Book Review
Title: the Blood the Soil the Gold
Author: Tim Gard
Publisher: (Self published) Adelaide South Australia 2007
Web Page: http://www.thebloodthesoilthegold.com/
Reviewed by: Allen Windross - http://www.racinglinx.com/gamblingconsultant
This book brings to mind the works of the punting guru Don Scott: Winning More, etc. The two authors followed some parallel paths in life. Both began tertiary studies at the University of Sydney, albeit in very different disciplines, and identically failed to complete. In their successful working lives they equally relied heavily on thoroughbred horse racing for their financial resources. The structure of Gard’s book also has some similarities to Winning More: there is an autobiographical style, frequently interlaced with anecdotes, and a significant attention to the history of horse racing.
Beyond this, however, the similarities cease for the Blood the Soil the Gold does not contain formulae as to how to select the next winner at Victoria Park or Rosehill Gardens. Nonetheless it does include a recommendation as to how to have a chance of buying a future champion at the horse sales. The work’s primary base is about breeding and includes a most interesting concept for identifying a sire’s line through colour coding.
The book incorporates many excellent photographs and a comprehensive Glossary of Terms. The latter being a feature too often omitted in racing and wagering texts. On the negative side the Bibliography and identification of sources is disappointingly somewhat shallow. In summary though the work is worthy of a place on the shelf of anyone interested in the ‘Sport of Kings’.
