Dr. Tony Ryan

Racing journalist and horseman Josh Pons has been named the recipient of the 2024 Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award, presented by the Ryan family's Castleton Lyons, for excellence in thoroughbred racing literature published in 2024. He received the winner's $10,000 check during a Nov. 6 reception at the Lexington, Ky., farm. Pons won for 'Letters from Country Life: Adolphe Pons, Man o' War, and the Founding of Maryland's Oldest Thoroughbred Farm', a retrospective of the Golden Age of racing as viewed through a remarkable trove of correspondence to his grandfather,...

Six semifinalists for the 19th annual Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award have been selected, by a panel of judges, representing excellence in thoroughbred sports literature published in 2024, Castleton Lyons announced Tuesday. These six titles illustrate the scope of the Book Award, including histories, biographies, a memoir, and two works of fiction. Per Castleton Lyons's release, the books "were chosen from nearly 20 submissions, an indicator that literature on horse racing remains very much alive despite thoroughbred industry controversies and the global economic hardships of recent years." Three finalists will...

A trio of authors have been selected as finalists for the 19th annual Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award with the winner being selected on Thursday, Nov. 7 at Castleton Lyons near Lexington, Kentucky, the farm said in a Friday morning release. This year's finalists are: Isaac Murphy: The Rise and Fall of a Black Jockey by Katherine C. Mooney Lexington: The Extraordinary Life and Turbulent Times of America's Legendary Racehorse by Kim Wickens The Turcottes: The Remarkable Story of a Horse Racing Dynasty by Curtis Stock The winner will receive...

With a $10,000 prize to the winner, the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award named its semi-finalists, the competition said in a Thursday release. Inaugurated in 2006 by the late philanthropist and global executive Tony Ryan, and sponsored by his family's Castleton Lyons Farm near Lexington, Ky., the award honors the best writing related to the Thoroughbred industry published in 2023. Three finalists will be revealed this summer, with the winner announced during a reception at Castleton Lyons later in the year. The semifinalists are (in alphabetical order, by author name):...

Castleton Lyons Farm has filed plans to subdivide over 1,000 acres of their farm into 16 individual lots, according to a story in the Lexington Herald-Leader on Friday. The story says that the lots range from 40 to over 80 acres along Mount Horeb Pike. Castleton Lyons lies outside the urban service boundary, meaning that there are restrictions on the land use and lot sizes. The original farm dates back more than 200 years, and was purchased by Dr. Tony Ryan in 2001. It underwent major renovations, and the breeding...

Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Horse: A Novel, Nov. 9 was awarded first prize in Castleton Lyons's 17th annual Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award, the sponsor of the prize said in a release Friday. The work of fiction tells the story of 19th century racehorse and sire Lexington by moving back and forth through time and space from the antebellum South to modern day New York and Washington D. C. At a reception held at Castleton Lyons outside of Lexington, Brooks received a check for $10,000 and a Tipperary...

Six semifinalists for the 16th annual Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award have been selected by a panel of judges and were split evenly this year between fiction and non-fiction. The semifinalists were chosen from nearly two dozen submissions. The six semifinalists for books published in the 2021, listed alphabetically by title, are as follows: Death by Equine, by Annette Dashofy Dinky Becomes a Racehorse, by J. M. Chodkowski Head to Head, Conversations With a Generation of Horse Racing Legends, by Lenny Schulman Racetrack Rogues, One Woman's Story of Family, Love,...