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And best of all, the author's work is relevant today as many tracks are pumped up with casino revenues but still cater to the same "degenerates".Next time you go to the track, pay special attention to the characters (gamblers, trainers, jockeys, ticket sellers.). The descriptions really transported me back to those places. This book is strongly suggested for any racing fan. I just finished read this book & was fascinated by all of the real-life characters who populate the race track. I've been to many "minor league" racetracks (Thistledown, Waterford Park, Charlestown, Timonium, Bowie, Penn National, Philly Park & Northampton).
There is an interesting section that exposes the chaos and corruptness that is Massachusetts state government. The overall balance between good and bad, happy and sad, is quite fair. There were passages that made me laugh out loud, others that were quite sad. As someone originally from Boston, having spent many afternoons at Suffolk Downs, I'm a little bit biased. I would certainly recommend this book, especially to casual horse racing fans, industry insiders maybe not so much. While many books like this are written as advertisements, Mr. However, I found this book to be extremely interesting and very well written. Thornton has no problem in exposing some of the less desirable sides of the industry.
This is a long read, sometimes dragged out a bit, but it does give the reader an insight into how a race track operates and the people associated with that world. Thornton also gives us intimate information about the functions of the other race tracks along the United States eastern coast. Norma in California Good description of characters and events. Author reveals that he really does have a total knowledge of the life and death of the Suffolk Downs race track in East Boston.
Well worth reading at least once, I read it twice. A mesmerizing account of the year 2000, if you lived through the good and bad years at Suffolk Downs. The uniqueness of the book is that he pulls no punches and mentions names and incidents from fixing races to track owners who really just wanted the property to develop.
You could substitute the name "Suffolk Downs" in the book with any greyhound track in the country and everything would apply.I couldn't put it down. Excellent read for anyone who has ever been interested in the goin's on of the pari-mutual world.I'm a greyhound racer, but all the problems of the horse industry apply to the dogs.
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