are laughable. I cannot begin to address the topic in 1000 words. Readers should read Beyer's Picking Winners, The Winning Horseplayer, and Beyer on Speed in order to understand the evolution of the Beyer speed figures. I think any reader who understands Beyer speed will agree that on this one part of the handicapping puzzle, Beyer still reigns supreme.

Border's tips re recency are also pitifully inadequate. Readers interested in current form analysis should read Scott's How Will Your Horse Run Today?

Border barely addresses other handicapping factors such as pace, trips, class, consistency, and body language. He sloughs off trainer/jockey patterns and interactions as irrelevant; I think anyone who comes out ahead consistently at the track will agree they are a vital part of the puzzle.

Most of the book is a money management guide, and here again, although the basic pattern Border recommends for exotic wagers is not bad, he ignores the most critical part of money management: betting on value only. Border recommends betting more money on horses in proportion to how much you like them, with no consideration for value. Any winning horseplayer knows a black bottom line results from betting horses who are going off at odds higher than they deserve. Consistently betting horses who should be 3-1 and are going off at 2-1 will be a long term losing proposition. Consistently betting horses at 4-1 who should be 3-1 will be a long term winning proposition. And of course yes, this means you cannot place a sensible bet without having some gestalt as to what the horse's odds should be, i.e. you need to make a line. For exotics, you need to be able to calculate what a fair price would be for any given combination you are interested in, or have at hand fair value tables (e.g. fair value for the exacta with a 2-1 shot on top of a 5-1 shot is whatever), and refer to the probably payoffs before making your bet. For bets where the probable payoff is not available, recognize that you are buying a lotto ticket. If you are interested in place and show betting, study Ziemba and Hausch, and be willing to bring a pocket calculator to the track and do the math a few minutes before post. Betting without value shopping is an exercise in giving away money. Readers are referred to Mark Cramer's The Odds on Your Side and to Barry Meadow's Money Secrets at the Racetrack.

Border also recommends a method of progressive betting which has been consistently outperformed by both flat rate betting and Kelley criterion betting in long term trials.

There are no shortcuts in this game. Making money at the track is hard work, and anyone serious about it should realize this and not give up their day job after reading Border's book. It takes years to learn this game. It's as tough as chess. 95% of horseplayers lose money over the long run. Being in the 5% who come out ahead is not only hard work, it takes a considerable period of study and some experience to get there. To think that one might become a successful horseplayer after reading Border's book seems to me like thinking one could make a living practicing medicine after reading a brief money management guide and 25 pages on the recognition and treatment of disease. The lawsuits would kill you off before you ever got the chance to lose your money with poor money management...Let's get real.

Of course, there is always the option of playing as a recreational handicapper, solely for the fun and beauty in the game. But let's not bet the rent money.

I would not have reviewed the book this harshly if Border had not given the impression that his book is enough to make the beginner into a winning horseplayer.

Other recommended reading:
The Body Language of Horses, Ainslie and Ledbetter
Modern Pace Handicapping, Brohamer
Betting Thoroughbreds, Davidowitz
Horses Talk: It pays to Listen, Parker
Winning at the Races, Quirin
Thoroughbred Handicapping, Quirin

And these are only the bare essentials, in additon to the books mentioned in the text.

pjd

Mr Border presents some very practical information on the mechanics of managing your wagering dollars. He covers everything from straight betting to the exotics, in easy to follow fashion. Very good discussion on how to pick contenders, and how to make high probability bets without having to create your own speed ratings or track variants, etc. Most profitable book I've read all year.

Written by Tennessee State Historian Walter T. Durham, a distant cousin of my friend, Hal Durham who was from McMinnville, Tennessee and now Florida, he has published others since 1995 about Tennessee and his native county, Sumner. He calls the subject of this detailed account Balie Peyton an American patriot.

First Peyton was on Jackson's side, then formed his own Whig party. Then worked behind the scenes to maneuver national politics. Andrew Jackson had laid the cornerstone for the city of Washington, D. C. Jan. 11, 1836. Baile Peyton was born, raised, lived most of his life within a few miles from the Hermitage, antebellum home of "Old Hickory," our distinguished President from the State of Tennessee. Born in 1804 on a farm three miles from Gallatin, up the river a little ways from Jackson's grand home, and was buried on that same land on which he had been born in 1879.

Described as a great orator, highly skilled raconteur in politics and horseflesh; perhaps his greatest talent was public speaking. Once he gave a "strong, taunting speech" -- my kind when I have the chance to give one -- and was passionate in many confrontations as he did have a temper, as do I. Let's see, he must have been born in May. "When he told a tale, his listeners were spellbound."

He was a slave owner as was his neighbor there in Hermitage (yes, there is a town named that now so that folks can find this historical place -- and it is worth the trip to Nashville); but he loved the horses which he bred in that area of bluegrass from which they transplanted the grass and the thoroughbred horses from Kentucky. He used both the slaves and the horses as 'studs', but not together! Quite a feat for someone who was always involved in politics in Washington and other places.

