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My Racing Heart: The Passionate World of Thoroughbreds and the Track » (Reprint)

Book cover image of My Racing Heart: The Passionate World of Thoroughbreds and the Track by Nan Mooney

Authors: Nan Mooney
ISBN-13: 9780060958084, ISBN-10: 0060958081
Format: Paperback
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Date Published: March 2003
Edition: Reprint

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Author Biography: Nan Mooney

Nan Mooney grew up in Seattle, half an hour north of Longacres racetrack, and graduated from Scripps College in California. Her work appears in The Blood-Horse, the journal of record for Thoroughbred horse racing. She lives in New York City. You can reach her at myracingheart.com.

Book Synopsis

When Nan Mooney was seven years old, she sat in her grandmother May-May's living room to watch her first horse race ... And so began a turbulent romance between a woman and a sport.

Part memoir, part journey into the compelling world of Thoroughbred horse racing, My Racing Heart gallops headlong into the wild culture and fabulous creatures that rise up around a racetrack. Nan Mooney looks at the horses, jockeys, and trainers; the gambling and corruption; and racing's age-old history and forever offbeat society. From the dusty backstretch at a small-town track to the stands at magnificent Churchill Downs, Nan Mooney captures the risks and the glory, the excitement and the passion, for horse lovers, sports fans, and anyone who has ever craved a place to run wild.

Richmond Times-Dispatch

“A love poem to racing. . . A fine book and a joy to read.”

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments and Explanationsix
Introduction: An Unconventional Romance1
Part 1The Starting Gate
Chapter 1Trust: The Horse of Course23
Chapter 2Rewriting the Rules: The Front Men--Trainers and Owners54
Chapter 3Leaps of Faith: Playing the Breeding Game89
Part 2Early Speed
Chapter 4Courage: Riding High--The Jockey's Life127
Chapter 5Generosity: Breaking onto the Backstretch159
Part 3The Stretch Run
Chapter 6Risking It All: The Art of Gambling187
Chapter 7Unconditional Love: The Anatomy of a Racing Fan216
Chapter 8Forming a Value System: Hustles, Fixes, and the Drug Controversy235
Part 4Crossing the Wire
Chapter 9Connections: Chasing the Kentucky Derby265
Chapter 10Growth: The Future of the Track284
Epilogue: The Heartbeat303
Photograph Credits307

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