The Gambler and the Bug Boy: 1939 Los Angeles and the Untold Story of a Horse Racing Fix [Hardcover]

John Christgau (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2007

“Scandal on the Turf!” the Los Angeles Times proclaimed. It was October 1940, a mere few months after Seabiscuit had won the Santa Anita Derby, and now this bombshell: “Six Jockeys Admit Horse Races Fixed.”

 

The Gambler and the Bug Boy recounts this dark chapter in horse racing history. At its center is Bernard “Big” Mooney, a flashy L.A. bookmaker who began his seedy career by threatening young jockeys with death if they didn’t “pull” their horses. His unwilling partner is Albert Siler, a callow, eighteen-year-old apprentice rider (a so-called bug boy) from eastern Oregon. John Christgau tells how Big Mooney manipulated this promising rider and how Siler tried to escape the gambler’s criminal grip without ruining his career. Christgau's book gives all the harrowing details of the unraveling plot and the botched court case that followed which riveted the attention of the nation. Told in full for the first time, this story brings to light a little-known but important horse racing scandal.

(20071008)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Christgau unveils the dark underbelly of late 1930s horse racing in this melancholy, occasionally meandering history. Early on we meet Albert Siler, aka "Prince Albert," an 18-year-old with stars in his eyes and a stunning horse racing debut: the first day he rode a thoroughbred, he "won five races that afternoon." Professional horse racing takes him to a California racetrack where he runs into Barney "Big" Mooney, a flamboyant professional gambler in "fancy suits and a fedora," who combines the lure of easy money with strong-armed tactics to enlist Al and other young jockeys in a race-fixing scheme. The result was the "worst scandal in racing in 50 years," what one attorney called "the contamination of the sport of kings." Christgau is skilled at making memorable characters from his subjects, so much so that he wastes significant space developing characters with little bearing on the story, and an abrupt, pat ending will leave readers scratching their heads. Though inconsistent, history-minded handicappers will find much to appreciate.
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Review

"One could almost think that this entertaining work by Christgau . . . is a novel if it weren''t for the 40 pages of citations at the back. . . . Recommended . . . for those enjoying character-driven historical true crime."—Library Journal

(Amy Ford Library Journal 20071001)

"Christgau is skilled at making memorable characters from his subjects. . . . [H]istory-minded handicappers will find much to appreciate."—Publishers Weekly Web Exclusive

(Publishers Weekly Web Exclusive 20090322)

“[T]his fascinating story of gambling and corruption has not yet been told. Fortunately, John Christgau brings the title characters into light and sets the stage effectively. . . . [A] well-researched piece that recounts a great story of intrigue in a place filled with mystery.”—True West

(Jason Strykowski True West 20061212)

"Christgau tells this true crime story with skill, providing plenty of intrigue and suspense, and reminding anyone interested in racing why ''suspicion [is] as much a part of horse racing as hope.''"—Laurie A. Sterling, Aethlon

(Laurie A. Sterling Aethlon )

“In his customary fashion, John Christgau has spun an engrossing tale, rich in salient detail and peopled with memorable characters. From the starting gate to the finish line, The Gambler and the Bug Boy is a winner.”—Jay Feldman, author of When the Mississippi Ran Backwards and Suitcase Sefton and the American Dream

(Jay Feldman )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 254 pages
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press; 1St Edition edition (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803211228
• ISBN-13: 978-0803211223
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #286,248 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #83 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Individual Sports > Horses > Racing

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Six Men Out, January 5, 2008

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This review is from: The Gambler and the Bug Boy: 1939 Los Angeles and the Untold Story of a Horse Racing Fix (Hardcover)

In what could be described as devastating a blow to the Thoroughbred industry as the Black Sox was to pro baseball, six jockeys admitted that races were being fixed in a West Coast scandal nearly 70 years ago which became a national sensation.

And as with the Black Sox, the turf scheme features a flamboyant wise guy, naive athletes and a fumbling, bumbling judicial system that seemingly could not clearly remove fact from fiction.

Author John Christgau delivers a solid stretch drive to blow the dust off a forgotten chapter in "The Sport of Kings," with the action focused on Los Angeles-based bookmaker Bernard "Big" Mooney and his reluctant partner, Albert Siler.

Siler fits the profile Mooney is looking for in a patsy: a teen-age, apprentice jockey, who can be easily manipulated through threats of death. Mooney would demand that jockeys like Siler "pull" their horses during a fixed race; which is holding the runners back from doing their best, while making it appear the equine athlete and jockey are trying as hard as they can for the win.

Siler tries to extricate from the web of deceit without destroying his professional career, which was the longest shot in this oftentimes complicated tote board of criminals, characters and creeps who all wanted a piece of the action, until the plot unravels to a shocking conclusion.

This is a slice of American History during an era when Seabiscuit reigned supreme, while other talented racers were reined in from chasing turf immortality through immoral ways.