Thoroughbred Books

Review written by Mike Veitch, The Saratogian newspaper, Saratoga, New York, 4/24/02

Swaps, written by Barry and published by Eclipse Press.
Few Derbys can match the historic import of the 1955 confrontation between Swaps and Nashua.
This was a true East-West battle, with Nashua representing the blue-blooded eastern connections of Belair Stud and California's Swaps, handled by the unconvential team of trainer Mesach Tenney and owner Rex Ellsworth.
As Irwin points out, it had been 50 years since California owner "Lucky" Baldwin had beaten the best eastern horses.
So a lot was riding on the 1955 Derby, which Swaps won by a length and a half over 6-to-5 favorite Nashua.
Irwin, the president of Team Valor racing partnerships, has done a thorough job on the history of Swaps, who was a racing legend in the truest sense.
I particularly enjoyed Irwin's telling of the raw, basic horsemanship of Tenney, which received so much criticism from the eastern press.
Swaps was an immortal and Irwin has given him his due in this excellent book.

hi this was an amazing book i can't explain it all i know that if you want to have the pleasure read this book i couldn't put it down

One of the classic reference books on horse race handicapping. The book covers a wide range of techniques and tactics in picking winners at the track (from basics for the beginner, to more complex applications for the experienced race track enthusiast). Book is now out of print (in any published form) and is becoming quite a sought after item as it really should be part of any comprehensive personal handicapping reference library.

THERE IS NO SUCH BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!

Quest Stables hired Marcus Vasquez to be the head trainer. The entire Preston family is pleased with him except jockey Melanie Preston. She has avoided him as if Marcus has the plague; in fact she shunned him because she hides her attraction, which she assumes is unrequited.

However Melanie is stunned when Marcus informs the family he is leaving. Melanie wonders if she made a mistake not taking a chance. A kiss affirms her error, but she believes she can correct it by taking a job at the Preston Stable Marcus is moving to run. Marcus wants his top jockey, however harbors a secret that he believes he must tell her, but fears once he does her love will turn to hate because what he conceals impacts the shaky Preston Stables.

This terrific Silhouette Thoroughbred Legacy entry works on several levels starting with the powerful pull between the trainer and the jockey. Besides the obvious tale of love between two reluctant individuals, the story line also moves forward the overarching plot of the Quest Stables scandal. Fans of the saga will relish this fine tale of M&Ms falling in love.

Harriet Klausner

i wish that wonder would of been the first triple crown filly winner. i like the part where wonder beats brads colt three times!

I am not a fan of the Cindy character, but this book added a then-much-needed and rather touching dose of realism into the series. Unfortunately, Harper Collins has decided to end the series abruptly after #72. With such a dedicated following and online fan base with members from all over the world, this is a classic and beloved series that has inspired many people and provided horse fans with vicarious thrills and adventure. Ashleigh saved Wonder, now it's up to you to help save Thoroughbred. [...]

This one is one of the better Cindy books. She's less of a brat and slightly more believable in her behavior and her heartbreak over losing Storm. And Storm is the only Cindy-era horse that didn't drive me bonkers. The rare and touching moments contained in this book are yet another reason why Thoroughbred can NOT be cancelled.

i love this story. cindy has loved storm ever since she fisrt started to train him. then at one of his races he catchs a terrible desieces and must be put down. how terrible! if i was cindy i would of cried for days and days!!!!!!!!!

In Cindys Heartbreak a colt named Storms Rancsom falls under a deadly disease wich can kill all the horses in the barn. Storm was bought by Whitebrook at an auction for thoroughbreds. whitebrook was a large breeding and racing stable in Kentucky. Storm was one of the finest horses you can find. While March to Glory is having a time of his life on the racetrack, Cindy Mclean helps raise Storm. Cindy was once a runaway orphan who found a home at Whitebrook. Cindy loves racehorses and racing more than anything. While her colt Glory is having a finishing racing career Cindy has helped raise Storm since he came to Whitebrook. If you asked him to jump off a bridge, he would just to make you happy. Cindy knew Storm would do anything for his rider and was the sweetiest thing ever. He showed promise as a sprinter and sprinted his way to victory. but after 2 long exzausting races, Storm became sick. When the vet responds, he tells the owners of Storm and Whitebrook that Storm has a deadly disease that can kill all the other horses and the best thing to do would be to put him down. Cindy almost died when she heard that they might put Storm down. Cindy beggs Ashleigh Griffen and Mike Reese, Whitebrooks owner to keep Storm in the icealation stalls. But Cindy knows that Storm would be stuck inside his stall for the rest of his life and not enjoying life of the outdoors and horse friends. Will Cindy give up the colt she watched grow into a champion sprinter or let him suffer? Find out in Cindys Heartbeak. Or email me at Blades60@aol.com

I loved Storm. He always tried his hardest to please Cindy and Ashleigh. He was always on his best behavior and would do anything for you. He ran his heart out in his races and when he losed he was heart broken. He was the sweetiest horse I ever heard of in the Thoroughbred series, and he was one of my top favoirtes. When I read this book I cried for a week or more and I am right now just talking about him. I have a parakeet named Storm and he is the sweetiest bird I know. I could compare him to Storm. He is always sweet and tries to please me. He hardly ever bites or anything. I also have a parakeet named Glory. I could also compare him to Glory. He is big, same color as Glory, sweet and hard to control, and kinda fast but faster than my others. Now Storm is just a dust in the wind in the books now. I still think of him and miss him terriobly and what would I do when my all time fav mare dies, (Ashleigh's Wonder.)

