MAY 2012 THE RIDER /33 My Year of the Racehorse: Falling in Love with the Sport of Kings By Kevin Chong.


GreyStone Books ($22.95) www.greystonebooks.com


With all the challenges currently being faced by the racing community, it’s a plea- sure to offer our readers a respite by way of recommending this hilarious insight into the world of Canadian horseracing by Vancou- ver-based author, Kevin Chong.


My Year of the Racehorse follows Kevin’s experiences as the owner of a not- so-winning mare called Mocha Time (or Blackie, as she is affectionately known in the barn) over the course of his one-year financial commitment and his long-held interest in the sport of kings (and more often paupers!).


Kevin had been going to the racetrack with his friend, Ken, since he was in his early 20s. The two friends were small- stakes and unsophisticated gamblers, but even the small wins brought great satisfac- tion and joy. As a teenager, Kevin had read Charles Bukowski’s stories about racetracks and gambling, and he soon embraced the lit- erary “geek” image. “Anything not to attract girls!” jokes the author when ques-


visited the barns where the two friends were told about the possibilities of acquiring shares in a horse for only a few thousand dollars; the thought of one day becoming a racehorse owner was soon firmly planted in Kevin’s mind. Several years later, when he found himself wondering what to do with his savings, the idea of owning a racehorse, this time with the purpose of writing about it, quickly came to fruition.


tioned about his formative years. On one of his visits to the Hastings track in Vancouver with friend Ken, Kevin


“When I first entered the barns, my first impression was mostly fear…and that I didn’t belong,” Chong mused, “but then I was soon welcomed by Randy, the female trainer who would introduce me to my new 4-legged business partner.” Apparently Mocha Time, the horse that became the focus of Chong’s book, was not the prettiest of mares nor the big winner he had hoped for (she more often than not came home with some sort of winnings cheque), but it was her ability to run and always give it her best that inspired the writer. “I didn’t realize how hard a racehorse works. I’d like to apply that spirit to my own work.” Chong describes the backside (or back stretch) as “an amazing place full of colour-


ful characters; a diverse community that includes hot-walkers from all nationalities and persua- sions.” The writer reveals how the track becomes a haven for outsiders who prefer straw and manure to corporate work sta- tions. All are respected and valued as long as the work gets done.


The book is full of hilarious tales of wiry jockeys, young grooms and grizzly old trainers as well as breath-holding moments as Mocha Times races to the post. There are even “educa-


tional” chapters dealing with the more “intimate” activities relat- ed to racehorse ownership such as “dink cleaning” as the author recounts. This, too, is handled with great humour and some deli- cacy for those readers not familiar with the personal hygiene requirements of racehorses. Chong jokes that he never knew what was involved with cleaning a horse’s penis and was not even aware this was a necessary procedure. “But being a man, I’m not too squeamish about such things.”


This is a truly entertaining look inside the high-stakes and high drama world of horse racing and we, as readers, are privi- leged to share some of the most intimate close-ups with the horse, the trainer, the owner and all those who work so hard to give us those few precious minutes of heart-pounding excite- ment.


Kevin Chong is a brilliant humourist and his autobiographi- cal writing is ripe with salty dialogue and elegantly crafted nar- rative. This was an extraordinary experience that Chong has memorialized in an easy-to-read and hard-to-put-down book that will take a little of the sting out of the ongoing slots and funding issues plaguing the industry right now.


Born in Hong Kong in 1975, Kevin studied creative writing at UBC and Columbia University in New York City where he received his Master of Fine Arts. As a freelance writer, he has written for such publications as the Globe and Mail, Walrus, National Post, Toronto Star, BC Business, Vancouver Magazine, Chatelaine, Maclean’s and many others.


Kevin’s first non-fiction book, Neil Young Nation was named a book of the year by the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and Ottawa Citizen; it also aired as a documentary on CBC’s “Definitely Not the Opera”. Kevin currently lives in Vancouver, where he teaches Creative Writing at UBC and co-edits the fic- tion website Joyland.ca.


By Glenda Fordham


Jan and Risty Schmidt 2129 Queen Street, R.R. #2, Petersburg, ON, N0B 2H0 (519) 696-2564 Established 1964


schmidt@coolwaterquarterhorses.com www.coolwaterquarterhorses.com


The gremlins were at work last issue and somehow the Area 3 News from March 2011 was published.


We apologise for any inconvenience.


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