Eclipse Press

06/03/2025

05/12/2025

~ Available in August~ Delve into both the human and equine accomplishments of America’s greatest twentieth-century breeders in this first volume of LEGACIES OF THE TURF, now in paperback.

Some of Thoroughbred racing’s greatest champions—horses such as Man o’ War, Citation, and Native Dancer—are the handiwork of a remarkable parade of individuals, ranging from full-time horsemen to daring capitalists to philanthropists. In LEGACIES OF THE TURF, VOLUME 1, renowned racing historian Edward L. Bowen tells the stories of some of the powerhouse racing dynasties that dominated the sport in the early to mid-twentieth century—the Whitneys, Vanderbilts, Wideners, Phippses, and Hancocks, as well as the upstarts such as the wily horse trader John E. Madden and the flamboyant Westerner James R. Keene.

Women also made their mark as owners and breeders of champion Thoroughbreds. Isabel Dodge Sloane of Brookmeade Stables campaigned the great Sword Dancer, while Gladys Mills Phipps of Wheatley Stable bred and raced the immortal Bold Ruler among her thirteen champions and Helen Hay Whitney of Greentree Stable raced the great Twenty Grand.

As horses were bought, sold, and traded, these breeders found success with some of the same bloodlines, as certain sires and dams proved their dominance in the breed. And like the bloodlines of some of their best horses, the lives of many of these great breeders were connected. Given their station in life, some families intermarried, combining racing and breeding interests and making for many interesting stories. August Belmont II and William Collins Whitney were rivals in business before becoming allies on the racetrack. John E. Madden was a mentor for a young Harry Payne Whitney when he first ventured into racing. Here are their stories too.

https://www.globepequot.com/9781493090914/legacies-of-the-turf/

05/05/2025

Don't miss this duo of racing books by Josh Pons, third-generation horseman and two-time Eclipse Award winner, as he depicts life inside the horse business, written from inside the fences of Maryland's oldest Thoroughbred farm, Country Life and Merryland Farms.

In MERRYLAND, Pons chronicles the daily adventures, challenges, thrills, and sometimes sadness facing his family's small training stable of Thoroughbred racehorses. MERRYLAND combines the immediacy of the author's evocative diary entries with thoughts on horses, racing, America, families, and life amid the uncertainties and pressures wrought by encroaching development, casino gambling, and political ennui. Join Josh Pons as he introduces readers to the rhythmic cadence of life on a lovely little farm in Hydes, Maryland.
https://www.globepequot.com/9781493081332/merryland/

IN LETTERS FROM COUNTRY LIFE, Pons recalls the 2016 discovery of thousands of letters from his grandfather’s life in the Thoroughbred horse business. The son of a French cook who came to New York City in 1894, Adolphe Pons got his start working in the Fifth Avenue mansion of Gilded Age banker August Belmont II. Adolphe became his personal secretary and later played a major role in Belmont’s breeding and sale of the most famous horse in history: Man o’ War. During the Great Depression, Adolphe left New York and bought a hundred-acre horse farm in Maryland, naming it Country Life after the station stop on the Long Island Railroad nearest his Garden City home.
Josh Pons invites readers to once more step into the attic garret alongside him as he recovers long-lost voices speaking out of letters, telegrams, and photos. Upon the attic stage appear Gilded Age tycoons from whom the author’s grandfather bought and sold horses against the backdrop of World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II. As Josh draws from the farmhouse’s rich archive, he chronicles his grandfather’s life and times and shares his own candid reflections. The result is a fascinating and fresh look at the Golden Age of Horse Racing and how the past influences our present.
https://www.globepequot.com/9781493081394/letters-from-country-life/

04/28/2025

Edward Bowen's DYNASTIES, now available in paperback, unveils the remarkable legacies of twenty-four legendary sires, exploring the intricate dance of nature and ambition that shaped the world of Thoroughbred racing in the twentieth century.

For centuries, man has attempted to manipulate nature in the form of the Thoroughbred racehorse. Sometimes the endeavor has succeeded beyond all expectations in the creation of a horse whose speed and “heart” recurred over generations. Other times, a great horse has emerged seemingly by happenstance to found an enduring sire line.

