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Death of a Racehorse: An American Story
The inside story of the crisis within the country’s most classic sport—horseracing—and why money is killing thoroughbreds at the top of their game.
Every year, hundreds of horses die on the racetrack. Why?
In this deeply reported and propulsive narrative, CNN reporter Katie Bo Lillis shows how two high-profile cases lay bare the ills facing the the abrupt, industry-rocking indictments of top trainers Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro, and the untold story of Bob Baffert, the most successful and recognizable horse trainer in modern history, long suspected of doping after a string of mysterious horse deaths and the high-profile disqualification of his latest Kentucky Derby winner for a failed drug test.
Death of a Racehorse delves deep into the horse racing world, offering intimate access to dozens of top trainers, owners, breeders, veterinarians, lab specialists, and more. The mainstream perception has been that rampant drug use is forcing these horses to run past their natural ability, resulting in heart attacks and broken legs. But this doesn’t paint the full picture.
That picture is driven by class tension between the affluent old stables and an ambitious new guard. This upstairs-downstairs drama shows blue-blooded families on a quest to restore horse racing to the good old days that never existed, versus those like Bob Baffert who are still viewed as outsiders—fantastically successful, but coming from less pedigreed backgrounds and experience. The privileged few, determined to save the sport, seem to hold a powerful suspicion that the sport’s brash, pioneering working class could not possibly be doing so well on their own.
Lillis shows how the breeding industry prioritizes making millions over breeding a sound, durable horse. A disjointed race schedule, created by racetrack operators that are trying to maximize betting opportunities, makes it impossible to manage a horse’s athletic career safely. In this purely capitalistic industry, the brute force of winning and the money that follows has taken the place of a responsible husbandry of the animal that is its beating heart.
Death of a Racehorse is a cutting, on-the-ground investigation into the morally ambiguous behavior at the industry’s glamorous center, raising nuanced questions about the relationship between animal and human—and offering a hopeful path forward for one of America’s oldest and most treasured sports.
Every year, hundreds of horses die on the racetrack. Why?
In this deeply reported and propulsive narrative, CNN reporter Katie Bo Lillis shows how two high-profile cases lay bare the ills facing the the abrupt, industry-rocking indictments of top trainers Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro, and the untold story of Bob Baffert, the most successful and recognizable horse trainer in modern history, long suspected of doping after a string of mysterious horse deaths and the high-profile disqualification of his latest Kentucky Derby winner for a failed drug test.
Death of a Racehorse delves deep into the horse racing world, offering intimate access to dozens of top trainers, owners, breeders, veterinarians, lab specialists, and more. The mainstream perception has been that rampant drug use is forcing these horses to run past their natural ability, resulting in heart attacks and broken legs. But this doesn’t paint the full picture.
That picture is driven by class tension between the affluent old stables and an ambitious new guard. This upstairs-downstairs drama shows blue-blooded families on a quest to restore horse racing to the good old days that never existed, versus those like Bob Baffert who are still viewed as outsiders—fantastically successful, but coming from less pedigreed backgrounds and experience. The privileged few, determined to save the sport, seem to hold a powerful suspicion that the sport’s brash, pioneering working class could not possibly be doing so well on their own.
Lillis shows how the breeding industry prioritizes making millions over breeding a sound, durable horse. A disjointed race schedule, created by racetrack operators that are trying to maximize betting opportunities, makes it impossible to manage a horse’s athletic career safely. In this purely capitalistic industry, the brute force of winning and the money that follows has taken the place of a responsible husbandry of the animal that is its beating heart.
Death of a Racehorse is a cutting, on-the-ground investigation into the morally ambiguous behavior at the industry’s glamorous center, raising nuanced questions about the relationship between animal and human—and offering a hopeful path forward for one of America’s oldest and most treasured sports.
384 pages, Hardcover
Published May 6, 2025
38 people are currently reading
301 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
March 12, 2025
I want to start in saying author Katie Bo Lillis did a magnificent job researching and working to put so much information together and break it down as she has.
With this said, it seemed to be to be a bit … crowded.
I have been a horse racing fan since I was a small boy and I know of all the players written here. I figured the familiarity with the players and the stories she writes about would help the flow. But if I am being honest, I didn’t find it to be an easy read.
Now, I do not believe in writing negative reviews because my tastes, and that of another, may have nothing in common.
So please understand the word crowded isn’t a criticism here. There was so much to digest, and it felt like it was all coming at me at once. There’s a saying I like which is ”if you underline everything, nothing is important.” I felt like everything was underlined. I needed a chance to catch my breath but didn’t get it.
For some this could be exactly what you’re looking for.
I love this game. I have my whole life. But there are times I abhor it. All the reasons why are in this book. Maybe that was my issue with it. I love these animals and to read the details - in depth and well researched as they were - was simply upsetting.
I want to be clear - these are not statements designed to deter a single horse racing fan/reader away from reading this.
Katie Bo Lillis did a magnificent job of supporting her work and she has written an important book that has not been written before. But for my personal reading preferences. it was a bit of work to get through.
Would I recommend to fellow racing fans? Yes. I would if for no other reason than you will walk away with a much better understanding of what’s not typically front and center in thoroughbred horse racing.
With this said, it seemed to be to be a bit … crowded.
I have been a horse racing fan since I was a small boy and I know of all the players written here. I figured the familiarity with the players and the stories she writes about would help the flow. But if I am being honest, I didn’t find it to be an easy read.
Now, I do not believe in writing negative reviews because my tastes, and that of another, may have nothing in common.
So please understand the word crowded isn’t a criticism here. There was so much to digest, and it felt like it was all coming at me at once. There’s a saying I like which is ”if you underline everything, nothing is important.” I felt like everything was underlined. I needed a chance to catch my breath but didn’t get it.
For some this could be exactly what you’re looking for.
I love this game. I have my whole life. But there are times I abhor it. All the reasons why are in this book. Maybe that was my issue with it. I love these animals and to read the details - in depth and well researched as they were - was simply upsetting.
I want to be clear - these are not statements designed to deter a single horse racing fan/reader away from reading this.
Katie Bo Lillis did a magnificent job of supporting her work and she has written an important book that has not been written before. But for my personal reading preferences. it was a bit of work to get through.
Would I recommend to fellow racing fans? Yes. I would if for no other reason than you will walk away with a much better understanding of what’s not typically front and center in thoroughbred horse racing.
May 1, 2025
There are no heroes in this book. As there should not be: there are few if any heroes in American Thoroughbred horseracing as it currently operates. Lillis, a senior reporter for CNN specializing in national security issues, spent some years of her youth working in the racing industry (and as she makes clear, it is an industry, first and foremost) – first as an exercise rider, and then in the corporate breeding and sales end of the business. She loves the horses, she loves the sport. But this is a long and deep exploration of how this industry works. And it’s not a pretty picture, even as she makes every effort to be fair, to rationalize, and defend some things that are not easy to defend. And shouldn’t be.
