Six semifinalists for the 19th annual Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award have been selected by a panel of judges, representing excellence in Thoroughbred sports literature published in 2024. These six titles illustrate the scope of the award, including histories, biographies, a memoir, and two works of fiction. They were chosen from nearly 20 submissions, an indicator that literature on horse racing remains very much alive despite Thoroughbred industry controversies and the global economic hardships of recent years.<\/p>\n
With a $10,000 winner\u2019s prize, this competition has for nearly two decades ranked among the most lucrative in all of publishing \u2014 offering more than the Hugo, Edgar, and Nebula Awards, and with money equal to that of the prestigious National Book Award and Bancroft Prize. The late businessman\/philanthropist Dr. Tony Ryan launched it in 2006 as the Castleton Lyons\/Thoroughbred Times award, to recognize a long-overlooked segment of horse racing writing: the book. After Dr. Ryan\u2019s passing a year later, his son Shane carried on, while changing the name of the award to honor his late father.<\/p>\n
Three finalists will be announced in coming weeks and a winner will be crowned this fall at a cocktail reception at the Ryan family\u2019s Castleton Lyons farm near Lexington.<\/p>\n
For additional information, contact Kerri Cahill at kcahill@castletonlyons.com<\/a><\/p>\n Following is a synopsis of the six semi-finalists published during the 2024 calendar year, listed alphabetically by title.<\/p>\n \u201cA Beggar\u2019s Ride,\u201d by John Perrotta<\/a><\/p>\n Author Perrotta\u2019s latest mystery is a sequel to his 2015 novel \u201cIf Wishes Were Horses,\u201d in which he introduced runaway teenager and New York backstretch worker Hamilton Greer. In \u201cA Beggar\u2019s Ride,\u201d Greer is 10 years older and still learning the hard lessons of life. The nomadic young man eventually lands in Europe, where he finds love and adventure both on and off the racetrack \u2014 not all of it good. Along the way, Greer becomes unwittingly involved with a shady group of characters, including smugglers, killers, and drug dealers, which makes for a rollicking, albeit dangerous, romp to the dark side.<\/p>\n \u201cDark Horses: A Memoir of Redemption,\u201d by Arthur B. Hancock III<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cDark Horses\u201d is the story of a pre-eminent racing family, a legendary Thoroughbred farm, a personal and profound fall from grace, and, ultimately, a triumphant redemption \u2014 one that propelled Arthur B. Hancock III to the heights of the Thoroughbred industry. It is told from the heart and with sometimes painful vulnerability by the man himself, who seems to hold nothing back as he chronicles his wild-child youth filled with boozing, fighting, and debt, to the point where he walked away from his family\u2019s historic Claiborne Farm and rebuilt his life on his own terms. Eventually, Hancock would establish his own very successful Thoroughbred operation and became the first of his family to be the breeder and owner of a Kentucky Derby winner. Throughout the memoir, Hancock bares his soul in the country music lyrics he penned, a passion that continues today.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe History of the Kentucky Derby in 75 Objects,\u201d by Kentucky Derby Museum and Jessica K. Whitehead <\/a><\/p>\n Released in time for the sesquicentennial celebration of the Kentucky Derby, this lovely coffee-table book tells the fascinating story of America\u2019s longest continuously held sporting event. Both visual and textual, it highlights important points in the Derby\u2019s 150-year history by focusing on 75 objects housed in the Kentucky Derby Museum at Churchill Downs. It was written and pulled together by Museum Historian and Senior Curator of Collections Jessica Whitehead, who brings readers along on a cultural journey through time, beginning with the Derby\u2019s birth during the Gilded Age, through the rise of Black and female jockeys, and beyond.<\/p>\n \u201cJockey Queen: Lillian Jenkinson Holder, Horse Racing\u2019s Fearless Lady,\u201d by Roger Peach<\/a><\/p>\n Long before women were licensed to ride in American parimutuel races, a girl from Nebraska was tearing up the rough, tough bush tracks of the Midwest, often putting chauvinistic male riders to shame. Where Lillian Jenkinson Holder (1909 -1992) rode for 47 years, there were no rules, no restrictions, no safety equipment, no holds barred. All that was required was skill in the saddle and courage, both of which Holder had in abundance during her 10,000+ races under cutthroat conditions. \u201cJockey Queen\u201d traces the life of this extraordinary woman who made national news three times pursuing her denied right to ride in pari-mutuel races. For decades, her remarkable story somehow flew under the radar of racing history, but not anymore.<\/p>\n