Racing Books

I really enjoyed reading and looking at all the great pictures in this book. I still pick it up and go through it from time to time.

This is an awesome book. The photos are excellent and all of Steve Reyes books are great. My husband and son both love his books. If your a Drag Fan...check out these books!

Dr Loving's book has long been a distance riders 'bible'. I have referred many to this book and have given as a gift to my riding friends. Dr. Loving's book is a complete resource guide for the distance rider from selection, nutrition, training and completing that distance ride. You will not go wrong following her suggestions for training guidelines. Whether your miles are 5, 10 or 100, the same principles apply. I highly recommened this book to everyone from casual trail riders to hard core endurance riders.

Written by a veterinarian, this book could be so techincal in nature that only another scientist or veterinarian would be able to comprehend everything. But it's not. This book is written in such a way as to make the information perfect accessible to anyone. Dr. Loving goes into appropriate detail about every aspect of endurance riding. Most importantly, she writes in such a clear and concise manner as to make even the more difficult subjects to comprehend, such as the finer points of conformation and the metabolic health of your horse. Well worth the money, this book goes into greater depth in the care of your horse, without confusing the reader. Photos throughout the pages, taken by the author, illustrate major points and drawings go into detail about the inner workings of your horse. If you are interested in starting endurance riding, or take it very seriously and want to do everything right ... either way, this book should be read and re-read as often as needed.

Not many Americans are aware that "exotic" racing engine technologies, like dual overhead cams, intercoolers on superchargers, and multiple valves per cylinder -- were first fully developed in Iowa, New Jersey and California -- not in Europe. A few remarkable and mostly German-American engine builders, notably the Duesenberg brothers and Harry Miller (ne Mueller) developed the fastest automobiles in the world in America in the period before the Great Depression. These cars raced on the best tracks in the world, which were hand crafted out of 2 x 4 lumber.

Americans were racing at speeds well over 100 mph on these wooden tracks by 1920 -- well before the nation had adequate roads for motorists. (Borgeson explains that the reason road racing did not catch on in the US was altogether basic: no roads).

This is a very fine book, and it is wonderful to see it back in print. Another good book on this subject is "Gold, Guts and Glory," which is an unfortunate title but a fine collection of essays on the board track era by several different authors. Borgeson's classic is especially strong on Harry Miller. The author himself re-imported and restored one of Miller's famed front drive racers, a car purchased and "emulated" by Ettore Bugatti in the mid-1920s.

At the time of his recent death in France, Grif was just completeing this second edition of this brillient work. It will be published this fall by SAE. Larry Crane, Automobile Magazine's art director say, "he was the purest iconoclast I will ever know." Automobile, Nov. 1997. His work is legendary. His research was paralleled by very few. A must read for the fan of the car enthusiast.

I wrote in my review of "Thoroughbred Champions : Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century" that I wished somebody had done something similar in Europe on European horses. A British man named Stephen Arnott was kind enough to refer to a book by Julian Wilson that I believe had to be this one. I was able to find a copy of it on Amazon.com.uk and bought it without hesitation. I have not regretted my purchase. This is a perfect companion to the Thoroughbred Champions book by Bloodhorse even though it is done in a different format. For one thing, this book is written by one author not many as "TC" was. Another difference is that the horses are listed in alphabetical order, not in a top 100 ranking. This being a British book, it focuses mostly on European horses, though there are some American horses included. While I might lament the exclusion of a few of my American favorites, their stories are in the TC book and others. This book, as its title suggests, tells the stories of the great race horses up until the time of its publication. A large percentage of the horses listed are flat racers, though there is a significant section dedicated to jumpers as well might be expected from a British book. Though I've never followed the jumping events, I enjoyed reading the accomplishments of all of these horses. Any American fan of horse racing who enjoys the sport for its athletes and not its gambling aspects or politics owes it to themselves to get a copy of this book and learn about some of the great horses from across the pond. Many of their horses have been no less brilliant than our own equine heroes. If you could ever see footage of Seabird II winning the Derby you'd know what I mean. In particular the stories of horses like Seabird II, Ribot, Mill Reef, Brigadier Gerard, Nijinsky and a dozen others are must reading for any fan of great horses. I consider this book indispensible to my collection.

Any book of this kind is bound to be contentious - how do you select 100 horses from over 200 years of racing in several different countries? Inevitably, there is a bias in favor of the last half-century - it is what the author has seen at first hand and it is what anybody buying the book will have seen.

Julian, who fronted BBC TV's racing coverage for many years so is more familiar with such horses, admits to a bias in favor of Britain and Ireland. Only nine American horses (Cigar, Citation, Kelso, Man O' War, Native Dancer, Seattle Slew, Secretariat, War Admiral and Jay Trump) and one Canadian (Northern Dancer) are featured. Some of the others were bred in America, including Mill Reef, Nijinsky and Sir Ivor, but ran their races in Europe. There are also a few horses from elsewhere, mostly France.

