Download or read book The Kentucky Derby written by James C. Nicholson and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2012-05-05 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Each year on the first Saturday in May, the world turns its attention to the twin spires of Churchill Downs for the high-stakes excitement of the "greatest two minutes in sports," the Kentucky Derby. No American sporting event can claim the history, tradition, or pageantry that the Kentucky Derby holds. For more than 130 years, spectators have been fascinated by the magnificent horses that run the Louisville track. Thoroughbreds such as Secretariat and Barbaro have earned instant international fame, along with jockeys such as Isaac Murphy, Ron Turcotte, and Calvin Borel. The Kentucky Derby: How the Run for the Roses Became America's Premier Sporting Event calls this great tradition to post and illuminates its history and culture. Rising from its humble beginnings as an American variation of England's Epsom Derby, the Kentucky Derby became a centerpiece of American sports and the racing industry, confirming Kentucky's status as the Horse Capital of the World. James C. Nicholson argues that the Derby, at its essence, is a celebration of a place, existing as a connection between Kentucky's mythic past and modern society. The Derby is more than just a horse race -- it is an experience enhanced by familiar traditions, icons, and images that help Derby fans to understand Kentucky and define themselves as Americans. Today the Kentucky Derby continues to attract international attention from royalty, celebrities, racing fans, and those who simply enjoy an icy mint julep, a fabulous hat, and a wager on who will make it to the winner's circle. Nicholson provides an intriguing and thorough history of the Kentucky Derby, examining the tradition, spectacle, culture, and evolution of the Kentucky Derby -- the brightest jewel of the Triple Crown.
Download or read book Rough Magic written by Lara Prior-Palmer and published by Ebury Press. This book was released on 2019-05-16 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL PRIZE 2019 'Such an addictive and likeable book...One of this year's best memoirs' The Telegraph 'It's the resistance to the obvious narratives that makes Rough Magic so appealing: the book undermines lazy women-in-the-wilderness tropes at every turn.' Sarah Moss, Guardian 'A heroic tale beautifully told' TLS 'Rough Magic is transporting, beguiling and terrifically entertaining' Daily Mail The Mongol Derby is the world's toughest horse race. A feat of endurance across the vast Mongolian plains once traversed by the people of Genghis Khan, competitors ride 25 horses across a distance of 1000km. Many riders don't make it to the finish line. In 2013 Lara Prior-Palmer - nineteen, underprepared but seeking the great unknown - decided to enter the race. Driven by her own restlessness, stubbornness, and a lifelong love of horses, she raced for seven days through extreme heat and terrifying storms, catching a few hours of sleep where she could at the homes of nomadic families. Battling bouts of illness and dehydration, exhaustion and bruising falls, she found she had nothing to lose, and tore through the field with her motley crew of horses. In one of the Derby's most unexpected results, she became the youngest-ever champion and the first woman to win the race. A tale of adventure, fortitude and poetry, Rough Magic is the extraordinary story of one young woman's encounter with oblivion, and herself.
Download or read book Sir Barton and the Making of the Triple Crown written by Jennifer S. Kelly and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2019-04-22 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: He was always destined to be a champion. Royally bred, with English and American classic winners in his pedigree, Sir Barton shone from birth, dubbed the "king of them all." But after a winless two-year-old season and a near-fatal illness, uncertainty clouded the start of Sir Barton's three-year-old season. Then his surprise victory in America's signature race, the Kentucky Derby, started him on the road to history, where he would go on to dominate the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, completing America's first Triple Crown. His wins inspired the ultimate chase for greatness in American horse racing and established an elite group that would grow to include legends like Citation, Secretariat, and American Pharoah. After a series of dynamic wins in 1920, popular opinion tapped Sir Barton as the best challenger for the wonder horse Man o' War, and demanded a match race to settle once and for all which horse was the greatest. That duel would cement the reputation of one horse for all time and diminish the reputation of the other for the next century -- until now. Sir Barton and the Making of the Triple Crown is the first book to focus on Sir Barton, his career, and his historic impact on horse racing. Author Jennifer S. Kelly uses extensive research and historical sources to examine this champion's life and achievements. Kelly charts how Sir Barton broke track records, scored victories over other champions, and sparked the yearly pursuit of Triple Crown glory. This book reveals the legacy of Sir Barton and his seminal contributions to Thoroughbred racing one hundred years after his pioneering achievement.
Download or read book The Mongol Derby written by Jessica Kwong and published by . This book was released on 2018-01-22 with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Mongol Derby is the world's longest and toughest horse race. I rode across the Mongolian Steppe on semi wild horses, enduring all elements of weather and terrain whilst pushing my survival skills and horsemanship skills to the max! I lived with the local herders, sometimes camping out under the stars and I truly learnt how to live life like a nomad. This is my story about my epic adventure across Mongolian on horseback for over 1000 km.
