Bill Barich wrote for The New Yorker for many years. His prose is witty and easy to read. He brings the personalities involved in Irish National Hunt racing to life in his racing diary through a series of anecdotes and interviews with the prominent players as he follows their training progress in the season culminating with Cheltenham 2004 - the year Best Mate won his third Gold Cup. Barich lives in Dublin with his Irish partner, Imelda (an artist), and becomes accepted as part of the racing gang in his local pub. His portrayal of his principal drinking and gambling friend, O'Reilly, is entertaining and amusing. O'Reilly is a permanent fixture in the pub, occupying the best seat in front of the TV with a pint and a copy of the Racing Post. He even buys a new pair of runners so that he can reach the betting office in time and is convinced if he doesn't make it back to his bar stool in time for the off, his bet will lose!
Barich obviously acquires a great affection for the people he meets in the build up to the Irish challenge at Cheltenham. He travels around Ireland, attending race meetings and he interviews as diverse a collection of protagonists as possible, including trainers, jockeys, turf accountants and racing officials. His interviews bring the characters to life with lively dialogue and a sharp eye for detail.
Through Barich's entertaining prose, we meet Michael Hourigan, trainer of Beef Or Salmon who loves to tell stories and party all night; Willie Mullins, less forthcoming than Hourigan, who is getting the brilliant but aging Florida Pearl back on the track after a long absence and Jessica Harrington, trainer of Moscow Flyer who is probably the best Irish chaser for decades. A host of other well known racing personalities feature, including Ted Walsh, Paul Carberry and Francis Hyland.
Throughout the book, Barich tells the story of his romance with Imelda, who drew him to Ireland in the first place, and he weaves snippets from his personal life into his racing diary as the months progress and several of the Cheltenham hopefuls fall by the wayside.
The book culminates with the great festival of racing and at this stage the results are, of course, history but it is interesting to read of the reactions of the participants and he paints a wonderful picture of the Cheltenham racegoers, bringing them vividly to life.
My only criticism of this book is that Barich is perhaps too biased in favour of Ireland and the Irish. I can say this because I am Irish myself. It is written with the enthusiasm of an outsider, an American, and it may come across as a little too sentimental at times. That aside, it is entertaining, informative, funny and very well written.