It opens with superstar trainer Bob Baffert watching his Kentucky Derby-winning horse Medina Spirit in a modest training workout. And watching the horse drop dead on the track from an apparent heart attack. It’s terrible. Anyone who may have been watching Eight Belles, Ruffian, or Barbaro break down before racetrack crowds will have seen the trauma and the horror of these splendid, gallant creatures as they struggled and collapsed. Racing followers may also recall that Medina Spirit was stripped of his Derby win when post-race lab tests showed the presence of a steroid in his system that was not allowed to be there. It was a huge scandal, and cracked open the secretive and devious backstretch world of trainers, owners, vets, and racing officials devoted to making horses run to win races by any means they can get away with.
Lillis delves deeply into this world. An enormous cast of racetrack characters parades through, largely focusing on Baffert, a divisive showman who can’t resist a news camera, an audience, or a reporter. He wins a lot. A lot of people don’t like him. They say he cheats: he dopes, he drugs, he lies. Lillis lays out the ugly and complicated history of the many illicit “positives” popping up in his horses: multiple drugs, and he has a different explanation or excuse for all of them. He believes he is being persecuted, that everyone is unfair to him, it’s a witch hunt, it was all an accident, an unreliable vet, it was just an ointment in a skin cream, a groom who took cough medicine and then urinated in the stall where the horse ingested some of the contaminated bedding. But it gets attention. Jockey Club officers (who have their own agenda) start to look into what’s going on. The thing is, what Bob Baffert is doing is normal. It may even – in some instances – be technically legal or allowed by the rules. But the rules… every state has its own. Certain drugs are legal at some tracks, not at others. Allowable levels vary from venue to venue, different labs use different references or techniques. The drugs and “supplements” are sloppily and cheaply manufactured by shysters, and sold for hundreds of dollars a vial and marketed as “clean,” “legal,” “no problem.” The FBI gets involved. There are wiretaps. A couple violators are arrested and charged. Congress actually passes an act to attempt to standardize the rules for the drugs. The horsemen fight it bitterly, and it still isn’t in force. They much prefer the chaos, the wiggle room, the ability to tweak a drug or a dose to sneak in under the radar and skirt the rules.
And horses die. My family has been involved in Thoroughbred horse racing for years. My sister was an exercise rider. Her husband was a jockey. He had two horses break down beneath him and be euthanized in a single awful afternoon. My husband worked on the backstretch as a social services counsellor. One or two horses died each week throughout one meet. At one track.
Lillis, who still says she loves the sport, does acknowledge the harm. She suggests multiple incremental changes in how it is run. Officials who regulate the track rules mostly all own racehorses themselves. Vets are overruled when they try to keep a lame horse out of a race because they need a certain number of horses to run, even if a sore horse runs on an injury that takes it down. She is critical of the essentially entirely money-driven sport. She explores what some tracks have done to their racing surfaces to make them safer – but does not mention the controversy over synthetic vs dirt.
All this for a dying sport, attracting fewer bettors, fewer spectators. Lillis has done tremendous work in uncovering so much of this, but her ambivalence is clear. In the acknowledgements, she all but fawns over Baffert. No matter what he has said and done, she tends to defend or excuse him: it might not have been fair. Everybody does it. He’s a really good trainer. People resented him because he won a lot.
Bottom line is: this is a shady, unscrupulous, money-and-drug-addled business. And – of course – the horses have no say, no choice. They are worked, drugged, doped, and a whole lot of them end up in a Mexican slaughterhouse. They’re considered commodities, “product,” livestock, who run and die to mildly entertain people. In spite of Lillis’s love and defense of this so-called “sport,” the best thing about her book might be to enlighten readers in lurid detail about the exploitation, greed, and cruelty of it. And perhaps – though it might not have been her intention – accelerate its final demise.
I thank LibraryThing for providing an advance review copy in exchange for an honest review.
It opens with superstar trainer Bob Baffert watching his Kentucky Derby-winning horse Medina Spirit in a modest training workout. And watching the horse drop dead on the track from an apparent heart attack. It’s terrible. Anyone who may have been watching Eight Belles, Ruffian, or Barbaro break down before racetrack crowds will have seen the trauma and the horror of these splendid, gallant creatures as they struggled and collapsed. Racing followers may also recall that Medina Spirit was stripped of his Derby win when post-race lab tests showed the presence of a steroid in his system that was not allowed to be there. It was a huge scandal, and cracked open the secretive and devious backstretch world of trainers, owners, vets, and racing officials devoted to making horses run to win races by any means they can get away with.
Lillis delves deeply into this world. An enormous cast of racetrack characters parades through, largely focusing on Baffert, a divisive showman who can’t resist a news camera, an audience, or a reporter. He wins a lot. A lot of people don’t like him. They say he cheats: he dopes, he drugs, he lies. Lillis lays out the ugly and complicated history of the many illicit “positives” popping up in his horses: multiple drugs, and he has a different explanation or excuse for all of them. He believes he is being persecuted, that everyone is unfair to him, it’s a witch hunt, it was all an accident, an unreliable vet, it was just an ointment in a skin cream, a groom who took cough medicine and then urinated in the stall where the horse ingested some of the contaminated bedding. But it gets attention. Jockey Club officers (who have their own agenda) start to look into what’s going on. The thing is, what Bob Baffert is doing is normal. It may even – in some instances – be technically legal or allowed by the rules. But the rules… every state has its own. Certain drugs are legal at some tracks, not at others. Allowable levels vary from venue to venue, different labs use different references or techniques. The drugs and “supplements” are sloppily and cheaply manufactured by shysters, and sold for hundreds of dollars a vial and marketed as “clean,” “legal,” “no problem.” The FBI gets involved. There are wiretaps. A couple violators are arrested and charged. Congress actually passes an act to attempt to standardize the rules for the drugs. The horsemen fight it bitterly, and it still isn’t in force. They much prefer the chaos, the wiggle room, the ability to tweak a drug or a dose to sneak in under the radar and skirt the rules.
And horses die. My family has been involved in Thoroughbred horse racing for years. My sister was an exercise rider. Her husband was a jockey. He had two horses break down beneath him and be euthanized in a single awful afternoon. My husband worked on the backstretch as a social services counsellor. One or two horses died each week throughout one meet. At one track.
Lillis, who still says she loves the sport, does acknowledge the harm. She suggests multiple incremental changes in how it is run. Officials who regulate the track rules mostly all own racehorses themselves. Vets are overruled when they try to keep a lame horse out of a race because they need a certain number of horses to run, even if a sore horse runs on an injury that takes it down. She is critical of the essentially entirely money-driven sport. She explores what some tracks have done to their racing surfaces to make them safer – but does not mention the controversy over synthetic vs dirt.
