Sign-In
Cart
One Hammer Of A Heartbeat: A season on the backstretch
Paperback
Series: Life on the Backstretch, Book 1
Please select the version of book you would like to purchase.
ISBN10: 1090117248
ISBN13: 9781090117243
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Apr 16 2019
Pages: 282
Weight: 0.92
Height: 0.64 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
ISBN13: 9781090117243
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Apr 16 2019
Pages: 282
Weight: 0.92
Height: 0.64 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
When I watched him stroll casually through the gate to the barn area at Playfair Racecourse, I gave him no more consideration than any of the hundreds of horses I had cared for growing up. I'd never been around Thoroughbred horses on the backside of the racetrack except as a casual visitor being the only difference. Just another horse, was my thinking at the time. There were champions in his pedigree, but he was offered for sale at a thousand dollars and purchased for eight hundred. Little Provolone, as we called him, would never be a champion to anyone but me.
I never understood my father and he never knew what to think of me until this horse came along. Because of this horse, I was able to spend half a year with my favorite uncle, my father, and what came to be my favorite place, the backside of the racetrack. Our time together, Little Provolone and I, also manifested a couple dozen hard-earned life lessons, as any worthwhile love affair will do. Our journey takes us from the day I met a Thoroughbred racehorse officially named Officer's Citation according to the Jockey Club Registry, through the day his knee and my heart shattered simultaneously somewhere between the guinea stand and the quarter pole at Playfair.
Uncle Baldy would tell the jockey to wait until the quarter-pole to let the horse run, ...and if you don't know where the quarter-pole is, it's past the fucking guinea stand.
I've never researched the origins of the name, guinea stand. To be honest I'm afraid of what I will find.
You'll meet my mentors at the racetrack, my father Marv and his brother Baldy. I probably brag about them too much in this memoir, but if they occupied the same positions in your pedigree, you would too.
I have/had a lot of great uncles, but Baldy wins the favorite uncle race by the length of the stretch. Like any uncle worth his salt, a bad influence in a positive way.
I am the youngest son of Marv, and he is his own book. He once described the art of resurrecting a racehorse as putting a poultice on his heart. Nothing brought my father and I closer than this horse. Nothing even came close.
Uncle Baldy is his own book as well. The two of them together were an encyclopedia of horsemanship one can only hope to emulate. They ran good-looking horses, and they ran tough.
Believe me, they could both tell a story better than I.
Some of it feels like it happened yesterday, but these are thirty-year-old memories about the first year I spent on the backside of the Playfair Race Course, now Playfair Business Park.
But One Hammer of a Heartbeat is not a book about any of these people or events.
I've come to see it as a love letter to life on the backstretch three decades ago and in remembrance of some of the ghosts who still haunt me today.
Having been written for a ghost from the past, what else could One Hammer of a Heartbeat be but a love letter to the past?
Uncle Baldy would tell the jockey to wait until the quarter-pole to let the horse run, ...and if you don't know where the quarter-pole is, it's past the fucking guinea stand.
I've never researched the origins of the name, guinea stand. To be honest I'm afraid of what I will find.
You'll meet my mentors at the racetrack, my father Marv and his brother Baldy. I probably brag about them too much in this memoir, but if they occupied the same positions in your pedigree, you would too.
I have/had a lot of great uncles, but Baldy wins the favorite uncle race by the length of the stretch. Like any uncle worth his salt, a bad influence in a positive way.
I am the youngest son of Marv, and he is his own book. He once described the art of resurrecting a racehorse as putting a poultice on his heart. Nothing brought my father and I closer than this horse. Nothing even came close.
Uncle Baldy is his own book as well. The two of them together were an encyclopedia of horsemanship one can only hope to emulate. They ran good-looking horses, and they ran tough.
Believe me, they could both tell a story better than I.
Some of it feels like it happened yesterday, but these are thirty-year-old memories about the first year I spent on the backside of the Playfair Race Course, now Playfair Business Park.
But One Hammer of a Heartbeat is not a book about any of these people or events.
I've come to see it as a love letter to life on the backstretch three decades ago and in remembrance of some of the ghosts who still haunt me today.
Having been written for a ghost from the past, what else could One Hammer of a Heartbeat be but a love letter to the past?
Also in
Racing
A Life's Calling: The Voice Behind the World's Greatest Horse Races
Volponi, Paul
Shulman, Lenny
Durkin, Tom
Hardcover
$43.50
The Horse God Built: The Untold Story of Secretariat, the World's Greatest Racehorse
Scanlan, Lawrence
Paperback
$19.95
How to Win the Lottery: 7 Secrets to Manifesting Your Millions With the Law of Attraction (Volume 1)
White, Amy
Hardcover
$25.62
The Winning Horseplayer: An Advanced Approach to Thoroughbred Handicapping and Betting
Beyer, Andrew
Paperback
$18.99
The Art of Making a California-Style Vaquero Bridle Horse: Second Edition, Softcover
Bridges, Mike
Paperback
$49.99
Riding in Release: A Practical Guide to French Classical Equitation and Horsemanship
del Sandel, Kate
Paperback
$26.59
150 Years of Racing in Saratoga: Little-Known Stories & Facts from America's Most Historic Racing City
Kane, Mike
Carter, Allan
Hardcover
$33.24
Greyhound: The Remarkable Story of the Legendary Racehorse Who Inspired a Nation
Eriksen, Cheryl
Paperback
$28.45
Lexington: The Extraordinary Life and Turbulent Times of America's Legendary Racehorse
Wickens, Kim
Paperback
$20.90
Broken: The Suspicious Death of Alydar and the End of Horse Racing's Golden Age
Kray, Fred M.