In Dead Heat, Melanie Graham has found something she really loves, racing. Since Ashleigh Griffen has started helping Melanie excerise Whitebrooks thoroughbreds, nothing can be better. First Melanie started out riding Heart Of Stone, one of Whitebrooks horses, melanie found another horse she wants to ride, Prides Perfection. A foal out of the horse of the year, Wonders Pride. Pride was a champion in his days and now he has passed some of his speed talent of to his offsprings. Perfection is one of the best yearlings that year and Melanie wants to be the first to ride him. Melanie has been working harder than ever to become a great excerise rider and be able to have the chance to ride Perfection. Melanie and her cousin Christina Reesse starts getting up early in the morning to workout and jog around. But Melanies good friend, Kevin McLean, the head trainers son is acting weird. Soon he starts telling Melanie all she cares about is becoming the best rider and dont have time for eachother. Soon melanie belives that Kevin is made at her; and Melanie soon discovers that he is. Will Melanie take it easy and slow down on her riding before she loses Kevin? Find out in Dead Heat. and please go to [...]to help save the Thoroughbred series.

I like how the series is slowly coming back to racing. That's cool, but the only thing is, why on earth are Kevin and Melanie wearing silks on the cover? and why does Melanie look like a boy? I can't tell her and Kevin apart. Don't get me wrong, It' a cool story but there's just ome flaws, that's not the writer fault. Any ways I like Melanie, to bad Pirate's blind, he'd be an awesome race horse, in the future he and Melanie could have raced together while Christina had tar or what ever. I recommend it.

One word: Disgusting. I refuse to put anything else in. Also, why is Melanie and Kevin wearing SILKS when they are not jockeys?

This is one of the best TB books ever! It is so cool the way Melanie is traing to be a jockey. I would love to be a jockey, too...HORSE LOVERS READ THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!

Okay, I read this book around 2 years ago and I thought it was really good, it had lots of suspense. Why does everyone keep complaining that the series has no racing in it, Melanie wants to be a jockey, she exercise rides. That is what the whole book is about and don't write a review before you read it because then everyone says it (...) so much and YOU HAVN'T EVEN READ IT. Plus I don't understand why everyone wants Cindy back, she was such a snob and always complaining (somewhat like yourselves) about her life, she should be grateful for all she has. And what makes it SO hard to believe that Sammy's in to eventing. She can't be a jockey and can't make much of a living as an exercise rider so what do you expect her to do... NOT RIDE! And I don't think she'd want to be just a trainer because she wouldn't ride, where as she can event and run a business with Tor. But anyway Dead Heat was really good despite what some people say because they're still dweling on the past.

I really enjoyed this book. I never ever EVER liked Dylan for some reason, and was glad that Christina started to like someone else besides him. Parker is WAY better. It was funny to see Chris try to decide who she likes better. What I don't get though is why Dylan and Katie are hardly mentioned after book 36. I mean, i'm glad that in book 37 Christina officially chooses Parker, but can't we see how she breaks up with Dylan first? I t was good though!

Hello, you may remember me as the disgruntled reviewer from "The Horse of Her Dreams" who grew up with this series and tried to keep up with it despite its downfall into stupid plots, annoying characters, and continuity errors up the wazoo, and who eventually gave up on it for those aforementioned reasons.

Parker? WHERE did they get Parker? Okay, I don't remember the boy's name when he was a baby, but I do remember that it was NOT Parker. I'm also really sick of the constant villainization of Brad and Lavinia. I know that series need bad guys, but can't those two have at least one redeeming factor about them? I mean, they're jerks, only care about money, are vindictive and outright malicious, and now they're bad parents, to boot? Can't those two ever catch a break? They're the most 2-D characters ever, and no, I'm not including that pseudo-psychological explanation of Lavinia's behavior which essentially boils down to "Mommy didn't love her." See, authors, I'm ONLY NINETEEN and I can remember stuff from book nine still. WHY CAN'T YOU?

While I initially was happy that Samantha, my favorite character, had returned, I began hitting my head in consternation when I saw that she is now an AMAZINGLY AWESOME EVENTER OMG. Um, yeah, whatever happened to her passion for racing? Plus, a problem I've always had with these books is that they're all too perfect. They're smart, great riders, their horses always win the Triple Crown, they have hot boyfriends and loyal best friends who are all completely 100% as interested in horses as they are. So of COURSE Samantha would be great at racing AND eventing. Seriously. She's still better than Ashleigh and Cindy, though...

Oh, and Christina's a brat. Melanie's cool, but in the later books I heard she turns into Ashleigh Junior. Figures.