All this for a dying sport, attracting fewer bettors, fewer spectators. Lillis has done tremendous work in uncovering so much of this, but her ambivalence is clear. In the acknowledgements, she all but fawns over Baffert. No matter what he has said and done, she tends to defend or excuse him: it might not have been fair. Everybody does it. He’s a really good trainer. People resented him because he won a lot.
Bottom line is: this is a shady, unscrupulous, money-and-drug-addled business. And – of course – the horses have no say, no choice. They are worked, drugged, doped, and a whole lot of them end up in a Mexican slaughterhouse. They’re considered commodities, “product,” livestock, who run and die to mildly entertain people. In spite of Lillis’s love and defense of this so-called “sport,” the best thing about her book might be to enlighten readers in lurid detail about the exploitation, greed, and cruelty of it. And perhaps – though it might not have been her intention – accelerate its final demise.
I thank LibraryThing for providing an advance review copy in exchange for an honest review.
June 26, 2025
Horse racing has been rocked by scandals involving drugging and doping the race horses and the deaths of some of these thoroughbreds. The death of Medina Spirit, the horse trained by well-known trainer Bob Baffert and whose Kentucky Derby win was taken away when testing revealed a banned substance in the horse’s system. That was the start of this in-depth look at the world of horse racing by Katie Bo Lillis.
The title of the book and the first chapter made me think that this was going to be a compilation of sad stories of horses who had to be euthanized for one reason or another due to their participation in races. That turned out not to be the case at all as Lillis, a journalist who used to work in the racing industry, exposed both the therapeutic and performance-enhancing use of various drugs in horses that run in the sport.
The book also took a critical look at training methods, the horse racing industry as a whole and the various degrees of interest by the federal government in their investigations of criminal activity in the sport. An example of this would be the consideration of wire fraud charges if illegal substances were sold across state lines using electronic technology (phone, email, texting, etc.) and money exchanged hands. There are many people involved in these stories, not just the big names like Baffert.
It was also interesting to learn new knowledge about the industry. One example that was a recurrent topic in the various chapters was the need for a full complement of horses to run in each race for an event to turn a profit. This is so that there are more betting options for gamblers, resulting in a higher purse for the track. It makes sense after reading this, but it is something that I was never aware of.
At times, the book does get very detailed, especially about the drugs used in the sport. It felt at times I needed a pharmacology degree to understand these nuances, but despite this, it is a book that is very informative and one that would be enjoyed by readers of all levels of interest in horse racing.
I wish to thank Simon & Schuster for providing a copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
The title of the book and the first chapter made me think that this was going to be a compilation of sad stories of horses who had to be euthanized for one reason or another due to their participation in races. That turned out not to be the case at all as Lillis, a journalist who used to work in the racing industry, exposed both the therapeutic and performance-enhancing use of various drugs in horses that run in the sport.
The book also took a critical look at training methods, the horse racing industry as a whole and the various degrees of interest by the federal government in their investigations of criminal activity in the sport. An example of this would be the consideration of wire fraud charges if illegal substances were sold across state lines using electronic technology (phone, email, texting, etc.) and money exchanged hands. There are many people involved in these stories, not just the big names like Baffert.
It was also interesting to learn new knowledge about the industry. One example that was a recurrent topic in the various chapters was the need for a full complement of horses to run in each race for an event to turn a profit. This is so that there are more betting options for gamblers, resulting in a higher purse for the track. It makes sense after reading this, but it is something that I was never aware of.
At times, the book does get very detailed, especially about the drugs used in the sport. It felt at times I needed a pharmacology degree to understand these nuances, but despite this, it is a book that is very informative and one that would be enjoyed by readers of all levels of interest in horse racing.
I wish to thank Simon & Schuster for providing a copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
May 21, 2025
Great and passionate reporting on the messy inner workings of a world I had known next to nothing about prior. A brilliant feat of horsegirlism.
Thanks to Libro.fm and Simon & Schuster Audio for the audiobook!
Thanks to Libro.fm and Simon & Schuster Audio for the audiobook!
April 27, 2025
"Death of a Racehorse" is an ambitious and wide-ranging feat of impeccable reporting by someone in a unique position in between the modern world and the dying old world of racing. I have followed Katie Bo Lillis's career on CNN though I didn't know her background, and I've been a horse racing fan since I first borrowed tattered copies of The Black Stallion as a child from a neighbor and dreamed of the allure of the sacrosanct subculture of the sport of kings.
But I have fallen away from my appreciation of the sport because its gritty realities have seeped into the romanticism I held to it from the mystique that never was of The Black Stallion. It's always been a snobby, insular sport of old money, doping, animal abuse and getting away with the rules because the rules could never apply to the mysterious world of the track with its own language and horsemanship culture.
Today racing's image is more like the Netflix documentary Race for the Crown, in which a crew of slick, brash new money outsiders want to shake things up and rise to the top, a world of glitz, glam and flowing champagne. That's the image that I find distasteful, crass and turns me away from what I once saw as a very romantic sort of sport.
Katie Bo Lillis is in a unique position to write this book. She's not a PETA animal welfare crusader but she loves horses as a longtime horsewoman herself who worked in the industry for several years before turning to journalism. But neither is she an apologist for the abuses of an industry that has long been shielded from outside scrutiny in its gilded barns and big money.
The author has taken an unflinching look at the doping scandals and breeding problems that have plagued an industry that assumes that the reason why the sport is in decline is simply a marketing issue. This really showed how out of touch with the real world that this industry can be.
Her thesis, that the industry needs to start caring more for animal welfare than the bottom line and viewing horses as pets instead of assets and commodities, is a thoroughly researched argument grounded in facts and warmth.
I sometimes got lost in lengthy descriptions of drug protocols but found it chilling that trainers viewed medications as not what was right for the horse but what they could get away with. But the patchwork regulatory bodies and enforcement meant that only people the industry didn't like got called out as bad apples, rather than the rot in the culture of racing itself.
Since I had stopped watching racing for the last few years I had wondered what had become of Bob Baffert, whose humble roots and innate horse sense I had respected. The author does a good job of not scapegoating him or hero worshipping him but showing him as a complicated man with flaws operating in a rotten culture.
In the end what I appreciated about this reporting will piss off both horsemen and PETA advocates. She wants the industry to continue but she is unrestrained in the way she points out its flaws and need to reform. This is someone who loves horses and horse racing and takes a hard look at the dark side of the culture that's always been there, dispelling The Black Stallion romanticism.
This was a grim and difficult read but an important one that will stay with me. It gave me a lot to think about and made me want to pay attention to horse racing again. I hope that anyone who loves horses and cares about the future of horse racing will read this book.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
But I have fallen away from my appreciation of the sport because its gritty realities have seeped into the romanticism I held to it from the mystique that never was of The Black Stallion. It's always been a snobby, insular sport of old money, doping, animal abuse and getting away with the rules because the rules could never apply to the mysterious world of the track with its own language and horsemanship culture.
