John Perrotta

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,...

Arthur B. Hancock III, John Perrotta, and Josh Pons have been named finalists for the 19th annual Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award, which celebrates excellence in Thoroughbred sports literature. Two of the titles, Hancock's "Dark Horses: A Memoir of Redemption" and Pons's "Letters From Country Life: Adolphe Pons, Man o' War, and the Founding of Maryland's Oldest Thoroughbred Farm" are biographies steeped in the family Thoroughbred history of each author. Perrotta, a lifelong horseman who has been a racetrack and stable manager, jockey agent and radio executive, joins the group...

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...

If you are new to the sport, not fully versed in its ways and want to get involved in racing and/or breeding, where should you start? That hasn't always been the easiest question to answer, at least up until now. Author and former racing manager John Perrotta has filled in the gap with his new book, "Thoroughbred Investor's Bible," which he calls "an essential tool to avoid the pitfalls of this intricate world." Perrotta has had many a job in racing, but is best known as the executive director of...

This Was Racing By Joe H. Palmer Pick a favorite book about Thoroughbred racing? Not an easy task for most of us long in the game. As for myself, I still possess an extensive library of racing tomes, ranging from venerable to hot off the press and including everything penned by Jay Hovdey or Ed Bowen, many of which I have read and re-read to the point of frayed pages, but for the past half-century one and only one stands out: This Was Racing. The book that got me hooked....