Racing for America covers the events and the lives of the characters leading up to the “International Race,” a 1923 horse race held in New York that had the largest purse in horse racing history at the time: $100,000. The two-horse race, or “match race,” was between the 1923 American Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Zev and 1923 British Derby winner (referred to throughout the book as the “Epsom Derby” or “English Derby” to lessen confusion with the Kentucky Derby) Papryus. Both were considered the top horses in their countries at the time. The title “Racing for America” comes from a quote from Zev's owner Harry Sinclair, emphasizing the importance of the nationality of the horse to American pride, while “Race of the Century” was the name given to the race by newspapers of the time (albeit it was early in the twentieth century). “The Redemption of a Sport” refers to declining interest in horse racing in the United States—it was considered a corrupt sport—and that this particular race brought some respectability and excitement back to horse racing in America.Racing for America is authored by James C. Nicholson, editor of the series Horses in History (a series of which this book is a part), and author of many other horse racing history books. The work starts out with a jam-packed introduction, explaining all the characters and the context of the tale to come throughout the rest of the book. Despite this being a nonfiction work, it reads like an epic novel, with death, drama, and lots of violence (examples include a jockey stabbing an owner, a trainer smashing another trainer's face with a cane, an angry lover throwing ducks at and shooting a politician, and a possibly suspicious stable fire that killed forty-two horses). The important jockeys, trainers, owners, and horses in the story are explained from their origins, their rise in the ranks of their professions, and the path for each to come together builds a story of intrigue and sometimes chance. The writing is entertaining and never dry.In Zev's story, the characters include Harry Sinclair (of Sinclair Oil), the owner of Zev embroiled in the Teapot Dome scandal, trainer Sam Hildreth, breeder/trainer John Madden, and jockey Earl Sande. Other important characters discussed in the American part of the story include United States president Warren G. Harding and the famous horse Man O’ War, a precursor to Zev in America in popularity. Papryus's story is shared in less detail, excitement, or scandal. The rumor that Papryus was a beer-drinking horse caused a commotion during US Prohibition, and he was sent overseas to the race in deluxe accommodations on a ship, and some detail is shared on his jockey Steve Donoghue and owner Ben Irish. But the British side of the story Nicholson provides is much shorter than the attention given to the US side. All this background leads to the International Race, which led to large-purse intercontinental horse races such as the Breeders’ Cup that are held today. The work gives most of the last third of the book to the few weeks before the race when both horses were in the United States, the race itself, and the aftermath of the race in both countries for the sport and the two horses and their surrounding characters.This work is accessible to those not familiar with horse racing history or United States history of the 1910s and 1920s: enough context is given of the United States politics of the time, particularly how politics affected the mood of the American people and anti-gambling and anti–horse racing laws of the time. To follow the book and the descriptions of races, it does help to know a little about horse racing—the explanations of furlongs and mounts and detailed race descriptions assume some knowledge, but lesser-known horse terms like “windsucking,” “cribbing,” and a horse's “frog” are helpfully explained. Many of the issues of concern today are repeating themselves from the era of this book: concern about national pride, the idea that a racetrack is filled with degenerate characters and corruption, and drugs and overtraining in the health of racehorses.The sources to support the story are strong: pages 187 to 218 are full of detailed footnotes, heavy on quotes from many different US newspapers and magazines of the time. The footnotes are followed by a multi-page bibliography and index. There are some pictures throughout the work of the important characters, although the descriptions and actions of the characters in the text are picturesque enough to not necessarily need the pictures.
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Jul 1, 2023
Jonathan Stubbs 
Open Access