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ebook / ISBN-13: 9781472241511

Price: £9.99

ON SALE: 16th June 2016

Genre: Biography & True Stories / Biography: General / Biography: Sport

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Paperback

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John Oaksey has seen it all in racing, as a jockey, commentator and newspaper reporter. After a lifetime devoted to the sport he recalls the splendid characters, horses and races that have made horseracing the great passion of his life, a passion that he is so brilliantly able to convey to others. One of the most respected and loved people in the sport, partly due to his work with the Injured Jockeys’ Fund, John Oaksey has a fund of fascinating and hilarious stories to tell. This book is not just a wonderful self-portrait, it is also a definitive account of racing since the war.

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Reviews

Fantastic news for anyone who has even a passing interest in horses and horseracing ... [a] very enjoyable book
J.A.McGrath, Daily Telegraph
[a] delightful and often hilarious autobiography...splendid memoir
Country Life
John Oaksey is the archetypal English gentleman. He is a sweetheart, a star, the bravest of the brave, funny and kind...I loved this charming book: old fashioned the standards may be, modest to an almost ridiculous degree the style, but shining through it all is a man in love with life, with sport, tradition and competition. How lucky the sport of racing has been to have him as its leading writer and advocate for so many years
Stoker Hartington, Spectator
One of the most remarkable feats of sportswriting I have witnessed was by a mud-splattered jockey who had just been narrowly beaten in the 1963 Grand National. Within minutes he was crouched in a noisy, sweltering, overcrowded Press room penning 1,200 words on the emotions of losing in the last few yards to a 66-1 outsider, Ayala, to catch the first edition of a Sunday newspaper. If I have ever seen ultimate professionalism that was it
Ian Wooldridge, Daily Mail
Hilarious anecdotes ... Oaksey is a gripping storyteller. Not only is this one of the best racing books that has ever been written but it also reveals an honest and generous character
Chris Goulding, Sunday Express
The imperative read for racing fans this Christmas
Chris McGrath, The Times