Of course, the lack of American horses makes this an ideal companion for similar books by American writers. Such books tend to define the 100 best racehorses very differently, focusing mainly or exclusively on American horses.

Aside from any dispute about which horses are the 100 best ever, this is a well-illustrated book which gives a good summary of each horse's story, together with a list of big race wins and a pedigree going back four generations. Each horse gets 2 or 3 pages including pictures - usually photographs, but a painting in the case of those horses that pre-date photography.

Anybody interested in great British and Irish racehorses is unlikely to find a better book of this type.

Note - although this is listed as unavailable here, it is available in the UK on ISBN 0316644684

"Green Bay Replay" is one of the best sports books I've ever read. The late Dick Schaap was a master sportswriter, someone who could tell a story lyrically and powerfully, and was also a longtime fan of the Green Bay Packers. Both were needed, because one without the other wouldn't have written this powerful, funny book, one of the best modern football books ever.

I've read many, many books about sports. Baseball, football, basketball . . . and most have been tolerable. Some have been excellent. This book is superlative, mostly because it (like Schaap did) has a heart about the issues that have changed the NFL since the 1960s (the time of original Super Bowl I winning Green Bay team) and points out how many of these changes, for good and ill, have affected one team -- Green Bay.

Because Green Bay is the only publicly owned team in America and has an unusual leadership setup in that there's not even a figurehead owner, the relationship with the fans, city and team is closer, warmer and more special than in any other city. Other cities have great fans, yes -- many of them do. But other cities don't live and die with their team, year in and year out, as do the Green Bay fans.

This fan, who suffered through many 3-13 and 4-12 seasons on the way back to first respectability, then a Super Bowl Win, then playoff contention and near-Super Bowl misses, enjoys re-reading this book now and again because it contains what many sports books of the present lack -- optimism.

As well, it's a faithful look at the Packer teams of the 60s and the 90s, warts and all; granted, some of the scandals that came out after this book was published (i.e., Antonio Freeman's car accident with or without DUI -- he got out of the car and no one's sure who was driving at the time -- and Eugene Robinson's trip to the strip club after moving to the next team happened after this book was printed in paperback) are not covered, but was Schaap supposed to be omniscient, too?

If you like Brett Favre, Reggie White, Jerry Kramer or Ray Nitschke (among others), this book is for you. If you're a Packer fan, this book is for you. And if you're a football fan, demoralized from star after so-called star refusing to sign autographs, swearing in front of kids and microphones, and other such behavior (and it goes downhill from there, let me assure you), this book is for you.

Five stars. Highly recommended.

Barb Caffrey

As a die-hard Packer fan, I savored every minute of my team's return to glory in the mid 90's. This book chronicles and highlights the long and often difficult road that the Pack traveled back to the top. From the days of Vince Lombardi to Mike Holmgren and all the time in between, Dick Schaap has got the greatest team to ever step on a field well covered. An absolute must for any Green Bay Packer fan!

Griffon-Powered Mustangs is the debut volume in the new Specialty Press "Raceplan Tech" series. The reader is presented with the information on airframe modifications, Griffon engine development, development of Miss Ashley II; world jet racing history; unlimited class racing results and the evolution of the world record-setting Red Baron. The informative text is enhanced with first-hand interviews of engine builders, crew chiefs, and pilots, along with 160 b&w photos and a four-page layout of full color photography. Griffon-Powered Mustangs is an impressive contribution to personal and academic aeronautics collections.

The debut volume in the new Speciality Press "Raceplane Tech" series, Griffon-Powered Mustangs is a fascinating history of the P-51 Mustang, a once very effective World War II era military aircraft that continues to be a popular crowd pleaser with air racing enthusiasts. These Griffon-powered racers are the peak of liquid-cooled racing technology with the Mustang purpose-built fuselage coupled with the Griffon bringing out the maximum in horsepower with the smallest frontal area of any racing aircraft. A "must" for aviation buffs, Kevin Grantham and Nicholas Veronico's Griffon-Powered Mustangs presents the reader with a profusion of illustrations and photos covering every aspect of the aircraft, a world jet racing history, the griffon engine development, "Unlimited Class Racing Results", and more!

Another gem from Dick Francis. Though it may be vintage, it was new to me and I enjoyed every bit of it! I listened to the audio production and was interested the whole time. Francis' clever use of language is as much a part of of the entertainment as the plot. Clever, quick, descriptive, concise-- never a dull moment.

