If you are looking for a fun way to pass the time, here is the book for you. This collection of racing cartoons by Hellman and Tiritilli does an excellent job of capturing the essense of horse racing and the many funny characters that inhabit the racetracks of America. There are 117 black and white cartoons that poke fun at everything from the horses to the bettors to the jockeys. Your only complaint will be that you wished it was longer.

Hellman is a racing fan and former bookie who does an excellent job combining the captions with Tiritilli's art. Tiritilli has been an equine artist as well as a racing fan for over 50 years and the quality of his artwork is quite evident. He definitely knows the many characters who inhabit the track and does and excellent job of capturing their essence. He has a talent for striking the right balance between realism and caricature depending on the topic of the cartoon.

Some of the cartoons take a common term from the track like ringer, money horse, or bounce pattern and take a skewed view of it to make it into a joke. Some are re-takes of golden oldie jokes with others are completely new. To the right is a sample of one that any bettor should find hilarious.

This short volume is great for when you need a quick laugh, to leave on your coffee table, or as bathroom reading. Any racing fan will appreciate the humor in it and will enjoy it, so it would make an excellent gift too.

Horse Racing has a list price of $9.95 and is available from Amazon .com. They also have similar books available for nine other sports including baseball, football, and golf which you can view on their website.

Rating:     4.5/5

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