Wild Ride: The Rise and Tragic Fall of Calumet Farm Inc., America's Premier Racing Dynasty [Paperback]

Ann Hagedorn Auerbach (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 1995

Using many never-reported facts, award-winning writer Anne Hagedorn Auerbach chronicles the compelling and tragic story behind the downfall of Thoroughbred racing's crown jewel.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Journalist Auerbach untangles the spiderweb of financial machinations that enveloped, consumed, and ultimately destroyed one of the most famous horseracing stables in the world. Through three generations of the Wright family, Calumet led, lost, and regained its preeminence as a breeding farm and racing stable only to lose everything, including the family's fortune, in the fourth generation. Chronicling the history of Calumet and its fall into the depths of massive debt, this well-researched, fast-paced book sheds new light on the destruction of Calumet and exposes the excesses of the 1980s. Highly recommended.
Susan Hamburger, Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

An absorbing account of how Kentucky's Calumet Farm, long thoroughbred racing's paramount breeding stable, came a cropper in the 1990s.

Drawing on interviews with many of the principals and a voluminous public record, Wall Street Journal correspondent Auerbach provides a generation-spanning chronicle that ranges from the legendary stable's founding by a baking-powder magnate during the early years of the century through its sale at auction in 1992. Owned by the Wright family, Calumet bestrode the sport of kings like a colossus, breeding more Triple Crown winners than any of its rivals and setting the pace in a high-stakes enterprise. In mid- 1982, however, Lucille Parker Wright Markey died at 93, and control of the farm passed to a son-in-law, John Thomas (aka J.T.) Lundy, a good-ole-boy local whom the matriarch had treated with all the warmth accorded a poor relation. In piecing together how J.T. managed to bankrupt a prospering institution less than a decade after gaining the whip hand, Auerbach leaves little doubt that he was never up to the job intellectually or psychologically. The arriviste squire of Calumet used his status to wheel and deal on a fast global track during much of the 1980s. Backed by international bankers, Wall Street money men, mobsters (including a couple of John Gotti's capos), and nouveau riche investors clamoring for a piece of the action, he took an early lead in his run for the roses, but changes in federal tax law, overbreeding throughout the industry, a crushing debt burden, and other handicaps brought him down. Lundy's fall put paid to Calumet. An era ended with the dispersal of the farm's bloodstock and the property's acquisition by an outsider.

A sorry tale, well told, that lends new meaning to the phrase "riding for a fall." (8 pages b&w photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks (December 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805042423
• ISBN-13: 978-0805042429
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #69,603 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #12 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Individual Sports > Horses > Racing

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant. This is a GREAT story., October 19, 2001

By 

Rorie Sherman (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wild Ride: The Rise and Tragic Fall of Calumet Farm Inc., America's Premier Racing Dynasty (Paperback)

This book is amazing. Sure it's a fun tale, brilliantly told, of one of the most famous horse farms in history. But it's so much more. It's also a fantastic insight into excess and fraud and how businessmen commit it. Read it for the blood and guts and glory of horse racing. The story of Calumet is wonderful. But hang onto your hats. Auerbach's indepth investigative journalism shows the anatomy of a swindle. How J.T. Lundy, owner of Calumet, and his cohorts turned the most beautiful animals in the world into cash machines. How they debased the tradition of one of the noblest sports. Auerbach is undaunted by the complicated financial shinnegans that these people concocted to billk banks out of millions. In fact, I believe that her reporting is the reason that Lundy wound up getting indicted and convicted. And she tells it in such a compelling way that even someone who can't add 2 plus 2 can see how the rich sometimes get richer at our expense. Read it and weep. But know that in the end, justice was done.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review of Wild Ride, November 1, 2001

By 

Mary Forte (Solana Beach, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wild Ride: The Rise and Tragic Fall of Calumet Farm Inc., America's Premier Racing Dynasty (Paperback)

Ann Auerback's investigational story is a compelling journey into a rarely discussed aspect of horse racing.
Auerbach details the history of Calumet Farm, once America's most famous Kentucky horsefarm. The author's love of horses is evident in her detailed account of events. It took much courage for Ann Auerbach to uncover and discover the truth about Calumet's fall. It will also take some backbone for Alydar fans and horselovers to read the facts presented.
I read this book for two reasons. I wanted to understand how a farm like Calumet could go from the best to the worst.I also needed to know what happened to Alydar after his racing fans were no longer watching him. Wild Ride answered both of my questions in a methodical and journalistic style.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wild Ride: A Wild Read, September 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Wild Ride: The Rise and Tragic Fall of Calumet Farm Inc., America's Premier Racing Dynasty (Paperback)

An intriguing, non-fictional tale of corporate greed and thoroughbred racing in the 1980's against the backdrop of the history of the great Kentucky racing stable of Calumet.

The characters include a multi-million dollar race horse,Alydar---famous for being second to 1978 Triple Crown Winner Affirmed, heirs of Warren Wright who took their inheritance for granted and ignored the source of their riches---Calumet, the banks who continued to loan millions of dollars to Calumet solely on the value of their star stallion Alydar. Even if you are not a fan of thoroughbred horses, the story is as much a moral tale for the 90's as it was for the 80's.

The story moves fast, and is particulary fascinating when the author flashes back to the heydey of Calumet. The antidote retold by the author describing how Alydar was named is particularly amusing. The painstaking research into the where to's and how to's of syndicating breeding shares to star stallions and borrowing money against shares can be dull reading if you are not interested, but can be skimmed over since this is not the focus of the book. Highly recommended.