Kirjahaku

In Head to Head, award-winning writer Lenny Shulman offers highlights from the best interviews he has conducted throughout his twenty-year career covering Thoroughbred horse racing. In that time, he has coaxed the innermost thoughts out of the sport's most notable headline-makers. It was to Shulman that Helen "Penny" Chenery, owner of Secretariat, publicly revealed for the first time the mistakes she made with her superstar colt. Arthur Hancock III shared with him his feelings of being banished from his family's Claiborne Farm, and his pride in succeeding on his own with the great Sunday Silence. Owner Paul Reddam poured out his hopes and fears to Shulman in the hour before realizing his dream of winning the Kentucky Derby with I'll Have Another. Head to Head offers insights from men and women who reached the top levels of success in all aspects of the sport of kings and documents the history of the Thoroughbred racing industry over a roughly fifty-year period. Shulman takes readers behind the scenes with industry legends (including Chenery, James E. "Ted" Bassett III, Bobby Frankel, Tony Leonard, Cot Campbell, Tom Durkin, and Bob Baffert), owners, trainers, veterinarians, and even celebrities such as Sam Shepard, Bo Derek, and Jenny Craig. A special section highlights the women of the Thoroughbred world and features interviews with Helen Alexander, Charlsie Cantey, Barbara Banke, Josephine Abercrombie, Maggi Moss, Charlotte Weber, and Marylou Whitney.Touching on some of the greatest horses and greatest races the sport has ever seen, this engaging book serves as an important oral history of the sport and the industry. At the same time, it will be a guide for new generations of enthusiasts who are interested in learning from some of horse racing's most successful luminaries.

Jockeys perform the most perilous job in sports yet are among the most underrated athletes in the world. They put their lives on the line every time they get on a horse, often riding seven or eight horses a day, five days a week. Most must diet to keep their weight at levels lower than the average twelve-year-old boy, yet they need immense strength to control thousand-pound Thoroughbreds. A select group of riders has risen to the top of their sport, sought after by racing's leading owners and trainers and paired with the sport's greatest equine stars. In Ride of Their Lives, Lenny Shulman profiles riders whose love of racing and desire to win have propelled them to the top echelon their profession. Pat Day, Gary Stephens, Jerry Bailey, Corey Nakatani, and Laffit Pincay, Jr. are among the jockeys who share their stories of how they became race riders and what it is like to deal with the pressures of riding fragile, willful racehorses at top speeds day in and day out. They also tell what it is like to win the Kentucky Derby and just miss capturing the Triple Crown. In this updated edition, Shulman profiles Kendrick Carmouche, who had five straight seasons with more than 200 victories and in 2021 became the first Black jockey to compete in the Kentucky Derby in seven years.

As a son of Seattle Slew and a grandson of Secretariat, both Triple Crown winners, A.P. Indy was destined for racing glory. But he still had to go out and earn it. Overcoming physical ailments that would have stopped lesser athletes, A.P. Indy won the Belmont Stakes and Breeders' Cup Classic to become 1992's Horse of the Year. His influence continued to be unmatched after retiring from the track. Standing stud at his birthplace, Lane's End Farm in Versailles, Kentucky, A.P. Indy sired progeny that became and produced some of the best racehorses on the planet. A.P. Indy details this extraordinary Thoroughbred's life and how he impacted an entire industry along the way. Author Lenny Shulman captures his personal connection to A.P. Indy as well as the stories of those who shaped A.P. Indy's incredible ride—including his trainer, owners, breeders, groom, and jockey—inviting readers into never-before-seen dynamics of the stall, track, and paddock. A.P. Indy is a generation-leading yearling, champion racehorse, and breed-shaping stallion whose heroic journey reveals how greatness is made.

