Sixty Years of Jump Racing: From Arkle to McCoy : From Arkle to McCoy

Sixty Years of Jump Racing: From Arkle to McCoy : From Arkle to McCoy
ISBN: 9781472935090
Publication Date: 26 April 2017

Robin Oakley brings alive the colourful world of those who ride and train jumping horses. With elegant production and gripping images

The History of Jump Racing chronicles the social and economic changes which have brought the sport's ups and downs-like the development of sponsorships and syndicate ownership, the near loss of the Grand National, the growing domination of the Cheltenham Festival and the growth of all-weather racing to meet the bookies' demands for betting shop fodder.

Pace and colour is provided by stories of the horses who have been taken to the heart of racing crowds, like the Irish-trained hurdler Istabraq and Best Mate, the three-times winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup for England. Famous rivalries and memorable races are re-lived and key victories revisited in portraits of and interviews with the owners, jockeys and trainers who have dominated the sport. The emphasis will be largely on the past fifty years-from Arkle to Tony McCoy-but a significant introduction by Edward Gillespie encapsulates the past history of what was previously known as 'National Hunt Racing' and sets the stories in context.

About the Author

After being an assistant editor of the Sunday Express and the Daily Mail Robin was Political Editor of The Times (1986-1992) and of the BBC (1992-2000). He then became European Political Editor of the international broadcaster CNN from 2000-2009 and remains a CNN contributor. He has written the Turf column in The Spectator since 1995.