The Wrong Horse: An Odyssey Through the American Racing Scene [Hardcover]

William Murray (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1992

An intimate portrait of the American horse racing scene by a savvy insider who has been a bettor, owner, winner, and loser explores the world of the track and the colorful characters found standing at the two-dollar window or in the winner's circle.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

New Yorker writer Murray, who also writes racetrack mysteries ( Tip on a Dead Crab ), here looks at offbeat aspects of the sport: competitions at county fairs, where the horses are generally of a fairly low caliber; the races at Agua Caliente in Tijuana, Mexico, where honesty on the part of owners, trainers and jockeys is far from a sine qua non ; and the problems of holding a winnng ticket, which include "breakage" and taxes (the IRS has representatives at the tracks to collect 20% of the big payoffs). Murray, himself a bettor and horse owner, provides such expected coverage as an encomium to jockey Bill Shoemaker, who rode in 40,351 races during his 40-year career. He also, unfortunately, feels constrained to add trite vignettes about the "characters" at the track, mostly seedy, unlettered types who spend their lives barely breaking even, in chapters that dig in ground long since brilliantly excavated by Damon Runyon.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

An amiable, anecdotal memoir of a professional writer's perdurable, albeit oft-unrequited, love affair with thoroughbred horses. New Yorker regular Murray, author of the Shifty Anderson racetrack-mystery series (I'm Getting Killed Right Here, 1991, etc.) and other books, recalls how, as a preppy teenager, he contracted an unshakable case of horse fever once he was introduced to the pleasures of the track by a cousin's sporty husband. Having pursued his long-shot avocation while making a solid career for himself as a journalist and author, Murray (a well-born fugitive from Park Avenue) now offers a witty, often rueful account of life as an improver of the breed. A sometime owner, as well as inveterate bettor who appreciates the thrills of victory and agonies of defeat, he provides perceptive assessments of what makes individual punters, jockeys, trainers, handicappers, grooms, and a host of other racing denizens run. Nor does Murray scant the magnificent--if frequently frustrating and heartbreakingly fragile- -beasts on which the track's two-legged animals focus at world- class as well as also-ran courses on the county-fair circuit throughout the US. Covered in addition is the widely ignored reality that gambling underpins the industry that calls itself the sport of kings. An idiosyncratic tour of domestic racing likely to appeal to horseplayers as well as their civilian counterparts. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First edition (October 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671767747
• ISBN-13: 978-0671767747
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,020,264 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Witty, amusing and sometimes rueful memoirs of a racing fan, July 7, 1998

By 

Steve Zorn - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wrong Horse: An Odyssey Through the American Racing Scene (Paperback)

William Murray is, like many of us, hopelessly addicted to the track -- not to betting (although he does that often and, despite the modesty displayed in this book, probably very well), but to all the sights, smells, experiences, highs and lows of the race track. His tales of the track (from the highs of DelMar to the lows of the fair circuit) are sometimes sad, sometimes hilarious, always with an edge. If you wondered whether the characters that inhabit the Shifty books are real, read this. They are all here. And if you wanted to learn a little more about William Murray, then read this. Though essentially a private man, he does share with his readers some wonderful stories on himself -- my favorite is the cribbing horse -- and also lets us know (if we didn't already) that he thinks Del Mar is all the heaven there ever needs to be.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book, March 6, 2000

By 

Steve Kelso (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wrong Horse: An Odyssey Through the American Racing Scene (Hardcover)

I am not a writer or a reviewer, just your average run of the mill horse raceing fan. This is not a review like the ones above but a recommendation, I really enjoyed this book and will loan it to all my horse raceing buddies. Any other books written by Mr. Murray I will purchase with no hesitation. I couldn't put it down and enjoyed each and every paragraph.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Wrong Horse by William Murray of one who has, June 1, 2011

By 

John Holditch - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Wrong Horse: An Odyssey Through the American Racing Scene (Paperback)

The Wrong Horse, by William Murray, is not just a tour through the grand stands and backsides of race tracks or of the breeding farms throughout the country, but is a poignant and humorous memoir of one who has participated in horse racing as bettor and owner for over four decades in the second half of the 20th century. During those 45 years, from 1945 through the early '90s, Murray saw and reported on all of the foibles, triumphs, and failings of the whole hosts of characters, both human and equine, who make up the American racing scene, and he brings it to you, up close and personal, with all the grace and literary style (and with his perceptive appreciation of the human condition) that made him an award winning author and writer for The New Yorker for many years.

Anyone who can read this collection of essays without doubling up in laughter, and without wiping away a few tears, should check himself or herself for a personality disorder.