On one side of the Belmont tracks, the colt Charismatic was in surgery, fighting for his life after a freak injury that occurred yards away from his winning the Triple Crown. Right then Drape, a sportswriter for the New York Times, decided that he'd follow a year in horse racing to chronicle the ups and downs of the sport. Only about .005 percent of them would actually line up for the Kentucky Derby. But Drape also knew the love of the sport. He thought he knew about hope, although his journey only reinforced what he felt.
Drape writes in the book's introduction.
With that, Drape embarks on a tour of the racing world, told through a year that leads to the sport's Holy Grail, the Triple Crown a prize that's not been won since the late, great Affirmed did it in 1978. It's a tribute to Drape's reporting skills and his easy storytelling style that he's able to keep our suspense through the road to the 2000 Kentucky Derby. Drape displays a knack for in-depth characterizations of the many fascinating players, warts and all. Likewise, Drape is adept at casting an apt metaphor. For instance, it's been widely reported that Lukas began his horse career with quarter horses before moving on to thoroughbreds.