Description
Vantage Press, New York, Published date: 1976. Hardcover with dust jacket; 83 pp; 21 cm. First edition. No illustrations.
Rare, out-of-print & unusual books · Since 1997
115
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Catalog notes
Condition & notes
In very good condition with good dust jacket. Original green cloth boards with gilt title to spine; light shelf wear to covers; binding sound. Interior pages mildly toned but otherwise clean and unmarked. Dust jacket has some discoloration to fore-edge and spine (yellowing to otherwise green colored paper), with small chips and short closed tears at extremities and light age toning and scuffing; spine faded. Now in an archival quality (removable) Brodart cover. Autobiographical racing narrative told from the perspective of a California thoroughbred named Toppy. Written by Al V. Gomez (1905- ?), longtime trainer, breeder, and former professional boxer, the book recounts life on the racetrack, training routines, racing culture, and the bond between horse and trainer. [from jacket flaps] You don't have to take first prize to come out a winner in the game of life! This is something that Toppy learned the hard way, but that didn't mean he ever gave up trying. From the first time he was ever on a race-track, until all he had were memories of the bell's ringing, the gate's opening, and the rest of the horses' charging for the finish line and the walk to the winner's circle-he still kept trying. Toppy is a California thoroughbred, a racing horse - and Me and My Boss is his story. In the tradition of Ben and Me and Mr. Revere and I, Toppy tells what it is like to grow up in the world of racing-his training, his workouts, the races he ran, the characters (humans, horses, and assorted other varieties) he met, the challenges he faced, and how he kept trying, never losing his will to win. Author Gomez has been a trainer, breeder, and racer for over fifty years, and through Toppy, one of his own race horses, he takes us behind the scenes at the race-tracks to explore the sometimes frantic but always fascinating world of thoroughbred racing-the many hours of hard work, the worries and fears of owner and horse alike, the glories and the failures-and perhaps most of all, the close, personal relationship which can develop between two friends, a man and a horse. Me and My Boss is a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining book. Horse owners will find encouragement, and trainers will find helpful hints in Toppy's story of his climb to immortality, carrying a boy to be the world's greatest jockey, Bill Shoemaker.