Catherine Besaw was able to marry her love of books and horse racing.

At 76, the Carmel resident wrote her first book, “Worth Fighting For — a Bluegrass Romance,” which was published in April.

“My 7-year-old granddaughter wants to be an artist,” Besaw said. “I tell her, ‘Don’t wait to be in your 70s like me.’”

Besaw said the original format for the book started more than 30 years ago, but she never quite completed it.

“It was just something fun to do,” said Besaw, who also owns small shares in horses for fun. “When COVID hit, I moved into a new home on the day everything shut down (in March 2020). There was nothing much to do and I pulled out the old book, which was dated in so many formats, and I just started to write.”

During that time, Besaw met Noblesville resident Myra Levine, who has published two books. Levine also is a writing coach.

“She convinced me that I could actually write a book, that I could publish, and she would help me every step of the way, and she did.” Besaw said. “When I look at the first draft now, it was so amateurish. It just grew and developed. Myra helped me proofread and get it published through Amazon.”

Besaw said the first draft sat dormant for years,

“I was a working mother,” she said. “I didn’t honestly think that people would be interested in what I have to say and just needed something.”

Besaw said the book focuses on two things she loves — Kentucky and horse racing.

Besaw, who moved to Carmel in 1991, lived in Lexington, Ky., for seven years. She previously lived in Lake County in Indiana in the 1970s and worked for a man who owned horses and was half-owner of a farm in Lexington. Besaw’s husband, Gary, enjoyed horse racing, so they developed a friendship.

“I would work with his partner and do the secretarial work and he and my husband would go to the races,” she said. “We fell in love with Lexington and moved there and I worked for a man named Robert Clay.”

Clay owned Three Chimneys Farm before selling it in 2013.

The book’s plot centers on a couple, Brett and Perry, who have a bitter argument and are separated. Perry has a thoroughbred horse farm.

“The only purpose of throwing in when Perry sees a murder is to put them back together because Brett is a police detective,” Besaw said. “I had to get them back to living in the same house and that was for protection.”

She is working on a second book, “Worth Believing In,” that develops other characters in the first book. She said she wants to finish it by the end of the year.

“I like romance. I love happy endings,” she said. “I like mysteries. I lead a book club through the Newcomers Club of Carmel.”

After retiring from her work in office, Besaw worked in two scrapbook shops that both closed, and then worked part-time at Carmel Clay Public Library but had to quit because of her back issues.

“There’s a lot of bending to put books on the shelf,” she said.

Seizing the moment

Catherine Besaw became involved with MyRacehorse, where people can own micro-shares of horses.

At first, Besaw was skeptical when her husband told her about it, but then she did more research.

“I said, ‘You know we are never going to own a racehorse on our own, so let’s do it,’’” she said. “He bought a couple shares in horses and so did I.”

Besaw has shares in eight horses.

She said no horse compares to 2024 Preakness winner Seize the Grey. They now have shares in the breeding rights for Seize the Grey.

They bought the racing shares when the horse was 1 year old. Seize the Grey has more than 2,000 owners.

“That’s typically when you are going to buy your share when they are 1 year old,” she said. “You don’t do it for profit.”

There are perks, such as special trips to Keeneland in Lexington or Saratoga (N.Y.), and if your horse wins, you get to go into the winner’s circle. That happened July 5 when a horse she has shares in, Elite Heat, won a maiden race at Horseshoe Indianapolis on the day of the Indiana Derby. She also visited Seize the Grey at Gainesway farm in January.

“It’s a hobby and you don’t make money off a hobby,” she said.