Lambourn is the home of racing, rivalled only by Newmarket, with over 1500 racehorses based there. In Robin Oakley's evocative account of a year in the life of this village, he reveals the way the racing world works. Talking to trainers, jockeys, stable lads, and even the local pub landlord, he presents the great characters that make racing what it is—people like Jenny Pitman, Charlie Brooks, and Jamie Osborne, as well as those almost unknown beyond the village—such as Eddie Fisher, who prepares the training grounds. Oakley shows how close to reality the novels of Jilly Cooper and Dick Francis really are.

Valley of the Racehorse

Sports & Outdoors

Oakley, Robin

Individual Sports

Headline Book Publishing

Robin Oakley brings alive the colorful 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 color 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.

Sixty Years of Jump Racing

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Pets & Animal Care

Bloomsbury Sport

The Cheltenham Festival: A Centenary History

Aurum Press

Cheltenham Festival: A Centenary History

Britain and Ireland's Top 100 Racehorses of All Time

Robin Oakley presents his top 100 British racehorses of all time. This book is the product of a lifetime's passion following the sport. Oakley takes on the daunting task of assessing the truly great horses to have run in Britain and Ireland in both National Hunt and on the Flat.

Corinthian

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Books by Oakley, Robin