Download or read book Racing for America written by James C. Nicholson and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2021-04-06 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On October 20, 1923, at Belmont Park in New York, Kentucky Derby champion Zev toed the starting line alongside Epsom Derby winner Papyrus, the top colt from England, to compete for a $100,000 purse. Years of Progressive reform efforts had nearly eliminated horse racing in the United States only a decade earlier. But for weeks leading up to the match race that would be officially dubbed the "International," unprecedented levels of newspaper coverage helped accelerate American horse racing's return from the brink of extinction. In this book, James C. Nicholson explores the convergent professional lives of the major players involved in the Horse Race of the Century, including Zev's oil-tycoon owner Harry Sinclair, and exposes the central role of politics, money, and ballyhoo in the Jazz Age resurgence of the sport of kings. Zev was an apt national mascot in an era marked by a humming industrial economy, great coziness between government and business interests, and reliance on national mythology as a bulwark against what seemed to be rapid social, cultural, and economic changes. Reflecting some of the contradiction and incongruity of the Roaring Twenties, Americans rallied around the horse that was, in the words of his owner, "racing for America," even as that owner was reported to have been engaged in a scheme to defraud the United States of millions of barrels of publicly owned oil. Racing for America provides a parabolic account of a nation struggling to reconcile its traditional values with the complexity of a new era in which the US had become a global superpower trending toward oligarchy, and the world's greatest consumer of commercialized spectacle.
Download or read book Derby Day written by and published by PAINTBOX PRESS. This book was released on 2005 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history and traditions of the Kentucky Derby, for horse lovers of all ages.--
Download or read book Betting the Kentucky Derby written by Dean Keppler and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Kentucky Derby attracts thousands of spectators on and off track and millions of wagering dollars. Now for the first time there's one title geared specifically for successfully handicapping and playing America's biggest race day.The author discusses proven historical handicapping methods, the advantages of modern exotic betting menus, and other expert tools that will enhance both your wallett and your Kentucky Derby experience.
Download or read book The Kentucky Derby written by Sheri Seggerman and published by Harry N. Abrams. This book was released on 2010-04-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Long shots and closers. Secretariat, War Admiral, Citation, and Seattle Slew. The astonishing ride of Mine That Bird. The lovable spirit of Smarty Jones. Trainers and owners. A sea of spectacular hats. A classic mint julep in a silver cup. The break from the gate. Photo finishes. Holding the winning ticket. These are only a few of the things that make the Kentucky Derby the most exciting two minutes in sports. The Kentucky Derby offers a compendium of the legendary horses and rich history, the personalities, and the real-life experience of Derby Day from the backstretch to the winner’s circle. With colorful anecdotes and striking photography, Sheri Seggerman and Mary Tiegreen have captured the rivalries, fanfare, and unpredictability that give the Run for the Roses its allure. The third title in a series that celebrates the nation’s most iconic sporting events, The Kentucky Derby captures the pageantry and the passion of this great American race.
Download or read book From the Desert to the Derby written by Jason Levin and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book covers the conflict between Skeikh Mohammed Rushed al Maktoum and the old-line Kentucky racing establishment. The book also brings to life some of the world's most exquisite Thoroughbred racing facilities in the world, and a battle that involves sports' such fertile ground; money, power, ego, and tradition.
Download or read book Never Say Die written by James C. Nicholson and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2013-05-04 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A quarter of a million people braved miserable conditions at Epsom Downs on June 2, 1954, to see the 175th running of the prestigious Derby Stakes. Queen Elizabeth II and Sir Winston Churchill were in attendance, along with thousands of Britons who were all convinced of the unfailing superiority of English bloodstock and eager to see a British colt take the victory. They were shocked when a Kentucky-born chestnut named Never Say Die galloped to a two-length triumph at odds of 33–1, winning Britain's greatest race and beginning an important shift in the world of Thoroughbred racing. Never Say Die traces the history of this extraordinary colt, beginning with his foaling in Lexington, Kentucky, as well as the stories of the influential individuals brought together by the horse and his victory—from the heir to the Singer sewing machine fortune to the Aga Khan. Most fascinating is the tale of Mona Best of Liverpool, England, whose well-placed bet on the long-shot Derby contender allowed her to open the Casbah Coffee Club. There, her son met musicians John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, later joining their band. Featuring a foreword by the original drummer for the Beatles, Pete Best, this remarkable book reveals how an underdog's surprise victory played a part in the formation of the most successful and influential rock band in history and made the Bluegrass region of Kentucky the center of the international Thoroughbred industry.
