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Freehold, NJ --- The legendary pacer Dan Patch captured the imagination and attention of the public and the news media more than 100 years ago, when harness racing was the most popular sport in the country. Stories about harness racing heroes, human and equine, made page one news and racing was at the center of rural and urban life.
The sport will get a taste of those days once again when a 6,000 word excerpt of the book “Crazy Good: The True Story of Dan Patch, The Most Famous Horse in America,” by Charles Leerhsen, appears in the May 19 issue of Sports Illustrated magazine.
Leerhsen, who was a U.S. Trotting Association employee early in his career, has maintained an interest in the sport and Dan Patch throughout a writing and editing career with US Magazine and now as Executive Editor with Sports Illustrated. He has also co-written books with Donald Trump, television executive Brandon Tartikoff and test pilot Chuck Yeager. The excerpt is an adaptation of the first chapter of the book, built around a scene at the Breeders Track in Lexington, Kentucky (now known as The Red Mile) on October 7, 1905, the height of Dan Patch's career. A similar excerpt may also run on the Sports Illustrated Web site, si.com, though that is not yet finalized.
The book is available for pre-order now at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, with the official publication date being June 3, 2008. It includes eight pages of photos of Dan Patch and the people behind his career, from the small town farmer and shopkeeper that first recognized his talent to the businessman who saw in Dan the chance to build an empire. “I am truly honored to have the book singled out by SI for this distinction,” Leerhsen said. “Hundreds of sports books are published every year, and our excellent crew of staff writers produce a good number of them, but only a very few have the honor of being excerpted in America's leading sports magazine. And I'm delighted to have the honor of writing about Dan Patch, who is one of the great untold sports stories of all times.”
Sports Illustrated is North America's most popular sports magazine. It has a paid circulation of 3.2 million and each issue is read by about 20 million people. The cost to buy a comparable amount of advertising space for harness racing in such a publication would be well in to seven figures. Through the excerpt in Sports Illustrated millions of people will read about the Standardbred horse that was the leading pop cultural figure in the first decade of the 20th Century.
Indiana takes the lead
Standardbred connections in Indiana, the home state of Dan Patch and site of his first races, are on an early lead in supporting the book about their hero. The Indiana Standardbred Breed Development Fund has committed to purchase a copy of “Crazy Good” for every one of the 423 libraries in Indiana’s 92 counties. Dan Patch and everything about him make up a significant part of history for the sport of harness racing,” said Michael Christner, chairman of the Standardbred Breed Development Advisory Committee. “We felt it was important to share that story, especially in the state of Indiana, which has strong roots and background in the sport.” Plans are in the works to get the book showcased at several Indiana libraries and to offer a traveling display or speakers about harness racing and Dan Patch for the libraries to request.
Other horsemen’s groups or individuals that would like to display posters promoting the book or distribute “Crazy Good” bookmarks at their business, especially those equine-related, local library, bookstore, barbershops, doctors' offices, service station waiting rooms, etc., can contact Ellen Harvey at the USTA’s Harness Racing Communications division, HRCNews@ustrotting.com or by calling (732) 780-3700.
Join the fun.
The book is available for pre-order at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. Charles Leerhsen will visit a number of tracks to discuss the book and sign copies. The schedule includes the North America Cup (June 14 at Mohawk Racetrack), Goshen (July 6), the Hambletonian (August 2 at the Meadowlands), the Little Brown Jug (September 18 at Delaware, Ohio), and The Red Mile (September 27).
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