Homestretch: A Celebrartion of North America's Greatest Tracks

by Nancy Stout with foreword by Jerry Cooke

This handsome and affordable entry into the combination coffeetable and history book category examines 15 racetracks across North America. Loaded with over 200 black and white pictures, the book is a 9"x12" hardcover with 224 pages. Fifteen tracks are profiled here with each getting a nice write up on the history, traditions, important people and horses associated with that track, and a list of milestone dates in the track's past. The tracks selected are all historically important tracks that have been around for at least 44 years, most since the 1930's or earlier.

• Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs, NY (Est. 1864)
• Pimlico Race Course, Baltimore, MD (1870)
• Fair Grounds, New Orleans, LA (1872)
• Churchill Downs, Louisville, KY (1875)
• Belmont Park, Elmont, NY (1905)
• Arlington International Racecourse, Arlington Heights, IL (1927)
• Hialeah Park, Hialeah, FL (1932)
• Oaklawn Park, Hot Springs, AR (1934)
• Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, CA (1934)
• Keeneland Race Course, Lexington, KY (1936)
• Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, Del Mar, CA (1937)
• Hollywood Park, Inglewood, CA (1938)
• Gulfstream Park, Hallandale, FL (1944)
• Monmouth Park, Monmouth, NJ (1946)
• Woodbine, Etobicoke, Ontario (1956)

While the narratives are entertaining, I did find a few inaccuracies such as still listing the tradition of a winner's circle drawn on the track at Saratoga which was discontinued 2 or 3 years ago. I also noticed a few photos that were mislabled as to which race they were (like a photo of a turf race being called the Louisiana Derby which is a dirt race or the photo of another turf race tagged as the Queen's Plate which is also a dirt race). Despite these minor annoyances, which I admit most people would probably never notice, I did enjoy the book. The author chose a nice selection of tracks, each with a rich history that is enjoyable to read about and did a nice job covering the major points of each. The photos chosen were an excellent accompaniment to the text with the pictures of the fire and the twisted rubble of the stands at Arlington especially haunting, perhaps because of being in black and white instead of color.

I think anyone interested in racing history would love to have this book in their library. The amount of information in it is excellent and the low price makes it even more attractive. This would be a good item to put on your Christmas shopping list for any race fans you know.

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