Hardcover
$32.34
A Bettor Way of Thinking: How Risk and Reward Have Shaped My View of Gambling, Life, and Movie Theater Popcorn
Miller, Matt
Hardcover
$50.00
My Guy Barbaro: A Jockey's Journey Through Love, Triumph, and Heartbreak
Eisenberg, John
Prado, Edgar
Paperback
$13.99
When Montana Outraced the East: The Reign of Western Thoroughbreds, 1886-1900
Melin-Moser, Catharine
Hardcover
$48.93
Complete Training of Horse and Rider in the Principles of Classical Horsemanship: In the Principles of Classical Horsemanship
Podhajsky, Alois
Paperback
$21.99
Horse Betting 2.0: The Modern Manual for Intelligent Bettors
Bettor, Sound
Racing Index, The Horse
Paperback
$11.99
Broken: The Suspicious Death of Alydar and the End of Horse Racing's Golden Age
Kray, Fred M.
Paperback
$17.05
Winning Horseracing Handicapping: Secrets of a Successful Horseracing Handicapper
Bandone, Chuck
Badone, Chuck
Paperback
$10.49
Horsetrader Pb: Robert Sangster and the Rise and Fall of the Sport of Kings
Robinson, Patrick
Paperback
$18.99
Racing's Return from the Brink: The Incredible Comeback of Old Rosebud and American Horse Racing
Nicholson, James C.
Hardcover
$41.93
The Racing Horse: A personal journey in horse racing betting over a period of 56 years
Moon, Paul
Paperback
$9.05
Reinventing the American Thoroughbred: The Arabian Adventures of Alexander Keene Richards
O'Dell, Gary A.
Hardcover
$42.70
So you want to own a racehorse?: Then follow the highs and lows of my personal journey
Woodcock, Philip
Paperback
$22.44
How to Win the Lottery: 7 Secrets to Manifesting Your Millions With the Law of Attraction (Volume 1)
White, Amy
Paperback
$16.12
The Foxes of Belair: Gallant Fox, Omaha, and the Quest for the Triple Crown
Kelly, Jennifer S.
Paperback
$23.70
The Great Match Race: When North Met South in America's First Sports Spectacle
Eisenberg, John
Paperback
$18.99
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Latest Guide: Best Tips - Tricks - Strategies and More!
Kross, Alex
Paperback
$14.39
Horse Racing Handicapping Books 1-4: Angles, Tips, Advice, Handicapping Help
Peterson, Bill
Paperback
$15.58
Horse Racing the Chicago Way: Gambling, Politics, and Organized Crime, 1837-1911
Riess, Steven
Paperback
$67.50
Horsewatching: Why Does a Horse Whinny and Everything Else You Ever Wanted to Know
Morris, Desmond
Paperback
$19.95
Help! I Bought a New Horse!: What First Time Horse Owners Need to Know About Grooming, Riding, Training, and Horse Care
Hill, Meredith
Paperback
$28.71
Canonero II: The Rags to Riches Story of the Kentucky Derby's Most Improbable Winner
Toby, Milton C.
Hardcover
$30.39
Crazy Good: The True Story of Dan Patch, the Most Famous Horse in America
Leerhsen, Charles
Paperback
$22.99
Funny Cide: How a Horse, a Trainer, a Jockey, and a Bunch of High School Buddies Took on the Shieks and Bluebloods...and Won
Jenkins, Sally
The Funny Cide Team
Paperback
$27.00
The Key Race: A Powerhouse Tool for Handicapping Thoroughbreds: HTTP: //Sports-Bet-Advantage.com
Pitlak, Bob
Paperback
$25.95
Reining Made Simple: A Complete Beginner's Guide to Riding, Training, and Competing with Your Horse
Alessi, Sandro
Paperback
$29.99
Help! I Bought a New Horse!: What First Time Horse Owners Need to Know About Grooming, Riding, Training, and Horse Care
Hill, Meredith
Hardcover
$34.96
An Illustrated History of Equestrian Sports: Dressage, Jumping, Eventing
Capdebarthes, Benoît
de Pellegars, Marie
Hardcover
$18.98
A History of the American Trotting and Pacing Horse: With Pedigrees of Famous Standardbred Horses, Useful Hints
Coates, Henry T.
Paperback
$15.59
Thoroughbred Yearling Selection based on Biomechanics: Modern conformation levering
Brunt, Ross
Paperback
$58.80
Your Complete Guide to Equine Arenas: How to Build and Maintain an Ideal Riding and Training Space from the Ground Up
Boatwright, Abigail
Paperback
$25.60
Forging the Triple Crown: The Early History of Horse Racing's Signature Series, 1918-1948
Batcheller, Michael F.
Paperback
$74.93
The Path to Harness Racing Handicapping Profits: One Man's Journey to Success (Large Print Edition)
Masters, Douglas
Paperback
$16.79
Harness Racing in New York State: A History of Trotters, Tracks and Horsemen
Hoffman, Dean a.
Hardcover
$30.39
Champions in Clouded Glory: Versatile Horses Who Conquered the Racing World
William R Foster
Paperback
$12.34
Duel for the Crown: Affirmed, Alydar, and Racing's Greatest Rivalry
Carroll, Linda
Rosner, David
Paperback
$29.95
Unbridled Spirit: The Untold Story of the 2018 Extraordinary Palio in Siena, Italy
Paradis, Thomas W.
Paperback
$19.99
Shadows of Silver: Untold Stories of Exceptional Racehorses and Their Legacy
William R Foster
Paperback
$12.34
Unnatural Ability: The History of Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Thoroughbred Racing
Toby, Milton C.
Hardcover
$31.30