Product Description

"Scandal on the Turf!" the "Los Angeles Times" proclaimed. It was October 1940, a mere few months since Seabiscuit had won the Santa Anita Derby, and now this bombshell: "Six Jockeys Admit Horse Races Fixed". "The Gambler and the Bug Boy" recounts this dark chapter in horse racing history. At its centre is Bernard "Big" Mooney, a flashy L.A. bookmaker who began his seedy career by threatening young jockeys with death if they didn't "pull" their horses. His unwilling partner is Albert Siler, a callow, eighteen-year-old apprentice rider (a so-called bug boy) from eastern Oregon. John Christgau tells how Big Mooney manipulated this promising rider and how Siler tried to escape the gambler's criminal grip without ruining his career. His book gives all the harrowing details of the unravelling plot and of the botched court case that followed which riveted the attention of the nation. Told in full for the first time, this story brings to light a little-known but important horse racing scandal.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #581339 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 274 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Christgau unveils the dark underbelly of late 1930s horse racing in this melancholy, occasionally meandering history. Early on we meet Albert Siler, aka "Prince Albert," an 18-year-old with stars in his eyes and a stunning horse racing debut: the first day he rode a thoroughbred, he "won five races that afternoon." Professional horse racing takes him to a California racetrack where he runs into Barney "Big" Mooney, a flamboyant professional gambler in "fancy suits and a fedora," who combines the lure of easy money with strong-armed tactics to enlist Al and other young jockeys in a race-fixing scheme. The result was the "worst scandal in racing in 50 years," what one attorney called "the contamination of the sport of kings." Christgau is skilled at making memorable characters from his subjects, so much so that he wastes significant space developing characters with little bearing on the story, and an abrupt, pat ending will leave readers scratching their heads. Though inconsistent, history-minded handicappers will find much to appreciate.
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Review
"In his customary fashion, John Christgau has spun an engrossing tale, rich in salient detail and peopled with memorable characters. From the starting gate to the finish line, The Gambler and the Bug Boy is a winner." Jay Feldman, author of When the Mississippi ran backwards