Mr. Darley's Arabian high life, low life, sporting life : a history of racing in twenty-five horses
"In 1704 a bankrupt English merchant sent home the colt he had bought from Bedouin tribesmen near the ruins of Palmyra. Thomas Darley hoped this horse might be the ticket to a new life back in Yorkshire. But he turned out to be far more than that, and although Mr. Darley's Arabian never ran a race,...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Books Print Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New York :
Pegasus Books,
2017.
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| Edition: | First Pegasus Books hardcover edition. |
| Subjects: | |
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| Summary: | "In 1704 a bankrupt English merchant sent home the colt he had bought from Bedouin tribesmen near the ruins of Palmyra. Thomas Darley hoped this horse might be the ticket to a new life back in Yorkshire. But he turned out to be far more than that, and although Mr. Darley's Arabian never ran a race, 95% of all thoroughbreds in the world today are descended from him. In this book, for the first time, award-winning racing writer Christopher McGrath traces this extraordinary bloodline through twenty-five generations to our greatest modern racehorse, Frankel. The story of racing is about man's relationship with horses, and Mr. Darley's Arabian also celebrates the men and women who owned, trained and traded the stallions that extended the dynasty. The great Eclipse, for instance, was bred by the Duke who foiled Bonnie Prince Charlie's invasion (with militia gathered from Wakefield races) and went on to lead the Jockey Club. But he only became a success once bought and raced by a card-sharp and brothel-keeper - the racecourse has always brought high and low life together."--From publisher's website. |
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| Item Description: | First published in Great Britain in 2016 by John Murray (publishers). |
| Physical Description: | xv, 426 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 375-406) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781681773384 1681773384 |
| Author Notes: |
