The Ghost Horse: A True Story of Love, Death, and Redemption
“The Ghost Horseis a heart-warming tale, artfully told, that has all the ingredients of a racing saga—one that braids together, in a single bittersweet drama, the connecting threads of love and loneliness, grief and goodness, and death and despair, with moments of high triumph woven throughout. It is the story of a hard-bitten horseman who lost his wife but found the horse, a beautiful if off-bred filly, who helped carry him out of his place of mourning. Along the way, author Joe Layden vividly portrays life in the lowly bush leagues of American racing, with its hopes and dreams and struggles for survival. He has penned an easy winner here.”  —William Nack, author ofSecretariatandRuffian: A Racetrack Romance“I'll make you a little wager: Joe Layden'sThe Ghost Horsewill go down as one of the most irresistible horseracing books ever written. It is a narrative that is by turns wrenchingly sad and staggeringly sweet, all of them skillfully negotiated by Layden, who takes us into the backstretch world with the firm hand and unerring feel of a master jockey.”—Wayne Coffey, author of theNew York Timesbestseller The Boys of Winter and co-author (with R.A. Dickey) of the bestsellerWherever I Wind Up:My Search for Truth, Authenticity and the Perfect Knuckleball"This is more than a lovely tale about how a hard luck horseman came to embrace New Age mysticism—it's a rollicking read about how magic and the mystifying thrive at the racetrack.”—Joe Drape, author of theNew York TimesbestsellerOur Boys“I have always known that there were great stories at the race track, but as a casual observer I couldn't really find them. They were buried under a culture and language that I didn't understand. So here comes Joe Layden, and he is more than fluent in the language of the track. He not only has found a dandy story, he translates it for the rest of us and makes it sing. This is terrific stuff.”—Leigh Montville,New York Timesbestselling author ofAt the Altar of Speed,Ted WilliamsandThe Big Bam