From Publishers Weekly
Most of the 14 tales collected here by British authors Francis ( Longshot ) and Welcome ( Grand National ) are notable for their charm. The two American entries, Damon Runyon's 1930s "Pick the Winner" and Gordon Grand's pre-WW I "A Night at the Old Bergen County Race Track," sustain their period appeal nicely. Welcome's "My First Winner," J. C. Squire's "The Dead Cert" and Molly Keane's "Pullinstown" are pure beguilement. The three bleakest stories are the best: Francis's "Spring Fever," about an aging, horse-owning widow infatuated with a not-quite-honest young jockey; C.C.L. Browne's "The Inside View," a deadpan, exciting tale of a steeplechaser's day; and Maurice Gee's "The Losers," a melodramatic, noir story with a large cast. Edgar Wallace's "The Man Who Shot The 'Favourite' " and A. B. (Banjo) Paterson's "The Oracle" are slightly humorous.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Following their first collection, The Dick Francis Treasury of Great Horseracing Stories ( LJ 11/1/90), the editors compile 11 British and three American horseracing stories, with authors as diverse as Damon Runyon, Francis himself, and various obscure writers--although the collection as a whole favors period pieces with a decidedly British twist. Four of the stories, J.C. Squire's "The Dead Cert," C.C.L. Browne's "The Inside View," Donn Byrne's "The Tale of the Gypsy Horse," and Colin Davy's "The Good Thing," present intriguing characters and storylines. For libraries with a strong short story or British fiction collection.
-Susan Hamburger, Virginia State Lib. & Archives, RichmondCopyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.