Racing Reviews

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.

With the special charm of the British terminology adding to the fun of reading this book, Virginia writes a very clear and honest training plan for acheiving top results. Let's face it, the British know eventing, and Ginny holds nothing back in sharing all the proper steps and extra secrets to take a horse to the level he is capable of. As a ten year old guide, nothing is really dated,this book is perhaps even more useful now in balance with the confusion over safety on courses. Realistic and truly helpful!

When people see me on my Triumph Bonneville Special or 825cc Tiger they say things like:

"Great bike, must be hard to find parts for..."

or sometimes you'll get:

"I used to have one of those..."

Which is really the more appropriate response since Triumph and American motorcycling go hand in hand. This book really made it clear to me why I love Triumphs. It gives detailed descriptions of models which were constructed specifically for the American market. There are great pictures of cross country races in the California desert and road races at Daytona. The author really captures the competative relationship between the East coast and West coast Triumph dealers (who had seperate race teams) with biographies of the riders, mechanics and team managers who made motorcycle racing from the 40's to the 70's so exciting. I learned as much about the racers as I did about the modifications they made to their bikes (and now I can make to mine).

Great book for anyone who races vintage bikes or just loves the sound of a parallel twin!

Clyde Bolton has written a definitive novel about NASCAR, drivers and the lives of those on the periphery of the high-banked ovals. Best of all, he has written a book about racing. From the inside.

Seldom does a novel on any sport penetrate athlete's thoughts, feelings, highs and lows; Bolton has done that in TURN LEFT ON GREEN. He has managed to put aside the sportswriter's desk and bring out the novelist's table, a tricky feat, and create a well-written and informative story, which incorporates his knowledge of the sport without being intrusive.

TURN LEFT ON GREEN should be read not only by NASCAR enthusiasts, but also by anyone who enjoys the rhythm and passion of a good read.

Maj Ragain, Twist the Axe: A Horseplayer's Story (Bottom Dog Press, 2001)

Twist the Axe is the best book I've read this year, a conglomeration of Ragain's writings on racehorses and the culture surrounding them culled from many years of work. This book collects previously published and unpublished work, poems, stories, journals, and the odd drawing or two, pairing them with newspaper clippings, result charts, family trees, and just about anything else one could think of. Ragain can lay claim to being one of the ten or twenty best poets working in America today; his distinctive poetic style, the storytelling diction Williams tried and failed to achieve time after time, meshes with the juxtaposed images of hopeless, cheap horses and the memories they raise. On one level, of course, it's all about the horses; on another level, it's about the rest of life.

Ragain never makes the reader dig too far; there are layers beneath, of course, for those who want to pursue them, but the average John Q. will certainly be able to understand the connections in 'Morning Line;'

Jim Henson, father beard of muppets,
died of bacterial pneumonia, May 17, 1990.
The next day at Thistledown, fifth race,
a mare named Big Time Bird went off,
unacknowledged, at odds of 134 to 1.
Big Time Bird ran the race of her life,
drenched in and driven by grief,
the hot lasix of tears.
She finished second, a half length short,
beaten by a horse named Woman in Love.
You will never figure out this one.

This is one of those books that, if anyone outside the world of poetry knew of its existence, might have the power to draw thousands back into the fold. It is understandable, perfectly written, accessible not only to the poetry junkie but to the average reader. For most people, it's a pleasurable new world; for the chosen few who have been lucky enough to have been reading Ragain's books for longer, it will be another rest stop on the way to Paradise. They are all too few (this is Ragain's fifth book, with the first published in 1979), and should be eagerly devoured, once found. *****

The old saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words," is indeed appropriate to describe this wonderful book depicting the Vanderbilt Cup Race, scheduled to be contested for 300 miles on Columbus Day, October 12, 1936.

This photographic record of the event is filled with unique shots of the cars and participants at rest and at speed to totally familiarize the reader with a race format pitting the best of the Europeans against the top Americans.

Unfortunately, this dream of the Roosevelt Raceway management to create such a competition failed miserably due to the vast differences in the racing cars fielded by these two groups of Champions.

The Europeans instituted a "750 kg formula" in 1934 to limit speeds, but, in effect, the exact opposite results were realized. The cars regulated to a weight of 1,650 pounds void of the driver, liquids and tires were presumed to be limited to two or three liter engines in order to fit this size chassis package and thereby reduce top speeds and overall pe

Allan de la Plante has put together the most breath-taking collection you are ever likely to see of images, text, and stats about the career of Canadian racing legend Gilles Villeneuve. The large format action photos and intimate portraits take you back to the exciting days of Formula One racing in the late 70s and early 80s. There are amazing images of Gilles (including some with his family, amongst whom, of course, we see the 8-year-old (or thereabouts) Jacques who would become World Champion in 1997), as well as many of the other greats of the period: Niki Lauda, Mario Andretti, and many more. As if that's not enough, the CD-ROM contains amazing video captures, including the heart-stopping wheel-to-wheel battle between Gilles and René Arnoux at Dijon in 1979. I can't recommend this book too highly -- whether you are a Villeneuve fan or a general motorsports enthusiast, don't continue to live without it!

Miniature car racing is a thing of the past except for some beautiful old race cars and a few nostalgic followers. My grandfather was an avid racer and is mentioned in this book, which is how I came across it. My family has one copy which we pass around to remind us of "the old times". This is a wonderful book with all of the great names and the GREAT cars. It's good to see that all of the fun and work that went along with this sport is wonderfully captured to be remebered forever.

I took my 3 year old to a raceway where he enjoyed watching his first car race. Soon afterwards he picked out this book, and asks me to read it to him every night. It's just like being at the race track (except since it's a kid's book, it downplays the accidents and crashes). A great book for kids, and has colorful cartoon pictures of multi-colored racecars. Also helpful in teaching how to count.

This is THE best guide that I have ever come across in regards to wagering on horses and greyhounds. It is a must have book for any novice gambler, explaining every type of wager, defining track terms, and providing a guide of tracks of North America.

While the book is a must have for beginners, even most veteran gamblers would find this book quite beneficial. Mr. Andersen begins his book with the most basic of wagering information and progresses into more exotic wagers which would provide much needeed insight to all but the most seasoned gamblers.

There is an entire section devoted to wagering tables. I have found this to be quite indispensible while at the track trying to calculate how much a particular exotic bet will cost. I never go out to the track without this "tool".

The only complaint that I had with this book initially, was that I thought it was a greyhound handicapping book. It covers horses as well as greyhounds and definately is NOT a handicapping book. With that stated, I was very pleasantly surprised at all the wonderful information contained in this book and am happy to have made this particular "mistake". I would definately recommend this book to wagerers at any level.