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On Racing: A Summer List of Racing Tales Told Well

Presented by the NTRA

Welcome to summer, when the weather drives a sane person either indoors to wait out a passing thunderstorm, or outdoors to a lake, a shore, a pool, or a pond for refuge from the oppressive heat. The sun does not set. It melts. Time passes with all the pace of a four-mile steeplechase. Escape is required, which means it is time for another reading list.

"At the End of the Bar—and Other Stories" is the latest contribution of author John Perrotta to the idea that otherwise reasonable people can become seriously addled in the presence of a racetrack, a betting window, and available cash. Also, that there are plenty of enablers around to assist in that addling. This collection of short stories—with titles like "Head Case" and "Voodoo Rider"—springs from a well-grounded imagination that has produced such works as "If Wishes Were Horses," "Half a Chance," and "Out of Luck," the latter a fanciful continuation of the canceled HBO racetrack series "Luck," on which Perrotta was a writer and consultant.

The paperback version of "Henry Cecil: Trainer of Genius" has been out a few years now, which means anyone who has not bought it or borrowed it should get it and read it with a delight that only can be provided by such a vibrant biography. Brough Scott, Cecil's contemporary, offers this sweeping tale with compelling prose and relentless detail, from the trainer's childhood as an adventurous twin to his eccentric march to the top of the British sport, along with the rollercoaster fortunes of his last years, his fatal battle with cancer, and his final gift to the racing world in his handling of the unbeaten superhorse, Frankel . The fact that Cecil did not endorse the book but did not refute its contents tells the reader that the author got it right.

There are at least two songs worth listening to and a whole stack of books called "The Last Hurrah," one of them made into a classic Spencer Tracy film. It's a catchy title, no doubt. The latest "Last Hurrah" is a racetrack novel by first-timer Robin Dawson, whose pedigree includes both hands-on horsemanship and a career in racing media. The author has both a point of view and an ax to grind, no doubt, but he lets an eclectic crew of entertaining characters carry the load through a series of crimes (both petty and major) and moral conundrums that would bring the cast of Dynasty or Dallas to its knees. Along the way, fine Thoroughbreds provide palate cleansing moments, proving once again that if the game were left up to the horses, everything would be just fine.

Just as Henry Cecil was a true British original, Jack Van Berg was very much a larger-than-life American version of the Thoroughbred trainer who shaped his own destiny. "Jack—From Grit to Glory," by fellow Nebraskan Chris Kotulak, is a timeless tale of a man who carved out a unique piece of racing history as a prolific winner, tireless ambassador, and generous mentor whose exploits make his idol, John Wayne, look like a feckless extra. From the daunting shadow of a famous father to the heights of a Triple Crown quest and the Hall of Fame, Big Jack rarely disappointed his fans or his horses. In reading it again, I realized just how much the sport misses a man like Van Berg, and how unlikely there will ever be one like him again.

John McEvoy, friend and colleague, was considerate enough not to leave this mortal world without giving his readers a seventh Jack Doyle mystery. "Inquiry" was published in 2018, a year before McEvoy's death, but it could have come along any time, given its gritty theme of "unwanted" horses and their sometimes grim demise. As alter-egos go, we should all have Jack Doyle out there sticking his nose where it didn't belong, troubling bad guys and turning over some of horse racing's nastiest rocks. For mystery buffs, be assured McEvoy is more Ross Macdonald than Dick Francis, with only the occasional nod to sentimentality in the midst of a hard-boiled world.

And a few others:

Given the ongoing saga of Medina Spirit's failed post-race tests after winning the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), readers might want to revisit "Dancer's Image: The Forgotten Story of the 1968 Kentucky Derby," by Milton C. Toby, just for context. Almost too much context. Toby is that rare scholarly reporter who respects facts too much to play around with them.

"Diane Crump: A Horse-Racing Pioneer's Life in the Saddle," by Mark Shrager, is a by-the-numbers biography of a woman who gets to be called a pioneer without qualification or fear of hype. Crump went first where so many accomplished women jockeys have dared to follow. Now, though, it is time for Kathy Kusner, who fought the hard legal battles, to receive the same biographical tribute. 

Finally, in the spirit of letting a superb writer tell a racing tale, I would recommend "The Big Horse," by Joe McGinniss, the same guy who opened our eyes with "The Selling of the President" and held readers rapt with the true crime books "Fatal Vision" and "Blind Faith." The stories of Funny Cide and Volponi, both unusual heroes, lend themselves well to the way McGinniss serves as entertaining tour guide and chronicler.