JC / Railbird

Books Archive

Recommended Reading

The small mess of a mail pile that awaited me on my return home this week contained a delightful surprise: An envelope from PublicAffairs, containing a copy of T.D. Thornton’s marvelous “Not by a Longshot,” which comes out in paperback this April. The book is outfitted with a new cover that captures the dark uncertainties and workaday thrills of racing at a working-class track that Thornton writes about so well. If you haven’t yet read this story of a season at Suffolk Downs, be sure to pick up a copy this spring. By which I mean, buy it — although Thornton told John he supports the subversives who liberated “Not by a Longshot” from Boston bookstores, I’m guessing he wouldn’t mind an occasional royalty check.

Posted in Books, Suffolk Downs on March 14, 2008

Pack at the Track

Harvey Pack returns to Saratoga for another season of Siro’s seminars on Wednesday, joined by the usual suspects to handicap opening day. This summer, Pack has more than horse tips for fans: He has a memoir, the charmingly entertaining “May the Horse Be with You,” written with Peter Thomas Fornatale, in which the raconteur-horseplayer regales readers with stories of grandstand habitues, wild schemes, and bad beats, drawn from more than half a century of hanging around racetracks. “May the Horse Be with You” is classic Pack; just the thing for the Spa.

Posted in Books on July 23, 2007

Not by a Longshot

My old home track of Suffolk Downs opens on Saturday with a new owner, 102 days of racing scheduled, and dime superfectas on the wagering menu (DRF). New England’s lone thoroughbred racing venue is also the subject of a new book this spring, “Not by a Longshot,” by T.D. Thornton, who writes about the highs, lows, and ho-hum days of the track’s 2000 season so well that I found myself wishing I was back in East Boston. “Not by a Longshot” is a wonderfully evocative book, making vivid the daily routine on the frontside and backside of a hard-luck track like Suffolk, the characters who populate it, and the horses who run for them. Plus, for those who know Suffolk, there are plenty of gossipy bits …
Addendum: It was a “spiffy” opening day for Suffolk Downs, with 16,437 people in attendance (Boston Globe).
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Also recently published: “Ruffian: A Racetrack Romance,” by William Nack. A superb retelling of the great filly’s brilliant career and catastrophic end, as remembered by one of her biggest fans.

Posted in Books on May 4, 2007