Bowen examines the exploits and legacies of some of the twentieth century’s most influential sires. The twenty-four subject stallions represent a litany of revered names, from Fair Play and Hyperion to Northern Dancer and Mr. Prospector. Some, such as the undefeated Ribot, had greatness preordained. Others achieved it by defying the odds: Challenger II, for example, never won a race after he was imported to the United States, but he soon produced a Preakness Stakes winner. Princequillo ran in claiming races, then later led the American sire list twice. Rough’n Tumble never left his Florida outpost but his best son, Dr. Fager, set a world record. “A look at the sire lines of the 20th Century—both those which lasted and those that burst brightly and faded instantly—is a paradox: a repeating series of singular tales,” Bowen writes.

Interwoven with these tales are the stories of the people whose imagination, skill, and luck brought them association with these great stallions, names equally as revered: Hancock, Whitney, Tesio, Vanderbilt, Khan. DYNASTIES: GREAT THOROUGHBRED STALLIONS, written by one of Thoroughbred racing’s most respected historians, is an invaluable contribution to the literature of the sport.

https://www.globepequot.com/9781493090471/dynasties/

04/21/2025

In DUEL FOR THE CROWN, now in paperback, relive the epic saga of the riveting rivalry that enthralled a nation and spawned history’s most thrilling Triple Crown chase.

Affirmed and Alydar are as inseparably linked in legend as they were on the racetrack. Bound from conception by shared bloodlines of the great Native Dancer, this peerless pair of chestnut colts traded wins multiple times even before their showdown in the 1978 Kentucky Derby spurred an unmatchable rivalry that transcended the Triple Crown and the Sport of Kings itself.

Their intertwined tale is a study in contrasts as stark as David and Goliath. If Alydar and his human connections personified racing royalty, Affirmed and his team embodied all the underdog outsiders who’ve had to claw their way into the winner’s circle.

Alydar was born into Bluegrass aristocracy as the royally bred pride of Kentucky’s Calumet Farm, the old-money dynasty that had reigned over the Sport of Kings the same way the Damn Yankees dominated the national pastime. Affirmed, meanwhile, was born into the obscurity of a Florida farm funded by the new-money millions of a controversial Wall Street financier turned nouveau breeder. Contrasting styles made their differences even starker: the laidback Affirmed, all streamlined elegance, gliding with the grace of a deer and the heart of lion, versus the bullish Alydar, all massive muscle and machismo, stalking his nemesis while gearing up to unleash his fearsome closing kick.

Riding on their backs were the dreams of colorful human personalities caught up in a battle of wits and wills: Lucille Markey, racing’s grand dame entrusting her last chance at restoring Calumet’s faded glory to John Veitch, a young Kentucky-bred trainer with a Hall of Fame pedigree. Lou Wolfson, the pioneer corporate raider staking his post-prison shot at redemption on journeyman trainer Laz Barrera, a charismatic Cuban immigrant with a knack for charming the best out of longshots like Affirmed. And, most famously, Steve Cauthen, the teen phenom celebrated as the world’s top athlete even before riding Affirmed into the Triple Crown cauldron.

The Kentucky Derby may be hyped as “the most exciting two minutes in sports,” but Affirmed and Alydar’s electrifying stretch showdowns only kept intensifying through both remaining jewels—the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes—of history’s hardest-fought Triple Crown series. DUEL FOR THE CROWN vividly tracks these two magnificent Thoroughbreds through every hoofbeat of their odyssey, climaxing with the Belmont stretch duel in the greatest race ever run as they desperately gallop head to head all the way to the inevitable photo finish—and beyond, into history and immortality.
https://www.globepequot.com/9781493080199/duel-for-the-crown/

04/14/2025

Racing your way in June: Mark Shrager's latest book, THE GREATEST RACEHORSE? MAN O' WAR AND THE JUDGMENT OF HISTORY.

Is Man o’ War, the legendary champion who revitalized American Thoroughbred racing, truly the greatest racehorse in history, or has time produced an even more extraordinary champion?

