Customer Reviews

Great Horse Racing Mysteries: True Tales from the Track

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Wow! You can tell this author was a newspaperman, yet this book reads like fiction. You don't have to be a racing fan to love this book, though if you are, you will enjoy the constant stream of racing stats - stuff you always wanted to know or stuff you forgot. It makes you want to take McEvoy out for dinner and pick his brain about all things racing. Each chapter is a roller coaster ride - you might not solve the mystery, but it's a wild ride. See the Woodward chapter. It makes Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio's marriage look like a walk in the park! The story unfolds like a movie in your mind. All the chapters are told with juicy details and multiple perspectives. Pray for a follow up book.

I have been a Thoroughbred racing fan for 35 years, and have been reading about racing almost as long. "Great Horse Racing Mysteries" ranks as one of the most enjoyable and informative books I have read on the subject. It combines the reportorial depth of "Wild Ride" with the breezy reading ease of Jane Smiley's "Horse Heaven" with the comforting sense of authenticity and historical perspective that Dick Francis provides. McEvoy clearly knows his sport, and respects it for what it is--a whacky, wonderdful, delightfully seedy, heart-tugging world unto its own. I highly recommend this effort to anyone who loves racing.

Great Horse Racing Mysteries: True Tales From The Track presents true stories of crime, unsolved puzzles, and cases that remain debated to the present day concerning the world of horse racing. Tales of murder, suicide, arson, fraud, and animal kidnapping reveal the dark side of this popular sport. Luridly revealing the worst in human nature in the racing and racehorse raising profession and keeps a tight grip on the reader's attention and does not let go.

From Eclipse Press and John McEvoy comes one of the most intriguing horse racing books to date. Some of the tales you will find within the book seem too amazing to be true. And the scary part is, they are true. Every single word is true. What's more is that the mysteries go unsolved. You will have to form your own opinion of what happened based on the fine detailed print McEvoy gives you to base it on. The book has great amazing cliffhangers that leave you wondering til the end of time. Great for mind stimulation and concept. Very well-researched and a very entertaining read. This novel is highly reccommended.

I'm a "mystery" fan and this book kept my attention. I really enjoyed gaining knowledge of the horse-racing industry. I only wish there were more stories in this book. The book ended too soon.

This is an objective look at some of the biggest mysteries in the horse world. Unlike many writers, the author doesn't slant for or against...he puts the facts there. What do you believe? Is Shergar alive? Was Pharlap the victim of a tragic error? Mysteries, history and horses in one book. Worth the time to read.

Stories in this book were very interesting. Because they haven't been solved for the most part, there is a lot of speculation. They will make you think though :)

"Great Horse Racing Mysteries" was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Award for best mystery/suspense book of 2000. It presents twelve true racetrack mysteries in chronological order beginning in 1932 with the death of Phar Lap, the great Australian Thoroughbred who won his first and only race in the United States before his mysterious demise. The author interviewed the few remaining eyewitnesses to Phar Lap's spectacular American debut, including Noble Threewit who is still involved with horses at age ninety-two. (I hope someone names a good horse after Noble Threewit---one of the most euphonious monikers in racing. Hint to Thoroughbred breeders: Clyde Van Dusen was named after a trainer, and both trainer and gelding went on to win the 1929 Kentucky Derby).

Anyway, Phar Lap was put on display in a Melbourne museum, and John McEvoy has presented a very detailed and even-handed account of his death. Did the "Australian Man O'War" die of arsenic poisoning? Was the poisoning deliberate, or was he put out to graze on grass that had been sprayed with insecticide? The author presents all of the remaining pieces of this fascinating puzzle.

There are other mysterious deaths in "Great Horse Racing Mysteries": a trainer; jockeys; a racing commission official; William Woodward, the owner of Nashua, who was shot by his own wife; the decline and fall of Calumet Farm after the death of the stallion Alydar.

McEvoy, a former reporter for the "Daily Racing Form" also describes two Thoroughbred kidnappings, a racetrack arson, and two stories involving the possible drugging of Derby horses---one to help the horse win, and another to make the horse lose.

The latter story was a shocker for me, because the horse involved was Holy Bull, one of my favorite Thoroughbreds. The eventual 1984 horse of the year, "ran the worst race of his life in the Derby, a departure from form so startling and disturbing as to raise numerous questions in its aftermath. His horrified owner-trainer [Jimmy Croll] subsequently became convinced this dismal effort resulted from the fleet gray colt's having been drugged prior to the Derby."

Once again, the author presents all of the evidence. Even great Thoroughbreds throw in a clunker now and then. But Holy Bull was not only fast, he was courageous. As Tom Dawson of ESPN's 'Racing Across America' series said, "It's so hard to get the horses with the talent and charisma...[Holy Bull] was the real thing."

If Holy Bull was drugged before the Derby---well, I'm glad to see him doing so well at stud. His son, Macho Uno won the Breeder's Cup Juvenile and an Eclipse award last year, giving Holy Bull's true fans the hope that one of his get will win the Kentucky Derby in some future May, and wipe away the only spot of tarnish on their sire's racing record.

"Great Horse Racing Mysteries" should appeal to horse lovers and mystery fans alike. It is a well-researched, thrilling page-turner.

Ripped off by Amazon. Maximum price of this book was $24.95 new through the vendor Half.com. Amazon charged $38.94. Shame on me for trusting Amazon. It will not happen again because I am closing my account with these rip off artists. Be very careful before you purchase from this company.