It's 1948. We're on Staten Island where no one who is anyone would ever set foot. We're with Sam Russo, a neglected graduate of the Staten Island Home for Children. Self-named and self-styled, Russo's not long back from World War II where his unit fought on the Pacific Front with the very last of America's mounted troops. A dreamer with the gift of gab, Russo is now a young private eye who'd like to follow in the hard-boiled footsteps of Bogart's Philip Marlowe or Bogart's Sam Spade-if only he was hard-boiled. In this, his first serious case, it's a dream come true. Sam has two loves: racehorses and books. Now he's up to his hocks in the murders of three promising young jockeys in Saratoga Springs at America's oldest race track. The police want it all shoved under the carpet, the track wants three deaths to be three strange accidents, Sam Russo wants to prove he's a real Private Eye. Race horses, a gorgeous sassy dame, the Season at Saratoga, what more could a PI want? To survive it.
On the first Saturday in May every year in Louisville, Kentucky, shortly after 5:30 PM, a new horse attains racing immortality. The Kentucky Derby is like no other race, and its winners are the finest horses in the world. Covered in rich red roses, surrounded by flashing cameras and admiring crowds, these instant celebrities bear names like Citation, Secretariat, Spectacular Bid, and Seattle Slew. They're worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. But in 1992, a funny thing happened on the way to the roses. The rattling roar of 130,000 voices tailed off into a high, hollow shriek as the horses crossed the finish line. Lil E. Tee? ABC broadcasters knew nothing about him, but they weren't alone. Who knew about Lil E. Tee? A blacksmith in Ocala, Florida, a veterinary surgeon in Ringoes, New Jersey, a trainer a Calder Race Course, and a few other people used to dealing with average horses knew this horse—and realized what a long shot Lil E. Tee really was. On a Pennsylvania farm that raised mostly trotting horses, a colt with a dime-store pedigree was born in 1989. His odd gait and tendency to bellow for his mother earned him the nickname "E.T." Suffering from an immune deficiency and a bad case of colic, he survived surgery that usually ends a horse's racing career. Bloodstock agents dismissed him because of his mediocre breeding, and once he was sold for only $3,000. He'd live in five barns in seven states by the time he turned two. Somehow, this horse became one of the biggest underdogs to appear on the American sporting landscape. Lil E. Tee overcame his bleak beginnings to reach the respected hands of trainer Lynn Whiting, jockey Pat Day, and owner Cal Partee. After winning the Jim Beam stakes and finishing second in the Arkansas Derby, Lil E. Tee arrived at Churchill Downs to face a field of seventeen horses, including the highly acclaimed favorite, Arazi, a horse many people forecast to become the next Secretariat. A 17-to-1 longshot, Lil E. Tee won the Derby with a classic rally down the home stretch, and finally Pat Day had jockeyed a horse to Derby victory. John Eisenberg draws on more than fifteen years of sports writing experience and a hundred interviews throughout Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Florida, and Arkansas to tell the story almost nobody knew in 1992. Eisenberg is a sports columnist for the Baltimore Sun and has won more than twenty awards for his sports writing, including several Associated Press sports editors' first places."
Horse Talk is a collaboration of over 250 words or phrases dealing with Thoroughbred racing and training terminology, including jockey strategy, the important role of the exercise riders, and a bunch of fun slang terms that can only be explained by the author. A must for all racing enthusiasts or relatives and friends of Owners, trainers, riders, grooms, hot walkers, or anybody else that love Thoroughbred racing.
Hard drinking Colin O'Hearn is broke, trapped on the backside of Boston's Suffolk Downs. After a North End mobster buys him new horses to train, a trail of murders leads a Miami drug task force to O'Hearns stable door.
Taking care of a racehorse involves many facets—from keeping the horse happy to recognizing any signs of lameness to knowing how to muck a stall. Author T.A. Landers, a former master groom turned trainer, breaks down all aspects of racehorse care in a clear, concise, and comprehensive manner that will leave the reader with more confidence in handling these magnificent animals. Professional Care of the Racehorse provides photographs and detailed explanations of grooming, feeding, restraining, tacking, and handling racehorses. The book also explains the necessary equipment and its proper use and care. All of this thrown in together with a few tips on horse psychology makes it an excellent resource for anyone who works with horses.
New York City filmmaker Michael Jacobs, out of options after the failure of his third film, becomes caught up in a violent underworld when, lured by the promise of easy money, he agrees to be the public face of a plan by his producer Sebby Laslo to fix a horse race.
Maggie Estep’s critically praised heroine, Ruby Murphy, is back! Back in Coney Island with a bunch of endearing misfits, back at the racetrack ogling thoroughbreds, and back learning that, on the seamy side of the sport of kings, survival can be a long shot. Ruby’s life is nothing if not complicated: she’s spending a lot of her time worrying about a jockey named Attila Johnson; a good-hearted Teamster with a bad back; a neighbor who is suspicious of anything that moves; one very fat cat who craves raw meat; a missing FBI agent; an underused piano; a few fine horses—and the sure knowledge that somehow, somewhere, there is a killer among them.
