Noted racing journalist and horseman Josh Pons has been named the 19th recipient of the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award, presented by the Ryan family's Castleton Lyons, for excellence in thoroughbred racing literature published in 2024. He received the winner's $10,000 check during a Nov. 6 reception at the Lexington, Ky., farm. The ceremony was held in a loft above the historic stallion barn that once housed 19th century champions Domino and Commando.
Pons won for Letters from Country Life: Adolphe Pons, Man o' War, and the Founding of Maryland's Oldest Thoroughbred Farm, a retrospective of the Golden Age of racing as viewed through a remarkable trove of correspondence to his grandfather, Adolphe Pons. Early in the 20th century, the senior Pons had served as private secretary to Racing Hall of Fame breeder August Belmont, a role in which he played an integral part in the breeding and eventual sale of Man o' War.
During the Great Depression, Pons boldly struck out on his own, moving from New York to Maryland, where he acquired the 100 acres that would become Country Life Farm. It is today owned and run by his grandsons, Josh and Mike.
Josh Pons left home in the 1970s to pursue a career in journalism, which ultimately netted the third-generation horseman two Eclipse Awards. He returned in 1982 and continued to write as history was being made on the family farm. Eight years later, future Hall of Famer Cigar saw his first light of day at Country Life.
A decade ago, in the century-old farmhouse basement, Josh came across a large stash of letters to his grandfather, many penned by titans of the Turf. It quickly became clear to him what he must do. His resulting work was Letters from Country Life, a captivating peek through the veil of history. In curating and expanding upon what he learned from this extraordinary correspondence, Josh brought the Thoroughbred world--past to present--to brilliant life.
Two other finalists were honored at the Castleton Lyons ceremony, Arthur B. Hancock III for his autobiography, Dark Horses: A Memoir of Redemption, and John Perrotta, for his international mystery thriller, A Beggar's Ride. All three authors have extensive background in the thoroughbred racing and breeding industry in addition to honing their creative talents in literature, poetry, songwriting and screenwriting.
Lead judge Kay Coyte noted that "Josh Pons already had established his writing talent, but Letters from Country Life is another level of literary achievement. In it, you discover historic gems just as Josh does, and worry along with him about the future of Maryland racing and his beloved farm."
Judge Caton Bredar described Pons "as much a poet as he is a horseman, who is able to make the past come to life vividly and lyrically with his very personal retelling of his family's history."
The Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award was founded in 2006 with a $10,000 winner's check then equal to the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. The late philanthropist and founder of Ryan Airlines loved a good book and was equally passionate about horse racing. Observing that book-length racing works like Laura Hillenbrand's 2001 bestseller Seabiscuit: an American Legend, had received no industry recognition, he worked with Thoroughbred Times editor Mark Simon to remedy that by launching the lucrative award. Since Dr. Ryan's passing in 2007, the competition has been carried forward by his son, Shane.
Judges this year included Coyte, an Eclipse Award winner and former long-time editor at the Washington Post; Bredar, award-winning television broadcaster now with reporting for FanDuel TV; and last year's Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award winner Kim Wickens, for her national bestseller, Lexington.
