My Racing Heart: The Passionate World of Thoroughbreds and the Track [Hardcover]

Nan Mooney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 16, 2002

When Nan Mooney was seven years old, she sat down in her grandmother May-May's living room to watch her first ever horse race. In that single afternoon, she launched what would become a turbulent romance between a woman and a sport.

My Racing Heart is part memoir, part journey into the compelling world of Thoroughbred horse racing. At its heart is Nan's relationship with her grandmother, an adventurer, racing connoisseur, and woman of courage and compassion. May-May fostered in Nan a love of Thoroughbreds and the track, ushering her into a rare corner of the world where risk taking is daily currency.

Nan thought her emotional link to the races died with May-May, only to have it roar back to life a decade later at New York's Belmont Park. This renewed relationship culminates in a grown-up appreciation for a universe where expectations are constantly defied, and in the realization of a longtime dream -- a trip to the Kentucky Derby.

Far more than just a personal tale, My Racing Heart lets readers in on the wild culture and fabulous creatures that rise up around the racetrack. Nan Mooney probes every aspect of the sport: the horses, jockeys, and trainers, the gambling and corruption, its ages-old history, and its forever offbeat society. She takes readers from the backstretch of a small-town track to the stands at Churchill Downs, from the mind of an intrepid gambler to the soul of a Thoroughbred. She explores how the sport itself, and the men and women who participate in it, flourish upon the principle that there are no sure things.

My Racing Heart will speak to every horse lover, to every sports nut, and to everyone who cherishes the thrill of possibility or has ever craved a place to run wild. This unique and exquisite memoir perfectly captures the lure, the glory, and the heartbeat of the track.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This thoroughbred horse-racing memoir repeats much of what has been previously written about racing; it describes how race horses are bred, raced, and disposed of and offers anecdotes about jockeys, trainers, owners, and grooms. However, this account is unique in that Mooney tells how she came to love racing at her grandmother's knee, how her relationships with her grandmother and racing developed side by side, and how she gave up her passion for racing for a time after her grandmother's death. Mooney explains how, despite some of the sport's negative aspects, she loves the beauty and unpredictability of the horses, the risks and the excitement, and the fact that racing has both never-changing and ever-changing aspects. Mooney writes for the Blood-Horse, the journal of record for thoroughbred horse racing. Readers who enjoyed Joe Drape's The Race for the Triple Crown (LJ 4/15/01) and John McEvoy's Women in Racing: In Their Own Words (LJ 9/01/01) will appreciate this one. Recommended for medium to large public libraries and libraries with racing collections. Patsy E. Gray, Huntsville P.L., AL

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The author received an ideal introduction to Thoroughbred racing at the hands of a beloved and highly knowledgeable grandmother while she was growing up in Seattle. Now a respected writer for the Blood Horse, racing's journal of record, she offers the next best thing to her readers. Mooney weaves the stories of a wide array of racetrack characters, both human and equine, past and present, through her own reminiscences of the track. Though mindful of the sport's many problems, from the toll it takes on overmedicated horses to the declining attendance at almost every track, she communicates her abiding passion for racing on every page. Mooney's deeply felt book will remind lapsed fans of what they are missing and prod the simply curious to investigate what it is about this uniquely participatory spectator sport that can inspire such love. Dennis Dodge
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Harper; 1st edition (April 16, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060198532
• ISBN-13: 978-0060198534
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,361,246 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read- Buying for every young woman I know, May 19, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: My Racing Heart: The Passionate World of Thoroughbreds and the Track (Hardcover)

I read "Seabiscuit" last summer, and I have never been on a horse. I heard an interview with the author, and I picked it up. I also took a gamble on Nan Mooney's "My Racing Heart", and was not disappointed. Her voice jumps off the page- fierce and wounded and powerful. She brought me back to a time that I had forgotten, when we choose to change, and give up a part of oursleves. I found so much honesty in these pages, about how girls grow up, and who we pretend to be. The wild child in Miss Mooney's book, is so loveable, difficult, and frustratingly stuck. Her portrait of her grandmother conjured so many fantasies of these old Pioneer women.. I wanted to have this woman show me how to ride a horse, and live a life. I want to buy this book for every girl going through these years ( 14- 40??) of reclaiming that sense of danger and adventure, and LIFE. Such a great read- perfect for a summer of reflection and adventure.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I knew nothing about horses but just love to read, May 26, 2002

By 

Leah Long (Phoenix, Arizona) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Racing Heart: The Passionate World of Thoroughbreds and the Track (Hardcover)

I never rode a horse and probably never will. But I love a good story and I love beautiful language. My Racing Heart is both. The author's story is compelling not only because the horse information was previously unknown to me, but because we all have someone in our lives that was an inspiration--like the author's grandmother. Also, the verbage of the book itself was exceptional--gorgeous, interesting sentences that leapt off the page. The author has a flowing, vivid, picturesque writing style that keeps you reading.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amorous and Intriguing, May 20, 2002

By 

Carrie Plank (Brooklyn, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Racing Heart: The Passionate World of Thoroughbreds and the Track (Hardcover)

Nan Mooney's "My Racing Heart" provides a box seat view into the world of horse racing. It is an amorous tale of a woman and her grandmother's passions for Thoroughbred horses. It is an intriguing story, full of history and honesty. After reading the book I have developed a respect and an understanding for the Thoroughbred horse racing world that I had never had before!