Dancing to his own tune: how a Kentucky bloodstock legend walked out on the family firm and became a Derby hero

Dark Horses: A Memoir of Redemption by Arthur B Hancock III
£33 hardback/£25 paperback, published by Stone Publishing

This is a big, big book, about big, big men. It's a tale of the American south, a melting pot of privilege and inheritance, of drunkenness and violence, churning up the history of one of Kentucky's pre-eminent racing families.

It's also a story of redemption and reconciliation, God and man, luck and judgement. In the detail it's about success on the racetrack, in the Kentucky Derby most particularly – and all the validation that success encapsulated. But in its broader brush strokes it's the memoir of a mighty character who fought a whole lot of demons – his own and other people's – before finding his own path to success and peace of mind.

It's the story of Arthur Boyd Hancock. Not the Arthur Boyd Hancock who founded Claiborne Farm stud in 1910; not the Arthur Boyd Hancock Jnr who carried it on until he died in 1972; no, this is about Arthur B Hancock III, the man who, as a tempestuous, brawling, alcohol-abusing youngster with a yen to become a musician and songwriter, broke away from the family business in a moment of great acrimony and took the largely ill-considered risk of setting up his own stud, Stone Farm.

You might look at the list of top horses he bred, bought and sold – from Sunday Silence to Fusaichi Pegasus – and decide all's well that ends well, but the bulk of this book is made up of family feuds, existential grief, looming bankruptcy and the eternal prospect of total failure. It's to Hancock's credit that he shirks none of these issues.

Actually, some of them may be even a little too raw for modern tastes. Take the upbringing of a well-educated young man in the Bluegrass country, where the privilege was served with a large helping of homegrown brutality, which is eventually dismissed as formative and valuable but to these ears still sounds very much like brutality.

Arthur's grandfather, we hear, was a tough man, 6ft 6in tall and formidable, educated at all the best places, wealthy but never inclined to give any credit to his son, who, at 6ft 2in and 230lb, with a ferocious punch and a quick temper that earned him the nickname 'Bull', was naturally inclined to dish out the same treatment to his own son.

"My father was a great and good man, sometimes sensitive and kind," writes Arthur III, as a preamble to recollections of being spanked every day for wetting the bed, punched silly at the age of 14, chased down the stairs for being late home from the drive-in, then abused roundly for his unmanly ambition to go into the music business. Hell, one of the old man's friends even ate young Arthur's goldfish.

In the end, Arthur III came to accept his father's parenting methods as valuable and formative discipline, which says a lot about one or other of them. For sure, there are a lot of excuses made in these pages for people who should have known a lot better.

There's also a lot about status in the book, but if a lot of it sounds pretty unpleasant, at least it makes an unstoppable read, which picks up another strand of bitterness and resentment when Arthur II dies and Arthur III is edged out of the succession plan at Claiborne by the farm's biggest backers.

It's here that the redemption begins. Arthur storms out of the board meeting, branches out on his own, from the bottom up, at Stone Farm, and while there are many, many bumps and bruises along the way, the restorative power of horses comes to the fore in the shape of 1982 Kentucky Derby winner Gato Del Sol (the family's coveted first ever success in the race) and he ends up as a pillar of the Kentucky racing community, a bona fide Bluegrass legend and a fairly successful singer and songwriter into the bargain.

It probably reflects more on me than it does on him that I find the early chapters of drunken imbecility more engaging than the later God-driven chapters, filled with homespun superstition and unwavering faith, but this is not a book that ever pulls its punches. Some of the punches are hard to take, but their recollection is honest and unflinching.

This is a tough read in parts, unacceptable (or 'of its time') in some, uplifting in others, leavened and accentuated in equal measure by the songs and poems that pepper it, but it's a hell of a read if you're feeling strong.
Peter Thomas

Dark Horses: A Memoir of Redemption is available to buy here

The perfect companion to whet your appetite

Racing Post Guide to the Flat 2025
£16.99, published by Pitch Publishing

It is the time of year when coats are traded for T-shirts, hats for sunglasses and seasoned chasers for Classic contenders in anticipation of a new Flat turf campaign. 

York, Brighton and Epsom will be among those opening their doors following a winter hibernation and summer will be on us in a flash, and with it dreams of Derbys, Gold Cups and Arcs. 

What lies in store? Only time will tell, but for James Owen there are hopes of a Melbourne Cup success; for Owen Burrows it could be Group 1 glory on Champions Day. The targets have already been planned and, luckily for us, some trainers are not shy about sharing them either and they can be found in this latest edition of the Racing Post Guide to the Flat. 

Helmed once more by editor David Dew, the annual guide is a timely primer for the season ahead, with enough information and tipping packed in its pages to get you excited for the months to come. 

There is talk of exploitable handicap marks and Classic contenders from eight of Britain's leading Flat trainers, who discuss in depth their squads in the opening pages. Attention then turns to the experts, as Paul Kealy picks his horses to follow, Nick Watts selects a 50-1 Derby hope and David Jennings assesses the Ballydoyle crop vying for Guineas and Derby domination. 

Add in Scott Burton's evaluation of the French stars, plus 72 pages outlining the season's key horses and there is plenty to satisfy the eager Flat enthusiast. It is well worth an investment ahead of a summer of possibility.
Catherine Macrae

Racing Post Guide to the Flat 2025, edited by David Dew, can be bought here

A tale of achievement that will keep you riveted

Triumphs, Treachery and Toilet Rolls: The Francis Lee Autobiography with Bill Bradshaw
£25, published by Pitch Publishing

To excel at one thing in life is difficult enough, and something most of us will never accomplish. Francis Lee did it many times over.

First and foremost, he was an England football international, earning 27 caps and ten goals. He played in the 1970 World Cup, including the games against Brazil and the quarter-final defeat by West Germany, while he also enjoyed an outstanding club career at Bolton Wanderers, Manchester City and Derby County.

He also thrived in the world of business, setting up a very successful toilet roll company that made him fortunes, while those of us in the racing world will remember him as a trainer for more than a decade, sending out 181 winners in Britain and Ireland from 1984 to 1997. He enjoyed his biggest win in the 1990 Cartier Premier Challenge Race at Phoenix Park with Sir Harry Hardman, while four years later Encore M'Lady gave him his highest-profile domestic success in the William Hill Trophy at York. 

Those racing days are well covered in this posthumously published autobiography, but really it’s one for football fans because the very best stories involve Lee’s days in the beautiful game, not least the moment when the diminutive Lee got into a fight with Norman Hunter which started in the penalty area and carried on as they were walking down the tunnel. Lee got a four-match suspension, a £250 fine and a split lip for his troubles.

Off the pitch, though, Lee was a winner in many senses of the word, and all from the most humble of beginnings. This is a tale of achievement and one that will keep you riveted until the 416th and last page, the length of the book more than justified by just how much Lee had to tell.

Lee's name might not be the first you think of when discussing England's greatest ever footballers, but he undoubtedly was one of those – and many more things besides.
Nick Watts

Triumphs, Treachery and Toilet Rolls: The Francis Lee Autobiography can be bought here

Read more reviews here:

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Tale of pioneering female jockey an inspiring example of resilience in spite of the odds - and Lester Piggott 

Sunday Review: A comprehensive view into the inner workings of one of Britain's biggest stables 

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