ceJZE [Pdf free] Battleship: A Daring Heiress, a Teenage Jockey, and America's Horse Online [ceJZE.ebook] Battleship: A Daring Heiress, a Teenage Jockey, and America's Horse Pdf Free Dorothy Ours ePub | *DOC | audiobook | ebooks | Download PDF Download Now Free Download Here Download eBook #920634 in eBooks 2013-04-30 2013-04-30File Name: B009K91REU | File size: 30.Mb Dorothy Ours : Battleship: A Daring Heiress, a Teenage Jockey, and America's Horse before purchasing it in order to gage whether or not it would be worth my time, and all praised Battleship: A Daring Heiress, a Teenage Jockey, and America's Horse: 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. True story that reads like fiction!By KLRThis story was more like the biography of Marion Dupont -- not that I'm complaining -- with flashes of Bruce Hobbs's terrifying childhood mixed in. Marion duPont, is more than an heiress, although her family never wanted for money because they had the good fortune to invent gunpowder--and no matter how bad a recession is, war never goes out of style.Her father, William Sr. was the black sheep of the du Pont family, cast out of the family and the family business after a scandalous divorce, he chose to retreat with his new wife and growing kids to an estate with show horses. She and her brother William Jr. grew up in the country; Marion duPont learned to ride with both legs on either side of a horse; first riding saddle-seat horses and later hunters until the fateful day she saw legendary Man o'War auctioned off and her dream made itself known. Both Marion and William would come to love racehorses, Marion preferring hunt races, her brother preferring flats.Bruce Hobbs was born to a fanatical father; Reginald Hobbs was a legendary trainer and he dreamed of a son whose name would be more famous than his own. Bruce was asked for perfection with horses from a very young age-- as someone who rides horses I can honestly say that some of Bruce's training would border on child abuse today-- But that training eventually paid off.Battleship is the undersized son of Man o War...And nobody knows what to think of him. One day he sets blistering fractions and the next he looks like he's dead on his feet...and Marion can hardly wait to own him.First, I can't imagine the amount of research Dorothy Ours needed to do to get all her facts straight; this book reads like fiction. At times its easy to dissociate from the fact that this really happened, and imagine "characters" playing this drama out. Its all to easy to cry over fatal accidents, sick and hurting friends, and broken hearts, even though part of you knows it happened over 70 years ago.Secondly, I love that it reads like fiction! The whole problem I have with non-fiction is that too many facts can be boring. Dorothy Ours managed to write about races that happened years ago as if she were watching them in person. You get to see the attachments these people had to each other and to their horses. The dedication they had to the sport and their attempts to better it. I love the references to events happening internationally (the second world war) and seeing horse people in their own little bubble.And considering the era, its really a remarkable event. Marion duPont was stepping outside the realm of what was traditionally expected of women. She was an accomplished rider and managed her own racing stable and the horses inside of it. Bruce Hobbs was the youngest jockey to win the Grand National, but he was also groomed since birth to win it. Battleship, a stallion too small to be a National horse, too temperamental, running in a race that didn't favor stallions or small horses.I think this is a fantastic book for horse lovers, race fans, or anyone looking to read a nonfiction that reads like fiction1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Wonderful history lessonBy anncatI really enjoyed this story. After I read this book, I went online and looked up some of the references and found that some of the places still exist -- Fair Hill farm, for example, is a working horse farm and facility for today's Thoroughbreds. I've also visited that part of England where fox hunting is still a major sport. My host drove me around through the hunt country near Melton Mowbray and we actually came upon a hunt in progress. Those memories made the book come alive to me.The research by this author was meticulous and it makes a huge difference to me as a reader who has some knowledge of the sports being written about. Nothing annoys me worse than having an author write about a horse running in the Kentucky Derby on two consecutive years, for example. Only 3-year-old colts and filliesare eligible to run in this race. Any horse has only one chance to run in a race for a certain age horse. That is not the case in this book, because the author is knowledgeable. She is the author of an excellent book about Man O' War, the sire of Battleship.Anyway, I liked this book and I recommend it for those who are interested in racing horses (particularly steeplechase/jumping horses) and in American and British history. Much of the book takes place in the late 20s and finishes in about 1939, just before World War II totally involved both countries. You will read about the ancestors of several of the major American racing dynasties that are still involved in the sport of kings.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. I loved this bookBy Susan W.I loved this book. It is a very entertaining and colorful history of the life and times of a DuPont heiress as well as the story of a steeplechase jockey, and a wonderful, unusual race horse (who, by the way, was a son of the great Man o'War). There are descriptions of events that happened in the 1930's that I have never encountered anywhere else. I learned a lot. I like learning things in such an enjoyable manner! Recommended!!!!! The moving story of a tough little horse, a gifted boy, and a woman ahead of her time.The youngest jockey, the smallest horse, and an unconventional heiress who disliked publicizing herself. Together, near Liverpool, England, they made a leap of faith on a spring day in 1938: overriding the jockey's father, trusting the boy and the horse that the British nicknamed the "American pony" to handle a race course that newspapers called "Suicide Lane." There, Battleship might become the first American racer to win England's monumental, century-old Grand National steeplechase. His rider, Great Britain's Bruce Hobbs, was only 17 years old.Hobbs started life with an advantage: his father, Reginald, was a superb professional horseman. But Reg Hobbs also made extreme demands, putting Bruce in situations that horrified the boy's mother and sometimes terrified the child. Bruce had to decide just how brave he could stand to be.On the other side of the Atlantic, the enigmatic Marion duPont grew up at the estate now known as James Madison's Montpelier—the refuge of America's "Father of the Constitution." Rejecting her chance to be a debutante, denied a corporate role because of her gender, Marion chose a pursuit where horses spoke for her. Taking on the world's toughest race, she would leave her film star husband, Randolph Scott, a continent away and be pulled beyond her own control. With its reach from Lindbergh's transatlantic flight to Cary Grant's Hollywood, Battleship is an epic tale of testing your true worth. From BooklistThe heiress of the subtitle was Marion du Pont, a steeplechase enthusiast. The teenage jockey was 17- year-old Bruce Hobbs, son of a trainer. And America’s horse was Battleship, born of Man o’ War, a small but strong Thoroughbred who became, in 1938, the first American horse to win the English Grand National steeplechase (which had been running, except for a brief break in WWI, since 1839). Although the book is titled after the horse, it’s really the story of Marion, a woman who so dedicated herself to Battleship that she nearly left everything else in her life behind, and of Bruce, who became the Grand National’s youngest winner and whose riding career was cut short a handful of years later. Author Ours, who also wrote Man o’ War (2006), clearly has a deep appreciation for racehorses, their riders, and the people who build their lives around them. Perfect for fans of Lauren Hillenbrand’s Seabiscuit (2001) or Bill Nack’s Secretariat (1975). --David Pitt “Meticulously researched and beautifully written. Ours masterfully ties the sport of racing together with the outer world that embraces it, all the while presenting a cast of human characters we grow to care about, and whose patience and faith ultimately allowed a horse's greatness to shine through . A gifted writer with a great tale to tell.” ?Daily Racing Form“Dorothy Ours' fresh perspective makes for delightful reading. Straight from the gate, this is a well-researched exploration of Team Battleship, as well as a colorful snapshot of an era when horses could still be national heroes. Battleship is a moving read by a talented writer, and a worthy addition to any sporting library.” ?The Equiery magazine“Dorothy Ours knocked this one right out of the ballpark.