In Racing Parker, we are introduced to Parker Townsend. Parkers parents Brad and Laviena are nothing alike. Christina Reese, Melanie Graham and Samantha McLean go to a horse auction to look at some of the horses. Christina finds a beautiful thoroughbred mare and Samantha thinks she can make a great event horse. But when Sam doesnt get the mare, Christinas long lost friend Parker Townsend buys the mare named Foxglove. Christina and parker havnt seen eachother in years and after Clay Townsend, Parkers grandfather brings Parker to the auction to buy Foxy, they both show promise as an eventer. Chrisina and parker become close friends, and Melaine Graham is sure Chris and Parker will make a good couple. Christina and her thoroughbed mare, Sterling Dream have trained for a while and are about to go to an event. But Christina is sure she and Sterling are ready for novice with Parker. Christinas friends, Dylan and katie are upset to hear that Chris has decided to ride in novice with Parker but while on the crosscountry during the event, Both parker and Foxy go down while jumping an eliagle jump, Foxy falls on Parker and Parker became unconcieous. Christina rides to their rescue but is it too late? Find out in Racing parker. (...)

This book is so stupid! The only reason it got one star insteadf zero is because the only intense part is when Parker crashes on Foxy. THAT'S IT!!!! Christina acts so naive in this story!! IT'S NOT EVEN NORMAL!!! This book sucks, and everybody gets a little stupider just by reading it!!

definitely my favorite of the eventing books. in this book, we are introduced to Parker Townsend, the son of none other than Brad and Lavinia who has been away at school overseas.

i think the addition of Parker to the character roster gives a much needed boost to the series. he is funny and charming and charismatic and i thoroughly enjoyed the mini-rivalry between him and Dylan. as sweet as it was to see Ashleigh and Samantha marry their high school sweethearts, it was incredibly refreshing to see Christina torn between two boys she likes a lot. not everyone settles down with the first guy they kiss and it was nice to see Chris' inner turmoil.

this book also was much more interesting due to the fact that things happened in it. it was not just Christina and her friends schooling over and over for an event in the very last chapter. there were plenty of things going on: the horse auction, the point to point, the hunt ball and the event at the end. all in all, it was one of my favorite New Generation books and definitely my favorite eventing book.

sadly though, Harper Collins has decided to end this great series at book #72. go to www.whitebrookfarm.com to find out how you can help keep that from happening!

In this book, Ashleigh goes out and gets herself another filly at auction who proves to be a big challenge but in the end turns around. It's also about young Samantha McLean who's father is the assistant trainer and all of her work and devotion to the new filly. All in all it was a great book, it was just like the others in the series.

In Ashleighs Dream, we are introduced to Samantha, Ian McKlean, Fleet Goddess, and Wonders Pride. Since Wonder is now a brood mare and just had her first foal, Wonders Pride, Ashleigh is more than happy to know Wonders Pride is a healthy looking colt. Ashleigh thinks Pride will be Townsend Acres next champion. But since Ashleigh and Charlie dont have another champion to train, Ashleigh goes off to an auction with Mike Reese, her boy friend. And at the auction Ashleigh looks into the eyes of a new champion, Fleet Goddess. But along the road to bringing the filly to the track, Ashleigh is injuried and no one can ride Fleet Goddess, except for Samantha McKlean. Samantha and Fleet Goddess grew a strong bond over the past weeks and Ashleigh feels, only Samantha can bring Fleet Goddess to the track to race. But Samantha's father Ian McKlean denyes it, after his wife died in a riding acident on the track. Can Ashleigh and Samantha convince Samantha wont make the mistake her mother did. Find out for your-self. This was a great book. But I wish Wonde was still racing. If u want to talk, my screen name is Blades60@aol.com

After Wonder's victory in the Kentucky Derby, the Thoroughbred series really takes off - Ashleigh is a jockey, my favorite character in the series Samantha is introduced and Wonder gives birth to her very first foal. Plus, the focus is put on new horses such as Fleet Goddess. If you are a young equestrian or simply wish your world was a bit more horsey, this series is heavenly.

Unfortunately, Harper Collins has decided to end the series abruptly after #72. With such a dedicated following and online fan base with members from all over the world, this is a classic and beloved series that has inspired many people and provided horse fans with vicarious thrills and adventure. Ashleigh saved Wonder, now it's up to you to help save Thoroughbred. Go to www.whitebrookfarm.com and join the effort.

Goddess is my fav horse in this series! Ashleigh buys her at an auction, and she needs someone to help train her. Kind of confusing, but overall good.

This is the best book so far in the TB searies.
ash and sam finally have a new horse to train ,but ash gets heart in an accadent and bracks her harm. ash is chreshed, she and sam have worked so hard for this day and now thay cant go any fartheir whith fleet goddes's training because, sam's dad will not let her ride. He is still afraid that some horse will take away another loved one. Like sams mother,will sam save the filly's futher or will she have to sit on the side lines and watch all the hard work her and ash put in to Goddess be distoryed.
If you want to find out what happens next read the book