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Virginia Horse Racing:

Triumphs of the Turf

The History Press, 2008. Reprinted 2011.

160 pages.

Index available online.

By Virginia C. Johnson & Barbara Crookshanks

About the Book:

Virginia, mother of presidents, is also the mother of American horse racing. From the very beginning, Virginians have risked it all on the track as eagerly as on the battlefield. Follow the bloodlines of three foundation sires of the American Thoroughbred through generations of rollicking races and larger than- life grandees wagering kingly stakes, sometimes on horses not yet born. How did the horse nicknamed Damn His Eyes get protection money from other horse owners? What did it mean to tap the claret to break a neck-and-neck tie? Why was Confederate cavalry so much better than Union--was it the riders, or was it the mounts? All these and many more stories of horsemanship on and off the track fill the pages of Virginia Horse Racing: Triumphs of the Turf.

Reviews:

“This brief, highly readable, paperback volume covers highlights of Virginia turf history in just over 150 pages. An unusual feature is the focus on five of the Great North-South Match Races not usually covered in similar volumes. The book is attractively produced with both the expected and unexpected illustrations in ten brief chapters. It begins with the arrival of six mares and a stallion at Jamestown in 1611, which unfortunately were eaten by the settlers during the starving time.

The story proceeds telling of the foundation sires and a discussion of the bloodlines and the leaders who imported, raced, and bred Thoroughbreds. The usual figures are here - John Randolph of Roanoke, William Ransom Johnson of Chesterfield County, the Taylor family of Mount Airy, John Hoomes, John Baylor, and Francis Thornton, all of Caroline County, the Lees of Westmoreland County, Ralph Wormeley of Middlesex County, Mann Page of Gloucester County, William Fitzhugh of Stafford County, Alexander Spotswood of Spotsylvania County and legendary trainer, Green Berry Williams. Portraits as well as discussions are provided for some of these men as well as their places of abode, their horses, and their personal relationship to the turf. Currier & Ives prints and illustrations of horses from the American Turf Register and Sporting Magazine are reproduced in the book.

“Having begun at Jamestown, the story continues through the cavalry during the Civil War, the establishment of the Jockey Clubs, and the standardization of the racing records. Finally it concludes with steeplechase races, Colonial Downs, and Secretariat.

“This little volume could be given to someone largely unaware of the subject in order to stimulate interest. The story is really brought to life, not falling to earth with stultifying racing statistics. The authors make good use of sources and tell the story simply enough that they might consider a children’s book as well. The illustrations are an important feature and the twenty dollar price is very reasonable.”

--Pegram Johnson, III. National Sporting Library Newsletter (Spring 2009)

“Kentucky may be the site of the world's most renowned horse race, but Virginia is no slacker in the field, as Virginia C. Johnson and Barbara Crookshanks show in Virginia Horse Racing: Triumphs of the Turf (160 pages, The History Press, $19.99).

“The authors begin their story with the arrival of six mares and a stallion in Jamestown in 1611 and run through the opening of Colonial Downs in New Kent County. Along the way, they tell fascinating tales that will interest not only equine enthusiasts but also history buffs.

“Johnson is a graduate of the College of William and Mary and is Web-content librarian at the Central Rappahannock Regional Library in Fredericksburg. Crookshanks, a freelance writer in Fredericksburg, has worked for the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star and as the longtime editor of Fredericksburg Times magazine.”

-- Jay Strafford --Richmond Times-Dispatch

“This is a book I’ve been waiting for! Virginia Johnson and Barbara Crookshanks’s Virginia Horse Racing: Triumphs of the Turf helps me to place ‘horse history’ straight into the midst of our broader history—and it’s great fun to read! Buy it! Read it!”

--John N. Pearce

Director, James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library,

University of Mary Washington

Come see us!

We will be signing copies at these events:

April 3, 2011, 3 to 5 pm: Opening of the exhibit, “Faces at the Races” at the Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center:

“In celebration of the Virginia tradition of horse racing, the Museum is proud to host Faces at the Races: The Equine Culture of Virginia, on loan from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond. Through classical black and white portraiture, the exhibit documents the people and institutions that truly represent Horse Culture in Virginia. Images in this exhibition represent owners, riders, trainers, audience members, and others from events such as the Middleburg Spring Horse Show, The Montpelier Point-to-Point, and The Upperville Colt and Horse Show, which is the oldest horse show in the United States.”

May 8, 2011, 10 to 5 pm: Coaching Day at Stratford Hall

“In eighteenth- and nineteenth-century America and England, the only scheduled overland transportation was via public road coach. The Lees would have owned their own coaches and had many guests arrive in coaches in front of the Great House. The advent of the automobile and railroad virtually ended this form of transportation, and so the sport of coaching was born. Today, only a handful of people preserve the unique art of handling a coach drawn by a team of horses. This year’s event will feature traditional 4-in-hand coaches as well as various other types of horse-drawn carriages. Stratford Hall’s coaching event is among the most established in America.”