Today racing's image is more like the Netflix documentary Race for the Crown, in which a crew of slick, brash new money outsiders want to shake things up and rise to the top, a world of glitz, glam and flowing champagne. That's the image that I find distasteful, crass and turns me away from what I once saw as a very romantic sort of sport.
Katie Bo Lillis is in a unique position to write this book. She's not a PETA animal welfare crusader but she loves horses as a longtime horsewoman herself who worked in the industry for several years before turning to journalism. But neither is she an apologist for the abuses of an industry that has long been shielded from outside scrutiny in its gilded barns and big money.
The author has taken an unflinching look at the doping scandals and breeding problems that have plagued an industry that assumes that the reason why the sport is in decline is simply a marketing issue. This really showed how out of touch with the real world that this industry can be.
Her thesis, that the industry needs to start caring more for animal welfare than the bottom line and viewing horses as pets instead of assets and commodities, is a thoroughly researched argument grounded in facts and warmth.
I sometimes got lost in lengthy descriptions of drug protocols but found it chilling that trainers viewed medications as not what was right for the horse but what they could get away with. But the patchwork regulatory bodies and enforcement meant that only people the industry didn't like got called out as bad apples, rather than the rot in the culture of racing itself.
Since I had stopped watching racing for the last few years I had wondered what had become of Bob Baffert, whose humble roots and innate horse sense I had respected. The author does a good job of not scapegoating him or hero worshipping him but showing him as a complicated man with flaws operating in a rotten culture.
In the end what I appreciated about this reporting will piss off both horsemen and PETA advocates. She wants the industry to continue but she is unrestrained in the way she points out its flaws and need to reform. This is someone who loves horses and horse racing and takes a hard look at the dark side of the culture that's always been there, dispelling The Black Stallion romanticism.
This was a grim and difficult read but an important one that will stay with me. It gave me a lot to think about and made me want to pay attention to horse racing again. I hope that anyone who loves horses and cares about the future of horse racing will read this book.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
May 20, 2025
Very interesting read about horse racing and the culture of doping that takes place there. I enjoyed the read but it felt a bit long. I think this would have been a better long article in a magazine, like The Atlantic, than a stand alone book. I don't know that all the details and vignettes were truly necessary to the storyline.
November 12, 2025
- I know literally nothing about the horse racing industry, so everything here was new to me. I learnt a lot, the treatment of horses is actually quite shocking.
- Structurally, I think the book spent too much time on bob baffert and getting into specifics of drugs. Almost the entire first section and much of the last section was focused on him, and while his story is very relevant and he’s a sympathetic character, I don’t think we needed so much on his background (though I appreciate that was also an intro to the industry) and all his stuff at the end was really repetitive. By the end of the book, I also dont see him really as such a big villain, I really wished more time was spent on the “bigger” more structural bad guys that are referenced but not really explained with enough specific examples, such as the “outside” vs“insider” (traditional old money wealthy old guard people) dichotomy and the misconduct or at least shady practices of the various racetrack owners.
- At some point following all the different names and drugs were a bit tedious and confusing, though I understand they were mostly necessary for thr story, but the people in particular were hard to follow. I thought the author did a great job explaining the drugs.
- She also did a really great job explaining the regulations and relevant regulatory / influential but non regulatory bodies, the legal disputes, which I always find fascinating. The section on the FBI investigation and how everyone got involved was really interesting too.
- I thought it was interesting that jockeys got basically no air time, they come out of this whole thing seeming totally inconsequential and innocent, even though to the outside world those are the most well known roles. And after all this time, I still don’t totally get what trainers do besides select horses and like have them run strangely simple sets lmao, all I heard was they were told to breeze for a set distance, none of the complexities of even what I’d do on the swim team. Some background on this would have been nice.
- She also explained the breeding part of the industry well (it’s appalling), and the dichotomy between how laymen vs horse people see horses
- The role of the HK jockey club was fascinating and I want to learn more
- Learnt about the different big races and importance of industry to Kentucky
- Takeaways: I didn’t know how much the industry and race horses are totally dependent on eye watering amounts and combinations of drugs just to maintain current status quo. It all seems like a fucking waste imo. And how many horses die such sad gruesome deaths is really sad. And how actually ridiculous the horse names are. The author never explains them, but I googled it and seems like it’s because each horse needs to have a unique name? Still find it so strange though, they’re like middle school msn usernames. Life is good, rock your world, maximum security, essential quality, soup and sandwich, having a meltdown. Are you kidding me? Who comes up with these joke names
- the cover was really striking! i enjoyed its design
- Structurally, I think the book spent too much time on bob baffert and getting into specifics of drugs. Almost the entire first section and much of the last section was focused on him, and while his story is very relevant and he’s a sympathetic character, I don’t think we needed so much on his background (though I appreciate that was also an intro to the industry) and all his stuff at the end was really repetitive. By the end of the book, I also dont see him really as such a big villain, I really wished more time was spent on the “bigger” more structural bad guys that are referenced but not really explained with enough specific examples, such as the “outside” vs“insider” (traditional old money wealthy old guard people) dichotomy and the misconduct or at least shady practices of the various racetrack owners.
- At some point following all the different names and drugs were a bit tedious and confusing, though I understand they were mostly necessary for thr story, but the people in particular were hard to follow. I thought the author did a great job explaining the drugs.
- She also did a really great job explaining the regulations and relevant regulatory / influential but non regulatory bodies, the legal disputes, which I always find fascinating. The section on the FBI investigation and how everyone got involved was really interesting too.
- I thought it was interesting that jockeys got basically no air time, they come out of this whole thing seeming totally inconsequential and innocent, even though to the outside world those are the most well known roles. And after all this time, I still don’t totally get what trainers do besides select horses and like have them run strangely simple sets lmao, all I heard was they were told to breeze for a set distance, none of the complexities of even what I’d do on the swim team. Some background on this would have been nice.
- She also explained the breeding part of the industry well (it’s appalling), and the dichotomy between how laymen vs horse people see horses
- The role of the HK jockey club was fascinating and I want to learn more
- Learnt about the different big races and importance of industry to Kentucky
- Takeaways: I didn’t know how much the industry and race horses are totally dependent on eye watering amounts and combinations of drugs just to maintain current status quo. It all seems like a fucking waste imo. And how many horses die such sad gruesome deaths is really sad. And how actually ridiculous the horse names are. The author never explains them, but I googled it and seems like it’s because each horse needs to have a unique name? Still find it so strange though, they’re like middle school msn usernames. Life is good, rock your world, maximum security, essential quality, soup and sandwich, having a meltdown. Are you kidding me? Who comes up with these joke names
- the cover was really striking! i enjoyed its design
Read
June 16, 2025This is an in depth, well researched book. It is a heavy read though. I removed stars because sometimes stars don't seem to do the book justice.