This vintage (1975) Dick Francis thriller/mystery centers on Steven Scott who supports his race horse owning hobby by inventing toys, very expensive and very popular toys. When he finally realizes that his trainer has been stealing from him - stealing for a long time and on a grand scale he announces that he will be changing trainers immediately his life begins to get complicated. First he discovers that he had been taken for even more money than he had thought, then is shocked when the now former trainer steals his horse and tries to run him over in the process. He then discovers that public opinion is firmly on the trainers side! The complications continue at a rapid pace, involve a romance and expand from England to Florida.

When you purchase a Dick Francis novel you get a known product. The heroes are all young men, attached in some way or another to the racing world, who get caught up in intrigue and romance. The other known quantity of a Francis novel is that they are well written, the plots are clever with the clues fairly laid out for the reader to follow, the characters become real and sympathetic and the reader is in for a few very enjoyable hours.

"The Honest Rainmaker" is the best of A, J. Liebling, a reporter who wrote for the New Yorker Magazine for many years until his death in 1963.

It chronicles the life of James S. A. McDonald, a sports writer who used the pseudonym Col. John R. Stingo as told (for the most part) by McDonald's reminisces and tales of skulduggery.

It's difficult to talk about this book without quoting long stretches of it. Suffice it say that, as Liebling says, "when Col. Stingo departed from the truth, he improved upon it."

One of the funniest books I have ever read.

Although less well-known than the "Earl of Louisiana" and the recently-rescued-from-neglect "Between Meals," this sly and rollicking account of a Gentleman con-man is among Liebling's greatest achievements in form and in style. No follower of AJL's work can fail to note the author's bag of tricks or his own con game within the story, both of which illustrate Liebling at the top of his game. Purportedly a reporter's account of an aged confidence man, the work is in fact a running gag. Liebling was well-versed in the lore of American fun-and-games, an erudition that breaks forth in these pages with unalloyed glee. He contributes an account of gunfights in newspaper offices that some readers will recognize as an offshoot of a Twain story (which was also worked over, without gunfire, by Mencken).

The structure is simple: an aged newspaper man (the Colonel) recounts his life in "the Fourth Estate," complete with race tracks, swindles, marks, boobs and baloney. Charming scams are told in an engaging, orotund style in the hands of a master reporter and portraitist whose skills are sorely needed today. Liebling's delight in his world are evident, and an attentive reader will view the modern era with a more mirthful eye when he finishes the book. It is also worth pointing out that, as an example of a well-told story, this book is unsurpassed. The details are perfect and the timing is exquisite. Seasoned readers of Red Smith, Joe Mitchell and Damon Runyon (to pick only three)will noticed many inside jokes that only increase on re-reading. One fears this work has been neglected because it is just too damn clever and too damn good. Now that a humorist has been awarded a Nobel Prize, perhaps America will awaken to the fact that fun and wit have some revealing things to say. But do not let the fear of portentious Truth deter you from this book: you need gain nothing but fun.

The Naadam, an annual festival held throughout Mongolia that features horse racing, is thought to be one of the world's oldest sporting events, second only to the Olympics. Told from Ted and Betsy Lewin's point of view and based on events during their journey to Southern Mongolia, the story highlights one of those horse races across a fourteen-mile stretch of the Gobi Desert. At a camp of horse trainers about 800 miles away from the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, a nomad family has kindly offered the Lewins their hospitality. The reader also meets a nine-year old member of this family, Tamir, who is hard at work training his half-wild race horse in preparation for the upcoming Naadam. Much of the book chronicles the way of life for this family in the desert, the practice of "sweating up" the horses for the race, and the enormous excitement on race day.

Although the book focuses on the horse race competition and the question of how Tamir will perfom as a jockey, the authors have carefully woven in a set of economics lessons related to natural and human resources. For example, the family members use the milk from their mares, sheep, cows, and goats to make a variety of food and drink items. Also, the abundance of horses in Mongolia (there may be three times as many horses as people), helps to explain the popularity of horse racing. The intricate illustrations further help to convey how the family maintains its livelihood in the desert. Children and adults alike will appreciate the book's exciting plot, strong substantive content, and unique focus on Mongolia.

This book is absolutely wonderful for children, teachers, parents, anthropologists, and Mongolia enthusiasts alike! Ted and Betsy Lewin creatively captured the spirit and splendor of Naadam, a vibrant festival showcasing Mongolia's talented sportsmen and women. This book transports readers to the vast Mongolian steppe and lets them imagine what it would be like to stand shoulder to shoulder with locals, cheering for horses and young jockeys crossing the finish line after an emotional and exhausting race.

ITs about a boy named Mike and he bought a horse that went into the Maryland Hunt cup. Viking won the Hunt cup. When Mike might Viking's old owner. They start traning.

ITs about a boy named Mike and he bought a horse that went into the Maryland Hunt cup. Viking won the Hunt cup. When Mike might Viking's old owner. They start traning.