Horse Racing

All his life, award-winning journalist and author Andrew Rule has watched the heroes and villains of racing: dreamers and schemers, winners and losers, horses and riders. In Chance, he distils the daring, the desperation and danger of the track into a bravura account of some of A...ustralian racing's most famous and infamous moments, its celebrations and its secrets, the grittiness of the gambling life behind the glitz and glamour. With an ear for the colloquial, the humorous and the absurd, and an eye for physical bravery and financial folly, Rule shows how racing still defines part of the Australian character. Here are stories of those who set the odds and those who take them, of miraculous wins, 'plunges' planned more carefully than bank robberies, of tricky trainers, reckless jockeys and bold bookmaking dynasties. From the master farrier who fixes a lame horse's feet and lands a fortune, to the broke punter who turns loose change into the price of a house in a few crowded hours, to the tycoon who takes down the Waterhouses for a million bucks. Tough and tender and darkly funny, these stories transcend the gaming industry they call the sport of kings.
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In Life As I Know It, Michelle Payne tells her deeply moving story. Michelle was put on a horse aged four. At five years old her dream was to win the Melbourne Cup, and at thirty she rode into history as the first female jockey to win the Cup.

Under the mastership of Aidan O'Brien, Ballydoyle has become the Mecca of thoroughbred horse training. Now, for the first time, readers can explore the legendary stables which have produced champions such as Yeats, Galileo and the Rock of Gibraltar.

Ron Taylor's broad involvement with horse racing from 1948, when he began his journalistic career, to the present day has given him a knowledge of the sport and its participants that is unique in the industry today. He has seen all the champion horses who have performed during th...at 73-year period and has met and spoken with most of their trainers and jockeys. In Racing Ron his exclusive interviews and conversations with some of those participants gives you an insight into their characters you have never read before. He tells you of his personal dealings with such heroes of the sport as Bart Cummings, Roy Higgins, Tommy Smith and George Moore, and how he came to call them all his friends. But this book is not just about his life and times as a racing writer. It covers many aspects of his life and career including his time living in Tuscany that offers an insight into Italy you won't find in a brochure, and some amazing anecdotes from his nearly 20 years as a Tour Leader for racing tours around the world. You won't believe the antics some of the tourists got up to, and the worries and tribulations he sometimes endured before bringing those tours to a successful conclusion.
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Kevin Chong has grand plans. He draws up a to-do list of major milestones that will give him the life he always wanted--and the life that will inspire awe and envy in his friends. Things like settling down and starting a family; learning a foreign language; getting a tattoo. But ...these grand plans go out the window when Chong makes an unconventional decision: he's going to buy a racehorse. Not the whole thing--he'll become part--owner of the horse. Just don't ask him which part. Thus Chong meets Blackie, the racehorse that will win his heart, even if she doesn't always win on the track. He meets Rosie, the cantankerous and foul-mouthed horse trainer with a heart of gold. He meets an assorted array of characters who work, live and drink at the track--and, one by one, the items on his to-do list are crossed out and replaced with horse-related ambitions. His goals are a bit more humble (cussing like a track worker replaces learning a foreign language), but his life has gained new meaning. The story is infused with the noise, excitement and faded glamour of the horse-racing world. It is strewn with fascinating tidbits about the history and tradition of this venerable sport. It is laced with Chong's characteristic blistering wit. And, ultimately, it is the very moving tale of a young man's discovery that a meaningful life can arise from the most unexpected of circumstances.
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