Books on racing make nice gifts

It's time again for my annual horse racing Christmas gift column. The response to the column is such that I've had to pare it down to a top-10 list.

I'll begin with three titles from Daily Racing Form Press: "The Best and Worst of Thoroughbred Racing" by Steve Davidowitz; "Expert Handicapping" by Dave Litfin; and "The Guide to U.S. Casinos and Racinos" by Richard Eng.

Davidowitz's book is a cornucopia of lists he has compiled on racing. Two of my favorite lists are best race-callers and greatest jockeys. Bottom line, it's thought provoking.

Litfin's book is an updated version of his title first released in 1995. A lot changes in 12 years, and Litfin has added much new data.

Eclipse Press released four new titles: "Saratoga Stories" by Jon Bartels; "Masters of the Turf" by Edward Bowen; "Greatest Kentucky Derby Upsets" by the Blood-Horse staff; and "Barbaro" by Sean Clancy.

I used to work at Saratoga, so I knew of the colorful history portrayed in "Saratoga Stories." Bowen in Masters examines the lives of great horse trainers in the 1930s and '40s, when racing was king.

The Kentucky Derby is America's greatest horse race, so there is much fodder for a Derby-upsets book. I'm glad they used 1995 winner Thunder Gulch, because that was my best Derby result. Hopefully yours is included, too.

"Barbaro" is an excellent coffee table book and a lot more. Clancy replays the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner's brief life in meticulous, vivid detail.

ESPN Books published "Ruffian: A Racetrack Romance" by Bill Nack. It's short, 112 pages, but packed with drama. For those who got watery-eyed over Barbaro, well, the brilliant, ill-fated filly Ruffian came before him in 1975.

"Beyer on Speed" by Andrew Beyer is an update of his book first published in 1993. As with the Litfin book, a lot changes over the years. Beyer produces the Beyer Speed Figures that appear exclusively in the Daily Racing Form past performances.

If you want to recall some of horse racing's wonderful past, read "1941" by Mike Vaccaro. Whirlaway winning the Triple Crown that year played a major role in 1941 being called "the greatest year in sports."

In the past, I've written how we, the fans, need to stop pointing fingers at the horse racing industry for the poor job it does promoting the sport. Instead, we need to challenge ourselves to be self-promoters of racing, the greatest game going.

If everyone introduces horse racing to one novice a year, and we can retain a good percentage of them for life, the fan base will start growing in no time flat.

Richard Eng's horse racing column is published Friday. He can be reached at rich_eng@hotmail.com.