Murder in the Backstretch : The Underbelly of the Horseracing Business

The Underbelly of the Horseracing Business BACKSTRETCH is a story that takes place in the glorious world of the thoroughbred. It challenges the honesty of some of what goes on at the races. Does this book suggest that races are fixed? It does not. In no way does the writer seek to indict the racing industry as being crooked, dishonest or unsafe. Do dishonest things happen? Yes. Does baseball have a drug enhancement problem? Does basketball have a referee gambling scandal? Did college basketball have a point-shaving problem? The answer is yes three times: where money and glory intersect, temptation flourishes. The more the public is informed the better the chance of thwarting temptation. The historical sagas of Secretariat, Whirlaway and Man-of-War should not be blemished in any way. Backstretch is a story, most of it fiction, but some of it experienced by friends of the author. This murder mystery is intended to give the reader a sense of what goes on in the Sport of Kings, and some of its inadequacies, particularly the grim conditions familiar to the men and women of the backstretch, the bowels of the racetrack.