Dark Horses: A Memoir of Redemption

Arthur B. Hancock III, John Perrotta, and Josh Pons have been named finalists for the 19th annual Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award, which celebrates excellence in Thoroughbred sports literature. Two of the titles, Hancock's "Dark Horses: A Memoir of Redemption" and Pons's "Letters From Country Life: Adolphe Pons, Man o' War, and the Founding of Maryland's Oldest Thoroughbred Farm" are biographies steeped in the family Thoroughbred history of each author. Perrotta, a lifelong horseman who has been a racetrack and stable manager, jockey agent and radio executive, joins the group...

When it comes to Thoroughbreds, Arthur B. Hancock III has courted the bastard. Never much for floating the mainstream, he has celebrated in many a winner's circle, while knowing firsthand how wild oats can almost drown a man in a barrel of despair. If Mr. Hancock had not been an accomplished horseman or musician, he would have made one hell of a history professor. In the aptly-titled, just-published Dark Horses: A Memoir of Redemption, the author has penned something truly special--a reflection which looks back on a life well-lived. The...