Thursday, March 31, 2016

book review.... ("Seabiscuit")

...by Laura Hillenbrand. About a race horse from the 1930's. A really well researched and entertaining story. I am sure lots of the info., such as quotes by owners, trainers and jockeys were published in media, with a great deal of coverage by journalists looking for eye-catching news. With time and dedicated reading, some digging into archives there is probably a trove of history readily available to unearth and organize.

I have never followed horse racing, but expect you can make and loose a tremendous amount of money wagering on winners as well as losers. As close I have ever been: small town rodeos and barrel racing girls on pinto ponies. The story (which I listened to on Cd's while driving) was fascinating, with this unlikely horse,  not bred for competition or with a form that would give the appearance of a serious competitor, being unexpectedly a determined and fierce force to be reckoned with. The race tracks the high stakes horses run on are usually ovals, a distance measured in 'furlongs', of a mile and a fourth. Biscuit was a crowd favorite, loved by the masses and closely followed by the media. With a early version of the paparazzi peeking into stalls, hiding behind shrubbery, investigating every aspect of a equine life.

I got the feeling his success as a race horse was largely due to the 'horse sense' of the man who saw something in his form no one else could see and took him on to develop him into remarkable story. He had several accidents in his racing career, disappeared from the news and the public eye. Then came back healed, intact, stronger than before, winning more races. There were a series of surprising comebacks when most expected his career was over.

Very enjoyable story.

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