Will this fast-paced history of horse racing's greatest bloodline turn out to be the 'bookie prize' favourite?
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WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2016 On the Shortlist Mr Darley's Arabian: High Life, Low Life, Sporting Life: A History of Racing in 25 Horses. By Christopher McGrath (John Murray) £25.00 Review by Jon Culley Chris McGrath's book covers 300 years of racing history In the early part of the 18th century, when the landscape and politics of the Middle East was rather different from today, a gentleman merchant by the name of Thomas Darley, working for the Levant Company in Aleppo, acquired a horse. It was a bay colt, taller than the average Arabian horse. In a letter to his brother in 1703, Darley noted that it was strikingly handsome and "with an exceedingly elegant carriage". He bought it for his father, Richard, with plans to take it back to the family's country seat, Aldby Park, not far from the village of Stamford Bridge in the East Riding of Yorkshire. In some accounts, it has been suggested that Darley came across the animal after reviv