November 30, 2025
Katie Bo Lillis’s "Death of a Racehorse" is an unflinching examination of a sport that has spent the last decade and a half staggering under the weight of scandal, tragedy, and its own entrenched contradictions. Once the “Sport of Kings,” Thoroughbred racing now finds itself under relentless scrutiny: doping scandals, high-profile catastrophic breakdowns and racing's systemic failure to address longstanding ills have forced even its most ardent defenders to confront uncomfortable truths.
Lillis is well-qualified to shed light on these controversial topics. No stranger to the inner workings of the Thoroughbred racing industry, Lillis is a lifelong Virginia horsewoman who worked briefly as an exercise rider in her youth. She's also an experienced reporter at CNN with the street cred to investigate racing's recent scandals. With her intimate knowledge of a notoriously secretive industry, Lillis steps directly into the storm, using the rise and fall of tragic figure Medina Spirit, the (technical) 2021 Kentucky Derby Winner and the controversies surrounding his legendary trainer Bob Baffert, as a springboard into a much larger, scandal-ridden saga.
Baffert is probably the poster child for many racing ills, not the scapegoat he always claims to be. He is admittedly one of the most preeminent racehorse trainers of all time, winning the Triple Crown twice in three years, with American Pharoah and Justify (who, as it turns out, wouldn't have even been allowed to compete in the Kentucky Derby, let alone win the Triple Crown, had the rules been followed with regard to yet another positive drug test, this time for scopolamine, following his victory in the Santa Anita Derby - it was Baffert's fifth medication violation in thirteen months).
Baffert has won the Derby six times, tying the current record for wins by a single trainer. He currently holds the trainer record for the Preakness, as well, with eight victories to his credit. He's also a four-time winner of the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer, and has more Breeders Cup wins than any other trainer in history, with 21 wins, surpassing even his mentor, the late D. Wayne Lukas, following Nysos's Breeders Cup Dirt Mile victory in 2025. But all is perhaps not what it seems to be. Baffert is well-known for some other records, too, including disciplinary actions for, most notably, violation of doping regulations.
Notwithstanding his legitimate accomplishments, Baffert is almost as well-known for the constant controversy which seems to swirl around him, for which he has almost never taken any personal accountability, always blaming ever-more creative mishaps for false-positive drug tests. In fact, his first suspension was back in the 70s (1977), for misuse of morphine. As Lillis notes, he then came under heavy criticism in 2013 after SEVEN of his horses died in a sixteen-month period, all from what appeared to be sudden heart attacks. Shockingly, 36% of all cardiac-related equine deaths in California were Baffert-trained horses.
The Medina Spirit epic is a parable in miniature. His 2021 Kentucky Derby win—followed by an unprecedented disqualification after a positive betamethasone test—sent shockwaves through the industry, some of which were a long time coming. Medina's collapse and sudden death at Santa Anita later that year, a track already notorious for a string of unexplained equine fatalities, only amplified those tremors. Medina’s story is tragic enough on its own, but in Lillis’s hands, it becomes a prism through which readers are able to view the sport’s deepest structural flaws.
What distinguishes Lillis’s reporting is the clarity with which she lays out racing’s underlying economic engine. She reminds us that racetracks, for all the pageantry and nostalgia, are gambling enterprises, first and foremost, whose loyalties are to shareholders, not horses. Their business model depends on horses running—consistently, lucratively, and sometimes at great cost - not their long-term welfare. Betting, not breeding, is the force that keeps the sport alive, and that imperative—fill the starting gate, keep the handle high—shapes everything from training practices to medication use.
These economic realities also explain how widespread doping, both therapeutic and performance-enhancing, became normalized to the point of invisibility. As Lillis shows, regulators have spent years playing whack-a-mole with “drugmakers and users,” often with little lasting success. Thus, her indictment extends beyond biology and pharmacology.
Lillis situates racing within a broader American hierarchy—its blue-blooded elites in central Kentucky, its prestigious racetracks, its rules-making (albeit aging) dynasties, and its class-stratified workforce. Behind the barns and Derby hats lies a world of low-wage labor: hotwalkers, grooms, exercise riders, and track workers, many of them illegal immigrants. These invisible pawns in racing's game live in dilapidated, back-stretch dormitories, and not infrequently, horse stalls. These overworked, often exploited workers do the literal dirty work that keeps the operation moving.
Meanwhile, the financial fortunes of the upper class hinge on horses treated simultaneously as beloved creatures and as high-value assets. All of it rests, as Lillis emphasizes, on the bodies of the animals themselves. Their deaths—whether shocking and public like Barbaro and Eight Belles, or quietly devastating like Medina Spirit—are reminders of a system that too often prioritizes speed and spectacle over long-term welfare. The statistics Lillis cites are deeply unsettling: dozens of fatalities at a single track, cardiac events clustered under certain barns, injuries that defy simple explanation.
In the book’s most gripping section, Lillis expands the story beyond Baffert to the federal investigation that ensnared veterinarian Seth Fishman, a clandestine manufacturer of designer drugs, and trainer Jorge Navarro, a self-styled “Juice Man.” Their downfalls reveal an underworld of doping that thrived precisely because the sport’s internal checks were (probably intentionally) insufficient. Even ostensibly well-meaning trainers like Jason Servis, a figure Lillis presents as part dupe and part cautionary tale, stumbled into the gray zones where ambition, pressure, and rationalization collide.
Against this backdrop stands Baffert. His extraordinary achievements coexist uneasily with a decades-long history of medication issues, unexplained horse deaths, and a near-reflexive insistence that he is being unfairly targeted. Lillis’s argument is more nuanced: Baffert is less a villain than a lightning rod exposing racing’s core weakness. His controversies threatened the industry not because he was uniquely culpable, but because they highlighted the fragility of a business model that cannot withstand public scrutiny. In Lillis’s framing, Baffert embodies the sport’s refusal to confront its own contradictions.
By the book’s conclusion, Lillis pivots from chronicler to reformer. She acknowledges the magnetic, almost mythic, hold Thoroughbreds have over the human imagination. She also recognizes the foundational flaw in racing’s culture: the horse is too often valued primarily as an investment vehicle rather than an animal with inherent worth. Her prescriptions—for rethinking incentives, for prioritizing welfare over return on investment—are compelling, if idealistic. The path forward remains unclear, but the need for one is undeniable.
"Death of a Racehorse" succeeds not because it offers easy answers, but because it refuses to look away. At the end of the day, Lillis isn't out to "get" any one individual- or get rid of Thoroughbred racing, for that matter. On the contrary: her agenda is to highlight the problems with the sport, to hopefully encourage system-wide change so that it survives into the next century. She exposes a sport grappling with its past and uncertain of its future, a sport defined as much by beauty and devotion as by exploitation and denial.
Medina Spirit’s fate is the thread that unravels the broader tapestry, revealing an industry at a moment of reckoning. Whether racing rises to meet that moment remains the central, unresolved question.
