Against the Odds - Hardcover

Bailey, Jerry

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399152733 ISBN 13: 9780399152733

Publisher: Putnam Adult, 2005

Synopsis

In a candid memoir of failure and redemption, the world's leading jockey describes his remarkable professional racing career and his long and difficult battle, with the help of his wife, Suzee, against the anger, despair, cruelty, and drinking that could have destroyed his world.

About this title

About the Author

Jerry Bailey has won the Eclipse Award as the nation's best jockey seven of the past nine years. He has won the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes twice each, has won a record fourteen Breeders' Cup races, and in 1995 was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame.

Tom Pedulla is a sportswriter for USA Today.

Reviews

Called by some the "Michael Jordan of racing," Bailey has endured tumultuous times both on and off the track. In this honest but cliché-ridden memoir, the jockey recalls his life's milestones, paying particular attention to his bout with alcoholism. Aided by sportswriter Pedulla (USA Today), Bailey, 47, exposes the risks jockeys face during a race, the corruption rampant at some tracks, the nobility of racehorses, the arrogance and humility of various owners and the thrill of winning. He recalls his boyhood excitement at racing horses against neighborhood friends in his native Texas. Driven by his love of horses and his competitive spirit, he entered the racing world, first as a trainer, and eventually becoming a world-class jockey. Yet early in his career, he drifted into alcoholism; with the help of his wife and an AA counselor, he became sober. Although Bailey was successful as a young jockey, his glory days have come in the last 16 years with his Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes wins and numerous other honors. Bailey weaves interviews with friends and family with his own words to create an often poignant memoir of the triumph of the human spirit, but his prose reads more like a trot around the track than an exhilarating run for the roses. Photos not seen by PW. Agent, Equisponse. (Apr. 21)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Jerry Bailey has been America's premier rider for well over a decade, and he might have reached the pinnacle of Thoroughbred racing much earlier if his excessive alcohol use hadn't dulled his reflexes and soured his relationships. Bailey, with coauthor Pedulla, is brutally frank in describing his years of alcohol abuse, and his candor on that topic lends credibility to everything else in the story of his transformation from a wannabe athlete in El Paso to a Hall of Fame jockey still at the peak of his prowess at the age of 47. Of special interest is Bailey's detailed account of his incredible run aboard Cigar, who won 16 straight races and became the richest Thoroughbred in history in the mid-1990s. He concludes with a thoughtful analysis of several of the thorniest problems facing racing, including riding weights and the drugs used on horses. Bailey's story will be of interest to readers with even a passing interest in horse racing, and his account of overcoming addiction will serve as a cautionary tale for some and an inspiration for others. Dennis Dodge
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Putnam Adult
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0399152733
• ISBN 13: 9780399152733
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240