Days like these - Jamie Reid

Days Like These is a romantic, colourful and heartfelt book by a writer whose pulse beats faster than most to the intoxicating rhythms of the racetrack. A personal and autobiographical account of one man's passionate love affair with horse racing and betting, it chronicles the origins and consequences of his obsession with the sport and his addiction to gambling, through good times and bad. By interweaving dramatic racing moments with key episodes from his own experiences, Reid shows how a love of 'the turf' can transform and intensify everyday life.The book celebrates some of the great racing personalities of the last 40 years - from Sir Peter O'Sullevan and Lester Piggott to Jonjo O'Neill and Captain Ryan Price - and focuses on some of the most legendary horses, including Arkle and Dawn Run. Beginning with a nail-biting account of a high-stakes gamble at the 2002 Cheltenham Festival and concluding with the jubilation of a 10-1 ante-post triumph at the following year's meeting, Reid evokes the people, the faces, the reek of fast food, and the potent adrenalin-charged atmosphere of the track. As well as being a vivid portrayal of horse-racing life, this is a book about fathers and sons, grandmothers and grandsons, and the sometimes painful path from childhood to adulthood. There is a memorable portrait of Reid's eccentric gambling-mad grandmother and a graphic description of the stifling horrors of conventional schooling and small town life in late '50s and early '60s England, from which Reid escaped through horse racing. At times humorous, at times moving, Days Like These is destined to become a modern horse-racing classic in its own right.