Three Strides Before the Wire: The Dark and Beautiful World of Horse Racing

I STRONGLY disagree with any negative comments other reviewers wrote about this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I am in the process of re-reading many of the sentences I underlined throughout. This story should be made into a movie. The chapters about Chris Antley were very compelling and informative. Ms. Mitchell captured a stellar timeframe in 1999 when Charasmatic almost won the Triple Crown. She provided the historical background leading up to each race as she wove her personal involvement in the events of that year. In my opinion, she wrote an excellent book, especially for people who want to know about the back scenes of a jockey's life.

Three Strides Before the Wire: The Dark and Beautiful World of Horse Racing, by Elizabeth Mitchell This wonderful effort of non-fiction is more than a great book about horse racing; it is a great book period!! The author's passion for the subject burns like the sun - and for good reason -- her husband is dying of cancer. The story begins with one of their last trips together; culminating with a vision and an improbable bet on a former claiming horse to win the Kentucky Derby. Their winning ticket helps finance and long and extended vacation together and eventually brings the couple face-to-face with the horse and his connections. After her husband's death the author finds healing through tracing the lives of their Derby horse and people who so deeply entered their lives that fateful First Saturday In May. What a story she weaves!!!!!! (And who cares about some relatively meaningless errors) As her own story unfolds, she mixes in the many segments of the lives of the horse and his people. Most notable is gifted jockey Chris Antley, an intuitive who can calm and sometimes cure horses through his gentle communication; a jockey who is as much as a genius trading in the stock market as he is on the track; a jockey whose gentle hands and kind nature built treatment facilities for addicts; a jockey that was so open to the vagrancies of the universe that they threaten to swallow him up in the shadow of every turn; and a jockey who saved the life of the greatest horse he every rode just strides before the wire in the last leg of their quest for the Triple Crown. This is a book of love lived and love lost; of poverty and wealth; of mental illness and addiction; of the highest highs and the lowest lows; of incredible joy and overwhelming pain; of journeys realized and journeys lost. In the end, the story unfolds in shrouds of mystery and murder that will never be solved. God's precious gift created and destroyed; the knife cut both ways. Yet, in the end, the book must be seen as a story of love and commitment. (I do agree with one reviewer, however: the Jan Mooney Story, My Racing Heart is excellent!!!!!!!!!!)

This is a sports book that beautifully manages to weave racing, a self-destructive life and personal tragedy into a tale of triumph and tragedy. The author's introduction to racing came about through a trip to the Kentucky Derby with her terminally-ill lover. The winner of the race was the long-shot Charismatic ridden by a brilliant but ill-fated jockey. She uses drama surrounding the Derby and her personal tragedy as a basis to follow the lives of the jockey, the trainer, the owners, a cast of bit players and, of course, Charismatic. For me, however, the impact of the book is the life and death of jockey Chris Antley. Mr. Antley was a tragic figure in the truest sense. He is portrayed as a sensitive, kind-hearted and brilliant (both with horses and finances) who is unable to handle his many talents and successes. The portrait of Mr. Antley appears to be well-researched and balanced told, in large part, through the words of his friends, colleagues, and family. I was drawn to him and moved by his struggles and finally, his death under mysterious circumstances in Pasadena. I put down the book feeling as if I knew Mr. Antley and felt the loss and frustration felt by those around him. His story is all the more moving when told in the context of Charismatic's unlikely Derby and Preakness wins and his life-threatening injury in failing to complete the Triple Crown by winning the Belmont. The image that will remain with me is that of Antley, disregarding his own safety, struggling to hold up Charimatic's injured leg in a successful effort to prevent further injury. This act is at the same time redemptive and signals the beginning of Antley's fatal spiral. I have to confess that I am a racing fan and own interests in several horses. As a "primer" on racing, this book is passable but, as some other reviews note, hardly complete or authoritative. However, this book's worth lies in an allegoric-like use of racing to tell a very human story.

Three Strides Before the Wire is a wonderful book for people of all ages. It covers the miraculous journey of Derby winner Charismatic, a claimer, Chris Antley, a washed up ex-superstar jockey trying to get back in the game, D. Wayne Lukas, a strict taskmaster who is in a bit of a slump and Bob and Beverly Lewis, who are semi new to Race Horse owning but having their second try at the triple crown already. We follow the all-star miracle team as the prep for the derby, the biggest horse race in America. We next follow them to Pilmico race track for the Preckness and next it is on to the often heartbreaking Belmont Stakes. Along with Charismatic and Chris Antley's fairytale story there are side plots of the author and her cancer stricken companion fight for survival and many other racing greats that play into the storyline. But will Charismatic swipe the Triple Crown, the most coveted prize in American horse racing or will the heartbreak of the famous journey of the famous crown cause heartbreak to them too? Read this wonderful book to find out. Elizabeth Mitchell has truly outdone herself with Three Stride Before the Wire: The Dark and Beautiful World of Horse Racing.

Not only does THREE STRIDES BEFORE THE WIRE offer a vivid and exceptionally privileged view into the world of horse racing, it is a beautifully told story about life. The late, great jockey Chris Antley is the book's hero, and while his story is heart-rendingly tragic, it is most decidedly not without a redemption as lasting as it was hard-won. THREE STRIDES is not only for those who love the ponies, but for anyone who treasures life. And it is an especial gift to those who have had their share of trouble along the way.