The Longest Shot: Lil E. Tee and the Kentucky Derby

by John Eisenberg

Memoir. Eisenberg takes us to the owner's seat and brings the Lil E. Tee story to life. He does a wonderful job of going behind the scenes to capture the flavor and substance of the Kentucky Derby." --Jim Bolus, author of Kentucky Derby Stories.

Genres: Horse Racing, Horses

206 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1996

About the author

John Eisenberg is one of the country’s most acclaimed sportswriters. A native of Dallas, Texas and graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, he started out covering the “Friday Night Lights” for the now-defunct Dallas Times Herald in 1979. After rising through the ranks to cover pro basketball, he joined the staff of the Baltimore Sun in 1984. For the next 23 years he wrote columns in the Sun about the hometown Orioles, Ravens and Maryland Terrapins, and also covered major events such as the World Series, Super Bowl and Olympics. His honors included several firsts in the prestigious Associated Press Sports Editors’ contest. Since 2012 he has written columns on the Ravens’ website.

John has also authored 10 bestselling sports books, including The Streak: Lou Gehrig, Cal Ripken, Jr. and Baseball’s Most Historic Record. Published in 2017, it was a finalist for the Casey Award, which honors the year’s best baseball book, and was shortlisted for the PEN/ESPN Literary Sportswriting Award, which honors the year’s best sports book. John’s most recent title is The League: How Five Rivals Created the NFL and Launched a Sports Empire. John has also written for Sports Illustrated and Smithsonian Magazine. He lives in Baltimore with his wife of 35years. They have two grown children and a grandson.

Reviews

[Joseph J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased this book at Strand in NYC in June 1997, when I was in the city to attend the Belmont Stakes. Already I'm afraid Lil E Tee, the 1992 surprise Kentucky Derby winner had slipped into the racing trivia world. I had seen him at the Preakness in '92 at his disappointing performance. With racing now on hiatus and yesterday the should' been Arkansas Derby Day, I returned to these entertaining pages, peopled by an interesting cast of characters and climaxing in that long shot Derby win. The European wonder horse Arazi was supposed to win, and the eventual Horse of the Year A.P. Indy was a Derby morning scratch with a hoof injury. It's a fun ride and read, and helps assuage my guilt. Touring Kentucky farms in the late 90's, from Seattle Slew to Affirmed to Unbridled, I drove by a sign advertising the home of Lil E Tee. After mental pause I drove on, and several years later at his death I read of how happy "T" was to receive visitors. I'm sorry I didn't stop that day, but I'll always enjoy his story.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story a lot. Lil E. Tee had an interesting life, for a horse, and a ton of personality! Surprisingly, the side stories about the people were interesting for once, too.

Any horse racing fan ought to enjoy this. Recommended.