Lillis is well-qualified to shed light on these controversial topics. No stranger to the inner workings of the Thoroughbred racing industry, Lillis is a lifelong Virginia horsewoman who worked briefly as an exercise rider in her youth. She's also an experienced reporter at CNN with the street cred to investigate racing's recent scandals. With her intimate knowledge of a notoriously secretive industry, Lillis steps directly into the storm, using the rise and fall of tragic figure Medina Spirit, the (technical) 2021 Kentucky Derby Winner and the controversies surrounding his legendary trainer Bob Baffert, as a springboard into a much larger, scandal-ridden saga.
Baffert is probably the poster child for many racing ills, not the scapegoat he always claims to be. He is admittedly one of the most preeminent racehorse trainers of all time, winning the Triple Crown twice in three years, with American Pharoah and Justify (who, as it turns out, wouldn't have even been allowed to compete in the Kentucky Derby, let alone win the Triple Crown, had the rules been followed with regard to yet another positive drug test, this time for scopolamine, following his victory in the Santa Anita Derby - it was Baffert's fifth medication violation in thirteen months).
Baffert has won the Derby six times, tying the current record for wins by a single trainer. He currently holds the trainer record for the Preakness, as well, with eight victories to his credit. He's also a four-time winner of the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer, and has more Breeders Cup wins than any other trainer in history, with 21 wins, surpassing even his mentor, the late D. Wayne Lukas, following Nysos's Breeders Cup Dirt Mile victory in 2025. But all is perhaps not what it seems to be. Baffert is well-known for some other records, too, including disciplinary actions for, most notably, violation of doping regulations.
Notwithstanding his legitimate accomplishments, Baffert is almost as well-known for the constant controversy which seems to swirl around him, for which he has almost never taken any personal accountability, always blaming ever-more creative mishaps for false-positive drug tests. In fact, his first suspension was back in the 70s (1977), for misuse of morphine. As Lillis notes, he then came under heavy criticism in 2013 after SEVEN of his horses died in a sixteen-month period, all from what appeared to be sudden heart attacks. Shockingly, 36% of all cardiac-related equine deaths in California were Baffert-trained horses.
The Medina Spirit epic is a parable in miniature. His 2021 Kentucky Derby win—followed by an unprecedented disqualification after a positive betamethasone test—sent shockwaves through the industry, some of which were a long time coming. Medina's collapse and sudden death at Santa Anita later that year, a track already notorious for a string of unexplained equine fatalities, only amplified those tremors. Medina’s story is tragic enough on its own, but in Lillis’s hands, it becomes a prism through which readers are able to view the sport’s deepest structural flaws.
What distinguishes Lillis’s reporting is the clarity with which she lays out racing’s underlying economic engine. She reminds us that racetracks, for all the pageantry and nostalgia, are gambling enterprises, first and foremost, whose loyalties are to shareholders, not horses. Their business model depends on horses running—consistently, lucratively, and sometimes at great cost - not their long-term welfare. Betting, not breeding, is the force that keeps the sport alive, and that imperative—fill the starting gate, keep the handle high—shapes everything from training practices to medication use.
These economic realities also explain how widespread doping, both therapeutic and performance-enhancing, became normalized to the point of invisibility. As Lillis shows, regulators have spent years playing whack-a-mole with “drugmakers and users,” often with little lasting success. Thus, her indictment extends beyond biology and pharmacology.
Lillis situates racing within a broader American hierarchy—its blue-blooded elites in central Kentucky, its prestigious racetracks, its rules-making (albeit aging) dynasties, and its class-stratified workforce. Behind the barns and Derby hats lies a world of low-wage labor: hotwalkers, grooms, exercise riders, and track workers, many of them illegal immigrants. These invisible pawns in racing's game live in dilapidated, back-stretch dormitories, and not infrequently, horse stalls. These overworked, often exploited workers do the literal dirty work that keeps the operation moving.
Meanwhile, the financial fortunes of the upper class hinge on horses treated simultaneously as beloved creatures and as high-value assets. All of it rests, as Lillis emphasizes, on the bodies of the animals themselves. Their deaths—whether shocking and public like Barbaro and Eight Belles, or quietly devastating like Medina Spirit—are reminders of a system that too often prioritizes speed and spectacle over long-term welfare. The statistics Lillis cites are deeply unsettling: dozens of fatalities at a single track, cardiac events clustered under certain barns, injuries that defy simple explanation.
In the book’s most gripping section, Lillis expands the story beyond Baffert to the federal investigation that ensnared veterinarian Seth Fishman, a clandestine manufacturer of designer drugs, and trainer Jorge Navarro, a self-styled “Juice Man.” Their downfalls reveal an underworld of doping that thrived precisely because the sport’s internal checks were (probably intentionally) insufficient. Even ostensibly well-meaning trainers like Jason Servis, a figure Lillis presents as part dupe and part cautionary tale, stumbled into the gray zones where ambition, pressure, and rationalization collide.
Against this backdrop stands Baffert. His extraordinary achievements coexist uneasily with a decades-long history of medication issues, unexplained horse deaths, and a near-reflexive insistence that he is being unfairly targeted. Lillis’s argument is more nuanced: Baffert is less a villain than a lightning rod exposing racing’s core weakness. His controversies threatened the industry not because he was uniquely culpable, but because they highlighted the fragility of a business model that cannot withstand public scrutiny. In Lillis’s framing, Baffert embodies the sport’s refusal to confront its own contradictions.
By the book’s conclusion, Lillis pivots from chronicler to reformer. She acknowledges the magnetic, almost mythic, hold Thoroughbreds have over the human imagination. She also recognizes the foundational flaw in racing’s culture: the horse is too often valued primarily as an investment vehicle rather than an animal with inherent worth. Her prescriptions—for rethinking incentives, for prioritizing welfare over return on investment—are compelling, if idealistic. The path forward remains unclear, but the need for one is undeniable.
"Death of a Racehorse" succeeds not because it offers easy answers, but because it refuses to look away. At the end of the day, Lillis isn't out to "get" any one individual- or get rid of Thoroughbred racing, for that matter. On the contrary: her agenda is to highlight the problems with the sport, to hopefully encourage system-wide change so that it survives into the next century. She exposes a sport grappling with its past and uncertain of its future, a sport defined as much by beauty and devotion as by exploitation and denial.
Medina Spirit’s fate is the thread that unravels the broader tapestry, revealing an industry at a moment of reckoning. Whether racing rises to meet that moment remains the central, unresolved question.
