Customer Reviews

Horseplayers: Life at the Track

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Ted McLelland, Horseplayers: Life at the Track (Chicago Review Press, 2005)

Ted McLelland devotes a whole chapter of this book to a friend of mine. Cool.

The obsessive reader of books on horseplaying (which is a very small group of people; in fact, it may well only contain me) needs to take a break from handicapping tomes and huge books of mathematical formulae every once in a while and read something about the equine and human sides of the sport. The former is less sparsely populated with truly great material, though Jane Schwartz' Ruffian: Burning from the Start, which is finally back in print on a steady basis, certainly fits the bill. The human side has been covered somewhat better, from the academic (John Rosencrance's thoroughly engrossing and entertaining The Degenerates of Lake Tahoe) to the poetic (Bill Barich's masterpiece Laughing in the Hills). Horseplayers: Life at the Track is a fine addition to the literature of the human side of horse racing.

McLelland's book, actually, reads kind of like Rosencrance's, but with a plot and human names (or, in many cases, nicknames) plastered on the characters. You will meet the down-and-out, the desperate, the obsessed, the obsessive, the compulsive, the bum, the mathematician, and others. In fact, you'll meet pretty much every type of social outcast there is. (There's even a religious fanatic, though certainly the most likable one I've come across in print recently.) The one thing you'll lack is a truly well-rounded normal person, but then, the track doesn't seem to attract too many of them. Assuming they even exist. (We all have our faults, yes?) Even if you're not a big reader of nonfiction, if you like your books full of quirky characters, believe me, you're going to get a kick out of this book. And you may even pick up some tips on how to operate at your local track. (Here's a starter: stooping is not a good idea.)

Looking for a fun, fast-paced read this summer? If so, odds are you'll love this book. The author, Ted McClelland, spends a year as part of a fascinating subculture -- people desperately searching for the edge it takes to make a living betting on horses, whether it's searching the grandstand floor for winning tickets that were discarded by mistake, developing a new handicapping system, or just doing what your gut tells you. McClelland introduces readers to the regulars at Chicago's horse tracks, from grifters to whales (big-time betters). The book is much more than a series of character profiles, though, because the characters are McClelland's friends, mentors, confidants, and foils as he searches for his own edge.

I can attest that you don't have to be a horse racing aficionado to enjoy Horseplayers, you just have to appreciate excellent writing. McClelland has a reporter's eye for detail, a novelist's skill with metaphor and character development, and a humorist's wit and sense of timing. He also throws in historical tidbits and wonderful literary references for good measure. It is a truly great read.

This is a great book that provides a valuable and in-depth view of horse racing, the colorful characters that frequent race tracks and how the industry operates. It takes us on a search to find the holy grail of making money in horse racing and comes up with some pretty surprising and unexpected answers.

The book's audience should be far wider than just people who bet on horses, as the lessons and insights can be applied in many other areas, eg. stock trading to name just one.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and could not put it down until I had finished it -- and this from someone who has never placed a bet on a horse or been to a horse race track.

As someone who plays the horses for a living, I must say Ted McClelland's "Horseplayers: Life at the Track" is an accurate and entertaining portryal of the day-in-and-day-out machinations of the thoroughbred industry. Ted truly immerses himself in the lifestyle of professional horeplayers. The book is well-written, full of clever and witty lines and extremely insightful. It is a must-read for professional horseplayers, anyone considering a foray into handicapping or sports fans in general. I literally couldn't put down the book once I started reading it, it was that freakin' good.

Every writer hopes for that one book that will define their career. Capote had his " Cold Blood" and Lee her "Mockingbird". And now Ted McClelland lands his with "Horseplayer". Yes, in it's own genre it is just that good. For anyone who ever dared to the grandstand side of the track. For anyone who ever revered Newman and Gleason dueling it out at Ames Billiards. For anyone that wondered what happened to the wagering in Seabiscuit. This is the otherside. "This is Ames Mr". No racing fan or handicapper that's worn the proud hand stains of Form print should be without a copy.

Anyone looking for information on how to handicap will be disappointed. But that's not the author's intent anyway.

It's a phenomenal portrait of life at the track with the weekday regulars--the guys in ratty clothing with ever-present ciagarettes or cigars who you know are there every day. The characters are rich and captured beautifully in a book that is at times funny, at times sad, always poignant and best of all, dead on the mmoney.

Ted McClelland puts cash in the kitty and takes a year to explore the real world of handicapping the races....from the cheap seats at Hawthorne Race Course to the splendor of Arlington Park and at tracks throughout the country.

In Horseplayers, McClelland shares the thrill of cashing the tickets with the nice payouts and the struggles of searching for that one needed winner in the last race, along with the dreams and frustrations of regular fans who find life at the track.

There is the husband and wife who have different handicapping strategies, the railbird with a theory that makes calculus seem easy, the fan who looks for cashable tickets left on counters and the veteran who rumor has it is now not welcome in one facility.

It is a journey away from the million-dollar races, world-class stables and majestic runners adding new pages to the history books. These regulars - who are found with comparable stories at any track - are more at home seeking out that big play with the hard-knocking claimers on a Thursday afternoon than elbowing through the crowd on Triple Crown simulcast days or on bobblehead giveaway weekends in the summer. And Family Days? Forget it.

Though there aren't as many fans going through the gates as in "The Golden Era" of racing, they are as dedicated and have as many conspiracy theories about why that runner should not have stopped in the deep stretch, unless the jocks were doing something - somehow - to fix the outcome.

And that is what makes Horseplayers such a great read; because life is about trying to get that edge, playing the odds and cashing the winning ticket at the end of the day. And if the "sure thing" doesn't hit the board, there is always tomorrow.

McClelland's book really makes you feel like you are at the track. It reads like a fiction story, intertwining details on colorful track personalities with the author's never-ending quest to find a successful betting strategy in a year spent primarily at Chicago racing tracks.

This is not a book solely for people who like horse racing or go to the track. I'm not a big horse racing fan, but found McClelland's vivid portrayal of life at the track a compelling read, and left me wanting more. In fact, shortly after finishing Horseplayers I read Seabiscuit, and I enjoyed Horseplayers much more.

The premise alone invites envy and curiosity. What aspiring writer would not wish to be paid for the priviledge of researching and writing about his own vice and be given a year to do it. The author's grasp of the material gives credibility even to his introduction to the world of thoroughbreds. His exposure of the invisible(to the ordinary visitor to the track)cadre of inveterate bettors is a real introduction to the pecking order and the order of intellect. From the railbirds to the racing form studiers tucked away in their respective hideouts waiting to make their move the author brings them to life.

As one who has followed the racing scene for over forty years and has spent a lot of time on the back of track I will admit to learning much more about what distinguishes horseplayers from handicappers and the art of betting the bettors and not the horses.

I look forward to his next book. Apparently another paid for vacation to explore the third coast. Another very clever premise.

Congratulations to the author.

This is a fun book for the literate two-dollar bettor or for anyone whose pulse quickens when they hear the words "Breeders Cup" or "Kentucky Derby." Mr. McClelland really captures the variety and perseverance of the dedicated handicappers who make the track their second home. I grew up going to the track with my father, and have met the same types at tracks in the midwest and Florida years ago. (Maybe old horseplayers don't die -- they just go to another meet?) Some of the characters and vignettes are funny, some poignant; and all are well-written and very entertaining. Damon Runyon would have loved it!