Through meticulous research and compelling analysis, award-winning writer Mark Shrager presents the first comprehensive head-to-head comparison between the legendary "Big Red" and fifteen of history's most extraordinary Thoroughbreds. Moving beyond traditional metrics of wins and speed records, The Greatest Racehorse? examines Man o' War's legacy through dual lenses: his racing excellence against immortals like Secretariat and Citation and his transcendent cultural impact that helped save the sport itself.

Set against the turbulent backdrop of World War I, Prohibition, and baseball's Black Sox scandal, this groundbreaking work reveals how Man o' War became more than just a champion—he was racing's savior when the sport faced potential collapse. Using rare historical records, statistical analysis, and insights from a forty-year career covering Thoroughbred racing, Shrager puts Man o' War's legendary status to the ultimate test.

From dominating victories and record-setting performances to his enduring influence on breeding and American sports culture, THE GREATEST RACEHORSE? finally answers whether Man o' War's supreme reign can withstand the test of time and the challenges of racing's modern titans.

https://www.globepequot.com/9781493088881/the-greatest-racehorse/

04/07/2025

Coming soon to Netflix...will you be watching?

This rousing documentary series tails jockeys, trainers and owners as they chase titles and triumph in the Triple Crown of thoroughbred horse racing.Watch on...

11/20/2024

GREAT HORSE RACING MYSTERIES is now available as an audiobook!

This collection digs beneath the surface of some of the sport's most intriguing cases, including the death by poisoning of the great Australian champion Phar Lap; the shooting of William Woodward by his wife Ann, owners of the great horse Nashua; the disqualification of 1960 Derby winner Dancer's Image (was he drugged?); the theft and disappearance in 1983 of Shergar, Europe's best-known racehorse and stallion; and the scandalous financial collapse of Calumet Farm after the death by euthanasia of Alydar, one of the world's most successful sires. John McEvoy researched several unsolved mysteries of the racing world— murder...suicide...arson...fraud—and recounts some of horse racing's strangest, most fascinating tales.

In this updated edition, veteran turf writer Lenny Shulman adds to the intrigue by exploring the mysterious death of the troubled jockey Chris Antley, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness aboard Charismatic, and Big Brown's stunning collapse in the Belmont after cruising to wins in the first two legs of the Triple Crown.

09/17/2024

~Available Now~ I LOVE HORSES, edited by Steven D. Price, gathers the most memorable quotes about horses ever written, recorded, or carried down through the ages, together with 50 fantastic photos of the prettiest horses available.

Horses bring out the best in us; they inspire adoration and compassion. They have served as both muse and catharsis for artists and writers of all centuries and genres. Horses illuminate the prose of literary giants from Homer and Aesop to Steinbeck and Yeats and in sources that range from the Bible and Dante's Inferno to West with the Night, references to horses are abound. In I LOVE HORSES, humorous remarks from the likes of Groucho Marx and Henny Youngman share the pages with valuable wisdom on training and horsemanship from widely honored trainers, past and present. What living creature is the most noble of all, and has spurred on great minds throughout history from Shakespeare to Winston Churchill? All hippophiles know the answer. It is the horse, of course. For all those in love with this magnificent animal, I LOVE HORSES will reside close to the heart and never be far away.

08/14/2024

Don't miss Josh Pons of Country Life and Merryland Farms signing copies of his brand-new book LETTERS FROM COUNTRY LIFE this Saturday! Details in the post below.

This Saturday we have a lot planned! Two book signings, a showing of “Mill Reef: A Legacy of Heart”, handicapping with Tom Amello from TrackFacts, and a presentation by Ada Gates on how she became a farrier.

Thank you to Stewart’s Shops and Saratoga Spring Water for donating coffee, doughnuts, and water!

08/12/2024

Back in print: MERRYLAND: TWO YEARS IN THE LIFE OF A RACING STABLE by Josh Pons of Country Life and Merryland Farms.

Third-generation Maryland horseman Josh Pons chronicles the daily adventures, challenges, thrills, and sometimes sadness facing his family's small training stable of Thoroughbred racehorses. MERRYLAND combines the immediacy of the author's evocative diary entries with thoughts on horses, racing, America, families, and life amid the uncertainties and pressures wrought by encroaching development, casino gambling, and political ennui. Join Josh Pons as he introduces readers to the rhythmic cadence of life on a lovely little farm in Hydes, Maryland.