Horsetrader: The Rise & Fall of the Sport of Kings
Biography Sports History True Crime Business & Economics Horse Racing Animals & Pets Collectible Sports Books Gambling
First-edition copies of Patrick Robinson’s Horsetrader: The Rise & Fall of the Sport of Kings are scarce, especially in the collectable hardcover format offered here. Published by HarperCollins in 1993 and protected by its original illustrated dust jacket, this 340-page volume is a vintage gem for anyone passionate about thoroughbred racing, betting culture, and the larger-than-life characters who once ruled the turf. The book is clean, tight, and unmarked—only light foxing to the top page edge betrays its three-decade journey from the press to your shelf.
Robinson, best-known for co-writing Se-bast-i-an Coe’s autobiography, turns his journalistic eye on the hidden world of the professional horsetrader: the shrewd dealers who bought, sold and occasionally “disappeared” horses for tax write-offs, glory, or a fast profit. Through first-hand interviews and vivid track-side reportage he reconstructs the post-war boom years when bloodstock prices soared, syndicates ballooned, and a single yearling could change hands for the price of a London mansion. The narrative crackles with racetrack jargon, gamble-room gossip and unforgettable portraits of trainers, touts and royalty, making it as entertaining as any Dick Francis thriller—except every word is true.
What makes this copy irresistible to collectors is the combination of first-edition status, the large-form HarperCollins hardback, and the suite of period photographs that never appeared in later paperbacks. Whether you are building a racing library, hunting a gift for an equestrian, or simply want a ripping good real-life tale of fortunes won and lost on a horse’s heartbeat, Horsetrader delivers both scholarship and swagger in equal measure.
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