Review of Rascals and Racehorses--A Sporting Man's Life

Title:

Rascals and Racehorses--A Sporting Man's Life

Author:

W. Cothran Campbell

Publisher:

The Blood-Horse, Inc.

Date:

2002

ISBN:

1-58150-085-8

Pages:

199

Price:

$24.95

Reviewed by Nick Christenson, npc@lvrevealed.com

June 27, 2003

Thoroughbred horse racing, the sport of kings, has enchanted men and women across the globe since equines were first domesticated. And why not? Despite that horse racing's popularity has been waning as televised sports has been waxing, and that for most US citizens far more gambling options compete for attention than just the race track, everyone still receives a primal thrill from seeing these magnificent animals run. As with any endeavor that has such a long and distinguished history, the culture and history of horse racing is replete with remarkable characters and amazing stories. In Rascals and Racehorses, Cot Campbell provides his insight into the rich tapestry of this sport that he loves so much.

For me, though, the book begins on a weak note. After we understand the background of the author, which is colorful by most folks standards but perhaps not literarily noteworthy, Campbell moves on to describe a few of the more colorful characters he has been associated with in the horse business. While I have no compunction against hard-edged, Runyon-esque characters, the first few folks we read about seem to me to be long on antisocial tendencies and short on real color. Of course, while I appreciate horse racing, I'm hardly a fanatic, so maybe there's something about these personalities that I'm missing.

The book gets better, though, and includes some quite good stories. Three examples of stories which entertained me include hearing about the Jones boys' encounter with Al Capone, the famous Cinzano switcheroo, and legendary jockey Lester Piggott's hunting adventure. However, the best of these stories are good, not great, and many of the rest left me pretty indifferent. Maybe it's the way they're told, but the author recounting about his misadventures in trying and failing to remove the hat from his head and stories of an onerous individual whose chief personality trait seems to have been blaring Sousa marches to rouse his guests at 6:00 in the morning just doesn't do it for me. It's possible that a joke which involves dressing up a midget in sheik's clothing and presenting him as a serious horse buyer might have a funny conclusion, but I just didn't find it such under the circumstances in Rascals and Racehorses.

I have no doubt that horse racing is filled with marvelous characters whose lives have been filled with jaw-dropping escapades that could fill multiple volumes with stories that enthrall readers of all sorts, but to me this book just isn't such a collection. Again, perhaps the fact that I'm not a serious horse person has something to do with it, but it just doesn't seem likely to me that this represents the cream of the material that is available. While some stories are entertaining, the book in total just isn't entertaining enough for me to recommend. Perhaps someone more in tune with the sport would enjoy it more, but I suspect Rascals and Racehorses just doesn't quite cut it as a good buy for most.

Capsule:

While there is no doubt that the sport of kings contains enough amazing characters and stories to fill an engrossing book, in my opinion, Rascals and Racehorses isn't it. At its best, the book has some good, compelling stories, but unfortunately these are too few and the bulk of the material too weak to get me to recommend this book on the whole. Campbell's book is by no means bad, but I believe there are too many other books on the market which do better by comparison.

Note: I received a free review copy of this book from the publisher. I have no other interest, financial or otherwise, in the success of this book.