September 27, 2025
I absolutely loved this book! At first I was a bit worried to read this book because I have recently started to really enjoy watching horse racing so the title "Death of A Racehorse" and the back having quotes about how this book covers the problems of horse racing made me a little scared (plus there were so many great sports books around it in the Edgartown book store) however I quickly realized that the author is a massive horse fan herself. Then I thought the whole book was simply going to be about Bob Baffert’s story riding the ranks and the troubles that he has with suspensions most notably Medina Spirit. However, I realized that Baffert was just used so much because of the vast interviews that the author had with him as well as him being the "outsider" that became the face of the sport and to many that are vehemently against drugs the villain of the sport. This book ended up covering so much and was so interesting throughout that it felt like I was reading fiction. I usually don’t enjoy nonfiction very much because I find that a lot of times it’s a lot more boring than the imagination. Not in this book though and it was so interesting to hear about everything especially since I didn’t know even a lot of major events as I’ve only just recently started watching. The FBI being involved and sending many to prison for example I had no idea and I definitely felt for some of them even if they deserved some punishment. Like I didn’t feel for the vet Seth Fisherman especially him distaining a woman trainer for treating horses like pets and creating so many drugs just for his own profit and because he believed he was so smart and could get away with everything. But a guy like Navarro may have been the "juice man" and used Fisherman’s products which deserves punishment, but he seemed to somewhat of a good person by caring for others and giving money to others without asking why and it seems he did what he did to make a living (and that’s the case even more for many other lesser known trainers that causes a lot of problems) and because of all of the pressures that he faced. That’s why it’s terrible that he just got released from prison, but probably will have no home in the US thanks to ICE. This seems especially unfair when so many do exactly this and won’t be prosecuted like Saffie Joseph who I believe is a real villain in terms of pumping drugs and a horse like Concerte Glory being scared and not racing earlier this year probably only proves my point. I liked that Katie was very objective in a lot of her work and definitely had opinions but also used her facts and research (which was clearly very extensive and even more clear when reading the Author’s Note and looking through her notes) to explain a lot of the facts and have the reader judge for themselves who is right and wrong. The only subjection she used is that obviously there is a problem and it needs to be fixed. Not just with drugs like the Stonachs would say but also with other factors such as track conditions and overrunning horses to keep a big field. Overall, it was phenomenal and even had heartbreaking stories like Medina Spirit which actually made me slightly cry from his birth story with Gail Rice to his disqualification that probably wasn’t fair to his early death in training. While also having triumphs like Baffert’s Derby wins especially in the beginning. Baffert’s treatment was definitely interesting and does raise questions like maybe his favoring in Cali and his hatred in NY if that even is true. It was also be intresting to continue to follow to see if more safety measures are put into place because fortunately it looks like less mortalities and injuries are taking place. Also, she covered continued sexism but some progressiveness as well that was interesting but this review is already long enough. But all in all a phenomenal book and I could definitely tell Katie Bo Lillis was a reporter from it and I believe this is her only book, but God if she writes another about horse racing or any topic that interest me. SIGN ME UP!
May 3, 2025
Thanks to Edelweiss and Simon and Schuster for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.
It’s Kentucky Derby/Oaks weekend! I am like most people who casually watch the sport. I’ve read some books and watched some documentaries and have seen some news stories. Whenever horse racing makes the news, it’s almost never good news. Reports of doping, catastrophic breakdowns, multiple horse being injured on a specific track, you name it, even people who don’t follow the sport know these stories. Death of a racehorse examines all the bad stuff and more.
Horse racing has always had a history of doping a horse with something to help them run the race. And even though many substances have been banned, trainers still use them, laying off right before a race. And despite all sorts of drugs being banned, thoroughbred horses are still given a lot of drugs so they run a better race. And one trainer in particular always comes up. Triple Crown-winning Bob Baffert, who has been training horses since the days of Seattle Slew. He had a horse, Medina Spirit, that won the Kentucky Derby, but was later stripped of the title because of a failed drug test. It wasn’t the first time one of his horses failed a drug test, not by a long shot. Yet everyone wants him to be their trainer.
Then, there’s the whole question of breeding. Instead of breeding animals to be stronger and more durable, it’s purely being done for profit, such is the nature of our capitalistic society. Racetrack operators are trying to get as much money out of gamblers, which creates a disjointed race schedule. That does not help the horses, either.
Then there’s the talk of all the breakdowns happening to horses. Everyone who follows racing knows the story of Ruffian, who had a terrible breakdown during a match race in 1975. (said to be the inspiration for The Black Stallion books). More recently, the Kentucky Derby champion, Barbaro, shattered his leg during the Preakness a few weeks later. For 11 months, doctors tried valiantly to save Barbaro, which was unusual enough. Many owners would have euthanized him immediately, but ultimately, he died of laminitis, which is rarely curable. Too many horses these days suffer major injuries that requires euthanasia.
Then there’s the whole issue of racing animals in the first place. As much as I love watching horses that love running, I do think more critically about the sport of kings. Changes need to be made, but the multi-billion dollar industry needs to churn on.
It’s Kentucky Derby/Oaks weekend! I am like most people who casually watch the sport. I’ve read some books and watched some documentaries and have seen some news stories. Whenever horse racing makes the news, it’s almost never good news. Reports of doping, catastrophic breakdowns, multiple horse being injured on a specific track, you name it, even people who don’t follow the sport know these stories. Death of a racehorse examines all the bad stuff and more.
Horse racing has always had a history of doping a horse with something to help them run the race. And even though many substances have been banned, trainers still use them, laying off right before a race. And despite all sorts of drugs being banned, thoroughbred horses are still given a lot of drugs so they run a better race. And one trainer in particular always comes up. Triple Crown-winning Bob Baffert, who has been training horses since the days of Seattle Slew. He had a horse, Medina Spirit, that won the Kentucky Derby, but was later stripped of the title because of a failed drug test. It wasn’t the first time one of his horses failed a drug test, not by a long shot. Yet everyone wants him to be their trainer.
Then, there’s the whole question of breeding. Instead of breeding animals to be stronger and more durable, it’s purely being done for profit, such is the nature of our capitalistic society. Racetrack operators are trying to get as much money out of gamblers, which creates a disjointed race schedule. That does not help the horses, either.
Then there’s the talk of all the breakdowns happening to horses. Everyone who follows racing knows the story of Ruffian, who had a terrible breakdown during a match race in 1975. (said to be the inspiration for The Black Stallion books). More recently, the Kentucky Derby champion, Barbaro, shattered his leg during the Preakness a few weeks later. For 11 months, doctors tried valiantly to save Barbaro, which was unusual enough. Many owners would have euthanized him immediately, but ultimately, he died of laminitis, which is rarely curable. Too many horses these days suffer major injuries that requires euthanasia.
Then there’s the whole issue of racing animals in the first place. As much as I love watching horses that love running, I do think more critically about the sport of kings. Changes need to be made, but the multi-billion dollar industry needs to churn on.
