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My Year of the Racehorse

Falling in Love with the Sport of Kings

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
Kevin Chong has grand plans. He draws up a to-do list of major milestones that will give him the life he always wanted—and the life that will inspire awe and envy in his friends. Things like settling down and starting a family; learning a foreign language; getting a tattoo. But these grand plans go out the window when Chong makes an unconventional decision: he's going to buy a racehorse. Not the whole thing—he'll become part—owner of the horse. Just don't ask him which part.

Thus Chong meets Blackie, the racehorse that will win his heart, even if she doesn't always win on the track. He meets Randi, the cantankerous and foul-mouthed horse trainer with a heart of gold. He meets an assorted array of characters who work, live and drink at the track—and, one by one, the items on his to-do list are crossed out and replaced with horse-related ambitions. His goals are a bit more humble (cussing like a track worker replaces learning a foreign language), but his life has gained new meaning.

The story is infused with the noise, excitement and faded glamour of the horse-racing world. It is strewn with fascinating tidbits about the history and tradition of this
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    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 4, 2012
      A young Chinese-Canadian journalist and "all-around enthusiast" is drawn to a sport with a fading star in this quirky, entertaining memoir. Chong (Neil Young Nation: A Quest, an Obsession (and a True Story), nonfiction) is a commitment-phobe who has never been tied downâneither by "boy-girl relationships" nor a full-time job. At 33-years-old, he decides it's time for a big change, which leads to Chong becoming part-owner of Blackie, a low-tier racehorse with "the equine personality of a biker chick" and known professionally as Mocha Time. Chong details his many adventures with charming self-deprecation, and introduces readers to a diverse cast of charactersâfrom Randi, Blackie's gruff trainer who reveals her "stripping song is AC/DC's âYou Shook Me All Night Long;'" to his long suffering immigrant parents. But the true focus is the author himself. Arguably, this works in the book's favor, as Chong proves to be both fun and genuinely funny, and his numerous foibles (e.g., discussing horse masturbation at a wedding, enlisting the services of an animal psychic) make for a consistently entertaining and informative read.

    • Booklist

      April 15, 2012
      It is not the best of times for the sport of kingsoff-track betting and the spread of casino gambling have seen to thatbut for those with horses in their blood, the allure of the track never fades. So it is for Chong, a Vancouver writer who buys a small piece of a low-end Thoroughbred named Mocha Time and soon finds himself falling in love not only with the horse but also with the backstretch at Hastings Park, the city's down-at-the-heels racetrack. Chong takes us through his year as a part-owner, from the exhilarating moment of purchase to the melancholy finale, when Blackie is claimed (track parlance for a horse that's bought in a claiming race, where all the field is up for sale), and in the process, we, too, feel the special camaraderie among horse people, from grooms through trainers, jockeys, and even owners. The vivid, affecting portraits of the people who live on the backstretch will remind readers of the HBO series Luck, just as the hardbitten manner in which Chong's veteran racetrackers deal with loss will evoke Jaimy Gordon's Lord of Misrule (2010).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

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  • English

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