Customer Reviews

The Home Run Horse: Inside America's Billion-Dollar Racehorse Industry and the High-Stakes Dreams that Fuel It

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Anyone with an interest in horseracing will enjoy Glenye Cain's behind-the-scenes look at the thoroughbred industry; and newcomers to the sport will find plenty to entertain them in these pages too. Cain has an eye for the details that make vivid this self-contained and expensive world: the quirks of the owners, breeders, trainers and horses. She conveys the atmosphere of the sales ring as wealthy owners do battle, of a stud farm late at night as a mare gives birth, of Churchill Downs racecourse as trainers prepare their expensive and fragile charges for the Kentucky Derby. In love with the industry, she does not neglect its darker side. After reading The Home Run Horse, you'll watch horseracing with new insight and enthusiasm.

The author, Glenye Cain, has been covering Barbaro for The Daily Racing Form. She sent me her book after I had had a few conversations with her about Barbaro, a horse she adopted (indirectly) off the racetrack that had at one time been trained by Graham Motion, and horse related issues such as horse-slaughter. As someone closely involved in racing I enjoyed the book as it shed light on aspects of our industry in which I was less familiar (breeding / auctions etc). I do think, however, the book best serves those first learning about the thoroughbred industry and wanting to get a solid base of knowledge from which to then build. It is excellent.

A most interesting and arresting view of the Thoroughbred Horse Industry. Equally facinating to novice and experienced horsemen(women)alike. Horse racing at it's highest and lowest.

I loved this book. It explores the world of high rollers and horse lovers in an educational and extremely entertaining way. Moreover, it explains how horses most people have never heard of like Vindication can become a $10 million (or even $50 million dollar) business without winning a lot of races. It also exposes the underside of the high-stakes racehorse industry, which is that thousands of horses give their all and are rewarded by being sent to slaughterhouses. This happened to the great Exceller (who beat 2 Triple Crown winners: Affirmed and Seattle Slew) and Kentucky Derby winner, Ferdinand. Unlike many books on thoroughbreds, the writing is brisk and lively and fun to read. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves horses and horseracing.

This is a fantastic, well written book; I would recommend it to anyone who wants the inside on the thoroughbred horse industry

Horse racing is more than just a sport. It is a big business and this book captures the essence of how sport and business interact. Excellent overview of the origins of horse racing and an in-depth look at what makes the industry tick.

great information for the novice claimer purchaser whom dreams of winning the "big one" The Kentucky Derby 1st saturday in May.
For example Zenyatta was a 60,000 purchase with a defect in the coat that looks like "rain rot" at the auction and didn't race for some time. But look at her now.....eclipse Horse of the Year.

'The Home Run Horse' is a wide-ranging look behind the scenes of the Thoroughbred industry. It's well written, phenomenally interesting, and accessible, though it's probably of greatest interest to those who are already aficionados of horse racing.

Cain organizes her book into ten distinct chapters, each focused on a particular part of the 'home run horse' dream. We're introduced to horses in the classic races, then taken back to the highly industrialized thoroughbred factory farms to see where the real money gets made (at stud). Sections on current practices in the breeding shed, the foaling barn, and the sales ring are followed by chapters that discuss the perils of the track, different training practices, and the sometimes ignominious ends that even the champion horses have come to.

Of particular interest are the sections where she introduces the professionals who make their livings attempting to divine which yearlings will make successful runners. She introduces characters who fall into either the old-school 'eye for horseflesh' or the post-personal-computer 'datacruncher' camps, then proceeds to place them firmly in line with a procession of horsemen who have sought to predict the same horse characteristics for hundreds of years. Cain doesn't make more of things than they are, but its easy to feel awe for the eternal appeal of this sport.

Cain's prose is occasionally bogged down in the minutiae of sales prices and bloodlines, but I tend to think that's less a failure of the author than a natural result of the material. The material is slightly dated, as well, in that there was a particular emphasis placed on the horses running in 2003 and 2004 (Funny Cide, Smarty Jones, etc). Neither of these minor qualms detracted significantly from the reading experience, however, and on the whole I thought this was a quick and thoroughly entertaining read, full of valuable insights into my favorite sport.

I have fallen in love with race horses and read about them, visit them in Kentucky, watch all the major races and review races from way back when.