Home Run Horse: Inside America's Billion-Dollar Racehorse Industry and the High-Stakes Dreams That Fuel It »

The home run horse, the runner that makes your fortune and changes your life, can come from anywhere. This book will explore the quest for the superior Thoroughbred, who takes up the search for a life-changing horse and why they do it with limited success.

Publishers Weekly

Cain reaches the winner's circle with this thorough, enthralling study of the Thoroughbred horse-racing industry, which, over the past century, has gone from gentleman's hobby to billion-dollar business. At annual auctions like the Fasig-Tipton in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., would-be buyers dressed in Town & Country-style silk suits place big bets in their quest for the "home-run horse," a Triple Crown contender with millions of dollars in earning potential, or "the Thoroughbred sport's equivalent of hitting the lottery." Cain, a Daily Racing Form editor, explains how one such mogul wealthy, bespectacled, 53-year-old Satish Sanan hit pay dirt when his $2.15-million yearling, aptly named Vindication, won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and skyrocketed in value. Other beneficiaries include breeders like Taylor Made Farm, a family-run operation near Lexington, Ky., that holds up to 650 Thoroughbreds at a time and has generated $830 million in revenue over its 25-year history. The high stakes put pressure squarely on the trainers, who are expected to produce the next Unbridled's Song or Seattle Slew; as one puts it, "You didn't want the horse to lose when you knew the owner had $30,000 or $40,000 bet on him." Cain's captivating book brims with history, drama and characters; readers will be sucked in long before crossing the finish line. (Oct.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.