When I’ll Have Another (pictured) suffered a tendon injury and was pulled from the Belmont Stakes, hopes for a Triple Crown winner were dashed. Great excitement had been building up when I’ll Have Another won both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness: this could be the first Triple Crown winner in 34 years. But racing fans were not completely disappointed in the 144th Belmont Stakes. Union Rags, the seventh place finisher at the Kentucky Derby edged out Paynter at the finish line.
If you need some more racing excitement, consider borrowing some of these books –
- Nicholas Clee tells the story of an 18th century race horse in Eclipse: The Horse That Changed Racing History Forever.
- There is the inspiring story by Jack Eisenberg, The Longest Shot: Lil E. Tee and the Kentucky Derby.
- James Squires tells of a more recent experience in Horse of a Different Color: A Tale of Breeding Geniuses, Dominant Females, and the Fastest Derby Winner since Secretariat.
- Some general books on the subject include Elizabeth Mitchell’s Three Strides before the Wire, Robert Shoops’ Down to the Wire: The Lives of the Triple Crown Champions and Jane Smiley’s A Year at the Races.
For fictional coverage of the sport there are the books by the engaging storyteller and former jockey, Dick Francis or the Fern Michael’s series, Kentucky, which details the life of Nealy Coleman as she builds her Blue Diamond Farm.
And if a film about horse racing would be to your liking, don’t forget Seabiscuit in the media collection.
-posted by Brenda, Reference Services
The Syosset Public Library Blog 