Download or read book The Longest Shot written by John Eisenberg and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2021-12-14 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the first Saturday in May every year in Louisville, Kentucky, shortly after 5:30 PM, a new horse attains racing immortality. The Kentucky Derby is like no other race, and its winners are the finest horses in the world. Covered in rich red roses, surrounded by flashing cameras and admiring crowds, these instant celebrities bear names like Citation, Secretariat, Spectacular Bid, and Seattle Slew. They're worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. But in 1992, a funny thing happened on the way to the roses. The rattling roar of 130,000 voices tailed off into a high, hollow shriek as the horses crossed the finish line. Lil E. Tee? ABC broadcasters knew nothing about him, but they weren't alone. Who knew about Lil E. Tee? A blacksmith in Ocala, Florida, a veterinary surgeon in Ringoes, New Jersey, a trainer a Calder Race Course, and a few other people used to dealing with average horses knew this horse—and realized what a long shot Lil E. Tee really was. On a Pennsylvania farm that raised mostly trotting horses, a colt with a dime-store pedigree was born in 1989. His odd gait and tendency to bellow for his mother earned him the nickname "E.T." Suffering from an immune deficiency and a bad case of colic, he survived surgery that usually ends a horse's racing career. Bloodstock agents dismissed him because of his mediocre breeding, and once he was sold for only $3,000. He'd live in five barns in seven states by the time he turned two. Somehow, this horse became one of the biggest underdogs to appear on the American sporting landscape. Lil E. Tee overcame his bleak beginnings to reach the respected hands of trainer Lynn Whiting, jockey Pat Day, and owner Cal Partee. After winning the Jim Beam stakes and finishing second in the Arkansas Derby, Lil E. Tee arrived at Churchill Downs to face a field of seventeen horses, including the highly acclaimed favorite, Arazi, a horse many people forecast to become the next Secretariat. A 17-to-1 longshot, Lil E. Tee won the Derby with a classic rally down the home stretch, and finally Pat Day had jockeyed a horse to Derby victory. John Eisenberg draws on more than fifteen years of sports writing experience and a hundred interviews throughout Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Florida, and Arkansas to tell the story almost nobody knew in 1992. Eisenberg is a sports columnist for the Baltimore Sun and has won more than twenty awards for his sports writing, including several Associated Press sports editors' first places."
Download or read book People written by Kirk Schreifer and published by Full Blast Productions. This book was released on 1996 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: America From Apple Pie to Ziegfeld Follies is a four book series of reproducible low level ESL/EFL/Literacy reading and discussion texts. Each unit examines an element of the American experience that will genuinely interest and inform not only immigrants to the United States but also learners abroad who want to know more about the people, history, geography and culture of this great nation. Although the passages are limited to an elementary level of language difficulty, their style remains vivid and authentic. Readers will be inspired by the courage of Harriet Tubman, awed by the beauty of the Grand Canyon, fascinated by the work of the F.B.I., and shocked by the events surrounding Watergate.
Download or read book Greatest Kentucky Derby Upsets written by Blood-Horse Publications and published by Hundreds of Heads Books, LLC. This book was released on 2007 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides a history of the Kentucky Derby and tells the stories of twelve of its most unlikely winners, including Elwood, Giacomo, Dark Star, and Genuine Risk.
Download or read book Kentucky Derby Stories written by Jim Bolus and published by Pelican Publishing. This book was released on with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Kentucky Derby written by Bill Doolittle and published by Life Publications. This book was released on 1998 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Celebrates the tradition and spectacle of the Kentucky Derby with photographs and text devoted to the legends, heroes, memorable moments, and rivalries of the past 125 years.
Download or read book Derby Dreams written by Jim Bolus and published by Pelican Publishing Company. This book was released on 1996-05 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Here in his fourth book on the Derby with Pelican, Jim Bolus assembles a collection of essays on the dreams that owners, jockeys, and trainers have had for this great horse race. Jim Bolus' passion for the Kentucky Derby and its traditions have led him to write Derby Fever, Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.
Download or read book Derby Magic written by Jim Bolus and published by Pelican Publishing. This book was released on 1998-10-31 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: " . . . absorbing chapters trace the history of shipping horses by air and equine personalities from the lovable Buckpasser to the vious Nevele Pride . . . A delight for racing fans." -Publishers Weekly No one was more knowledgeable about the Kentucky Derby than Jim Bolus, Kentucky Derby curator of the Kentucky Derby Museum, which is located on the grounds of Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. In this, his fifth Pelican book on the Derby, Bolus examines the mystique, the majesty, and the magic of the most popular horse race in the world through various essays. "The Bull and the Sunshine Boys" recalls the 1986 Derby, which was won by Ferdinand. On that magical day, Charlie Whittingham, seventy-three, and Bill Shoemaker, fifty-four, became the oldest trainer and jockey, respectively, to win the Kentucky Derby. Readers will learn the exciting story of the first Derby winner in the essay "Assault: The Little Horse with the Heart of a Giant." The essays, including "Horses Have Their Own Personalities" and "Diary of a Champion: Skip Away," all convey the magic of the Derby, somehow captured by author Jim Bolus.
