The New Treasury of Great Racing Stories

Best-selling authors Dick Francis and John Welcome bring us a richly entertaining collection of classic horse racing stories by authors past and present. Here are selections from Damon Runyon, whose “Pick the Winner” introduces us to the unforgettable, ironically named Hot Horse Herbie and “his everloving fiancee, Miss Cutie Singleton”; Molly Keane, with a brilliant evocation of racing among the Anglo-Irish gentry in the story “Pullinstown”; Banjo Patterson, the Australian Bush Balladeer, whose “The Oracle” presents a classic specimen of the species found at the tracks the world over, the tout; and much more.

Francis and Welcome bring readers another richly entertaining collection of the best horse-racing stories by authors past and present. Here are selections from Damon Runyon, Molly Keane, Banjo Patterson, and others, as well as one selection each from Francis and Welcome.  In “My First Winter,” John Welcome’s narrator describes how he was hoodwinked by his best friend into riding a horse for him in a comical steeplechase. And in “Spring Fever,” Dick Francis unfolds the tale of the fiftyish widow, Mrs. Angela Hart, who is entirely too trusting of her conniving trainer and jockey, until a chance hint alerts her to their deception and gives her the opportunity for revenge.

Most of the 14 tales collected here by British authors Francis ( Longshot ) and Welcome ( Grand National ) are notable for their charm. The two American entries, Damon Runyon's 1930s "Pick the Winner" and Gordon Grand's pre-WW I "A Night at the Old Bergen County Race Track," sustain their period appeal nicely. Welcome's "My First Winner," J. C. Squire's "The Dead Cert" and Molly Keane's "Pullinstown" are pure beguilement. The three bleakest stories are the best: Francis's "Spring Fever," about an aging, horse-owning widow infatuated with a not-quite-honest young jockey; C.C.L. Browne's "The Inside View," a deadpan, exciting tale of a steeplechaser's day; and Maurice Gee's "The Losers," a melodramatic, noir story with a large cast. Edgar Wallace's "The Man Who Shot The 'Favourite' " and A. B. (Banjo) Paterson's "The Oracle" are slightly humorous.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Following their first collection, The Dick Francis Treasury of Great Horseracing Stories ( LJ 11/1/90), the editors compile 11 British and three American horseracing stories, with authors as diverse as Damon Runyon, Francis himself, and various obscure writers--although the collection as a whole favors period pieces with a decidedly British twist. Four of the stories, J.C. Squire's "The Dead Cert," C.C.L. Browne's "The Inside View," Donn Byrne's "The Tale of the Gypsy Horse," and Colin Davy's "The Good Thing," present intriguing characters and storylines. For libraries with a strong short story or British fiction collection.
-Susan Hamburger, Virginia State Lib. & Archives, Richmond
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.