The obligatory Derby Day racing thread

[Murray]

Just read "The Four Legged Lottery" By Frank Hardy.
That will really scare the life out of you.

DARE TO STRUGGLE - DARE TO WIN

[Dr Alf Andrews]

Ah, Frank Hardy. Great writer. A good communist and a man who loved to punt. Bit of a contradiction, but then life's full of contradictions.

"The Four Legged Lottery" is my favourite Frank Hardy novel. Great story of the rise and fall of a professional punter. Hardy tells it like it is, revealing the love-hate relationship that he had for racing and betting ... the contradiction between the challenge of beating the game and the social conscience of the communist.

The book carries a solemn warning about the way punting can destroy a person.

Interestingly, Hardy himself died with his pipe in one hand and a form guide in the other.

Horses don't bet on people ... and that's why they don't go broke

[Murray]

Yes Alf, also one of my favorites. I just love his style of writting.
Frank was certainly a man of contradictions, but then so is communism (well the populist version anyway).

On a different subject, I read your thesis Alf, I was stunned it is an excellent piece of research/work and I would urge all football followers to give it a read.

DARE TO STRUGGLE - DARE TO WIN