As a son of Seattle Slew and a grandson of Secretariat, both Triple Crown winners, A.P. Indy was destined for racing glory. But he still had to go out and earn it. Overcoming physical ailments that would have stopped lesser athletes, A.P. Indy won the Belmont Stakes and Breeders' Cup Classic to become 1992's Horse of the Year. His influence continued to be unmatched after retiring from the track. Standing stud at his birthplace, Lane's End Farm in Versailles, Kentucky, A.P. Indy sired progeny that became and produced some of the best racehorses on the planet. A.P. Indy details this extraordinary Thoroughbred's life and how he impacted an entire industry along the way. Author Lenny Shulman captures his personal connection to A.P. Indy as well as the stories of those who shaped A.P. Indy's incredible ride—including his trainer, owners, breeders, groom, and jockey—inviting readers into never-before-seen dynamics of the stall, track, and paddock. A.P. Indy is a generation-leading yearling, champion racehorse, and breed-shaping stallion whose heroic journey reveals how greatness is made.

With a trademark powerful stride amid a blaze of red and yellow silks, Justify emphatically crossed the finish line at the 2018 Belmont Stakes and became just the 13th winner of horse racing's elusive Triple Crown. One of the most charismatic and talented runners in the history of the sport, Justify was also one of its most unlikely champions; the late-blooming chestnut colt made his competitive debut only 111 days prior to that legendary victory. In Justify: 111 Days to Triple Crown Glory, veteran scribe Lenny Shulman (BloodHorse magazine) provides an insider account of this Thoroughbred’s rise to greatness. Through extensive interviews and first-hand accounts, readers will discover the fascinatingly disparate cast of characters who were crucial to Justify’s success, including trainer Bob Baffert, whose innate ability to identify equine talent also produced American Pharoah; Mike Smith, the 52-year-old jockey asserting himself in the miraculous third act of his career; and breeders John and Tanya Gunther, who believed in Justify’s ability despite the developmental imperfections that drove buyers away. Packed with riveting action, keen insight, and behind-the-scenes perspectives on quieter figures like silent investors, international stakeholders, and unheralded training staff, Justify is an illuminating look at the modern Thoroughbred industry and an essential story for the ages.

In 2019, the NFL issued a list of football's one hundred greatest game-changers, and among the legendary athletes and coaches was one broadcaster: Phyllis George. The first female anchor of a major network sports show, George broke the glass ceiling in sports journalism and embodied the complexities of the women's movement of the 1970s. As a young woman, George first hit the media radar in 1971 when she won the crown of Miss America and toured the world. While many in the budding feminist movement looked down on the pageant queen, George parlayed her success into a television career and excelled in sports journalism. While she was not immune to criticism, George was never deterred by the complainants and constantly showed her inner strength and perseverance. Through the decades she cultivated a reputation as one of the most respected and strong-willed players in the rough and tumble businesses of sports and network news, breaking through the glass ceiling in one of the most male-driven industries in the world. She was a pioneer who helped pave the way for a new generation of female broadcasters. A published author in her own right and champion of the arts, George remained a stalwart advocate for female empowerment until her death in 2020. In Phyllis George: Shattering the Ceiling authors Lenny Shulman and Paul Volponi trace George's evolution from Miss America to professional broadcaster, to arts advocate, author, philanthropist, and also as First Lady of Kentucky who was instrumental in getting her husband, John Y. Brown Jr., elected Governor of that state. George's life was defined by her professionalism, her strength of character, and her uncanny ability to leave an indelible impression on all she met.

Great Horse Racing Mysteries digs beneath the surface of some of the sport's most intriguing cases, including the death by poisoning of the great Australian champion Phar Lap; the shooting of William Woodward by his wife Ann, owners of the great horse Nashua; the disqualification of 1960 Derby winner Dancer's Image (was he drugged?); the theft and disappearance in 1983 of Shergar, Europe's best-known racehorse and stallion; and the scandalous financial collapse of Calumet Farm after the death by euthanasia of Alydar, one of the world's most successful sires. McEvoy researched several unsolved mysteries of the racing world-- murder...suicide...arson...fraud--and recounts some of horse racing's strangest, most fascinating tales.