Once he was in Texas when Sam Houston and Ohio Congressman had a dispute which ended in the court system. Sam was charged with assault in 1832 because the Ohio politician had called him one of President Jackson's "bullies." A resolution in court declared Houston 'guilty of contempt of Congress' for his physical attack while William Stanbery was censured for "use of unparliamentary language." Sam had accused the Ohio man had made "wanton attacks" on his domestic relations, probably advertising Sam's festering groin injury; he testified that Stanberry had 'slandered' him in six newspaper columns and "refused ever to answer a polite note."

"Modern" history was rewritten a few years later when A. W. Terrell wrote an article in which he'd added a squalid drinking party which included James K. Polk, another Tennessean who became U. S. President, and statesman, Balie Peyton. Though he was a Southern Unionist (worse than a Union sympathizer!), his son John Bell Peyton, joined the Confederate Army and died in battle.

In 1879, Peyton was buried in the family cemetery on the farm where he'd been born seventy-five years earlier. Graveside services were conducted by Rev. John Arbuthnot of Gallatin Presbyterian Church and the local Methodist preacher, Berkett Ferrell. He had intervened to free Ferrell from incarceration during the Civil War and now "in a broader sense, the minister was returning the favor."

This is a good introduction to Cramer and his methods. The material is a little dated, but the concepts are just as valid as ever. In this book, Cramer begins his mission that will continue throughout his works to stress "wager value" as opposed to "handicapping value." The distinction is critical to winning long term at the races. Most of the handicapping books I've read are selection oriented, while this begins to shift your thinking towards finding selections that may not be the most likely winners, but will have the returns that generate profits over the long haul. A lot of his ideas will go against the conventional wisdom of what most recreational players believe, but a leap of faith into his methods can start the experienced novice down the road to profits. The guy is a winner.

"My horse will never see that big red rump again," promised Forego's trainer (slightly paraphrased) after Secretariat's record-breaking 1973 Kentucky Derby. Following his fourth-place finish in that Derby, the huge bay gelding whose nickname was `Big Joe' would finish out of the money only four more times in forty-nine starts. He would go on to earn `Horse of the Year' titles in 1974, 1975, and 1976.

But `Big Joe' never did race against `Big Red' again, partly because of his trainer's promise, but also because Forego didn't really come into his best form until he was a four-year-old---the year that Secretariat retired to stud.

"Forego" is the sixth volume in the excellent `Thoroughbred Legends' series published by the Eclipse Press. This book celebrates one of modern racing's greatest weight-carriers---a hard-trying, seventeen-hand gelding who towered over his lightly weighted opposition, in spite of chronic ankle problems. `Big Joe' raced over six seasons and earned scores of loyal fans who almost always made him the favorite, no matter how much lead he had to carry under his saddle. His special nemesis, the New York racing secretary Tommy Trotter once assigned him to carry twenty-seven pounds more than his lightly regarded opposition.

Trotter's handicapping skills helped to bring about one of racing's greatest moments: "...Forego's desperate rally on the far outside to catch Honest Pleasure at the wire in the 1976 Marlboro Cup while carrying 137 pounds, eighteen more than the horse he had to run down, on a sloppy surface that Forego usually could not handle."

Like two other great Thoroughbred geldings of the latter part of the Twentieth century, Kelso and John Henry, Forego ran until he just plumb wore out, always giving his fans his formidable best. No matter that his trainer had to spend three hours a day hosing down Big Joe's sore legs. No matter that he had lost his previous race, or had to carry twelve to twenty-seven more pounds than his four-legged opponents, Forego's fans made the towering bay their betting favorite.

Hall of Fame jockey Bill Shoemaker who won the Belmont five times, the Kentucky Derby four times, and the Preakness twice on Thoroughbreds other than Forego, paid special tribute to the great heavyweight champion: "This has to be the best horse I've ever ridden."

Nancy Stout, Great American Thoroughbred Racetracks (Rizzoli, 1991)

Rizzoli are known for publishing big books full of photographs for surprisingly low cost (have you ever noticed how few Rizzoli books you see on the shelves for full price as compared to in cutout and clearance bins and overstock stores? There's a reason for that). I have to say that, despite having come into contact with hundreds of Rizzoli titles over my years both as a bookstore manager and an avid reader, I'd never come across one quite like this. For one thing, the images are black and white; for another, I've never seen anywhere near this much text in a Rizzoli book.

Great American Thoroughbred Racetracks gives B&W photographic overviews of twelve of America's most architectually notable tracks. As such, those looking for the usual pictures of horses thundering around the turn will probably be disappointed; what's in here are pictures of (and a great deal of informative text describing) the history and architectural features of the tracks themselves, from grand old Saratoga to Del Mar, its across-the-country cousin.

There's a lot of information, and even more pictures. I've visited a number of these tracks, and I'm relatively sure that when I return to them, it will be with a new appreciation for some of the finer details that went into their construction. (The two sad notes, reading this at the end of 2005, were the sections on Hialeah, which has now closed permanently, and the New Orleans Fair Grounds, the post-Katrina renovation of which could potentially completely change the face of the track.)

If you're interested in both horses and buildings, you'll find this as lovely a book as I did. There are a few odd typos here and there which jar, but for the most part, it's quite nicely done. *** ½