June 6, 2025
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
"Death of a Racehorse" is the case of the right author and the right topic. Katie Bo Lillis grew up working with horses, especially race horses, before launching into an international journalism career. Now in this book she turns to her roots to investigate two major news scandals related to racing: the press coverage of "killer tracks" with insane, inexplicable death rates, and the story of Bob Baffert, racing's D. Wayne Lucas knock-off with an outstanding success rate, but an equally noteworthy history of barn violations.
What Lillis does so well is piece apart barn culture, perspective, science, reality, and humanity. Her conclusions are important:
--that there exists a major, modern disparity between racing's historical view of horses (as livestock) and popular culture's vision of them (as beautiful domesticated creatures, individuals deserving of care.)
--that there is a significant problem with "therapeutic" medications being applied to horses. They aren't necessarily illegal, because no tests know of them, but it's considered a done thing. (In some cases, even a humane thing.)
--that the financial system of racing--where tracks provide free barns to trainers in order to get more horses to the gate, and therefore higher betting stakes--incentivizes running horses whether they are perfectly sound or not.
--that the name of the game isn't always the track, but the breeding shed afterwards for stallions. Lillis is very specific about racing as a stallion-making sport.
Along the way, Lillis gives us some eye-opening insights into Baffert, managing both to point out the saga of his ongoing excuses and to give some context to his complaints. While I still closed the book side-eyeing him, she did an excellent job of hearing him out and fairly (I thought) presenting his side.
She also draws up conclusions and recommendations for the world of Thoroughbreds. Whether that world will take those steps--well, one can only guess. But her book is a beautiful exploration of a sport from someone who clearly loves horses and has loved racing as well.
"Death of a Racehorse" is the case of the right author and the right topic. Katie Bo Lillis grew up working with horses, especially race horses, before launching into an international journalism career. Now in this book she turns to her roots to investigate two major news scandals related to racing: the press coverage of "killer tracks" with insane, inexplicable death rates, and the story of Bob Baffert, racing's D. Wayne Lucas knock-off with an outstanding success rate, but an equally noteworthy history of barn violations.
What Lillis does so well is piece apart barn culture, perspective, science, reality, and humanity. Her conclusions are important:
--that there exists a major, modern disparity between racing's historical view of horses (as livestock) and popular culture's vision of them (as beautiful domesticated creatures, individuals deserving of care.)
--that there is a significant problem with "therapeutic" medications being applied to horses. They aren't necessarily illegal, because no tests know of them, but it's considered a done thing. (In some cases, even a humane thing.)
--that the financial system of racing--where tracks provide free barns to trainers in order to get more horses to the gate, and therefore higher betting stakes--incentivizes running horses whether they are perfectly sound or not.
--that the name of the game isn't always the track, but the breeding shed afterwards for stallions. Lillis is very specific about racing as a stallion-making sport.
Along the way, Lillis gives us some eye-opening insights into Baffert, managing both to point out the saga of his ongoing excuses and to give some context to his complaints. While I still closed the book side-eyeing him, she did an excellent job of hearing him out and fairly (I thought) presenting his side.
She also draws up conclusions and recommendations for the world of Thoroughbreds. Whether that world will take those steps--well, one can only guess. But her book is a beautiful exploration of a sport from someone who clearly loves horses and has loved racing as well.
April 23, 2025
There has been growing attention on the sheer number of thoroughbred horses that drop dead each year. In particular, deaths occurring in clusters in specific areas, tracks or stables has led to general bafflement as to the cause and suspicion cast widely.
Death of a Racehorse is Lillis’ in-depth look at this phenomenon and the suspicions cast on high-profile trainer Bob Baffert in particular. Lillis is forensic in her analysis, looking at all of the various factors - drugs, breeding, schedules, training etc. She eschews the simplistic answer, that evil trainers are over doping horses, showing how the problem is much broader. She paints a compelling picture of how prioritization of money and profit plays over the safety and wellbeing of the horses. Lillis is not a campaigner, not on a crusade, but rather a horse lover (and talented investigative journalist) deeply concerned and eager to find a more balanced dynamic between human and animal.
There is plenty of depth to the book. Beyond the central question it also paints a picture of industry rocked by class tension and the battle between the old money and the new guard. I know very little about horse racing and found the book incredible accessible - taking a newbie into the inner world while adding plenty of insight that makes the book a must read for insiders and outsiders alike. Ultimately, Lillis tries to present a hopeful vision for what could be, and what should be, a reformed industry with the welfare of horses given proper place at the very center.
A fantastic, readable, informative, enjoyable book.
Death of a Racehorse is Lillis’ in-depth look at this phenomenon and the suspicions cast on high-profile trainer Bob Baffert in particular. Lillis is forensic in her analysis, looking at all of the various factors - drugs, breeding, schedules, training etc. She eschews the simplistic answer, that evil trainers are over doping horses, showing how the problem is much broader. She paints a compelling picture of how prioritization of money and profit plays over the safety and wellbeing of the horses. Lillis is not a campaigner, not on a crusade, but rather a horse lover (and talented investigative journalist) deeply concerned and eager to find a more balanced dynamic between human and animal.
There is plenty of depth to the book. Beyond the central question it also paints a picture of industry rocked by class tension and the battle between the old money and the new guard. I know very little about horse racing and found the book incredible accessible - taking a newbie into the inner world while adding plenty of insight that makes the book a must read for insiders and outsiders alike. Ultimately, Lillis tries to present a hopeful vision for what could be, and what should be, a reformed industry with the welfare of horses given proper place at the very center.
A fantastic, readable, informative, enjoyable book.
July 12, 2025
I'm a former owner and love the sport but was (and actually still am) active in thoroughbred aftercare. This is a good book and an important piece of journalism. The detailed information about all the drugs and the laws, and the changes in that realm, were all very helpful, but there is so much change that a lot of it will be dated before long. The thesis at the end that horses are "pets" is interesting. Not athletes, not commodities, not financial vehicles, etc. as it points to needed culture change that would improve the problems created by the drug use situation in this sport. That's a good point because culture change is the way to address complex problems. I didn't agree with another point, which was made a couple times, that certain legal drugs are not related to horse injuries and was surprised the journalist took that position rather than encouraging the reader to make up their own mind. Because a lot of people in the sport know that there is absolutely a link. But it's a complex system so the link is indirect and temporally distant. Also, I wish the book would have compared the policies of the European programs to the American ones as they relate administering drugs to racehorses and the injury rates in European racing. I kept waiting for that to come but it never did. The level of detail takes things into the journalistic weeds at times, but if you're reading to learn then that can be helpful. Overall, great book. You can tell it was a labor of love for the journalist-author.
July 18, 2025
Katie Bo Lillis brings her experience in national security journalism—a field in which answers are rarely simple and found on the surface—to a subject long-deserving of a serious and disciplined exposé: American horse racing.
This deeply researched and sourced book nevertheless reads like a classic mystery. Think Murder on the Orient Express but set among the backsides of racetracks across the country. Lillis methodically and (for the most part) impartially introduces all the players—owners, trainers, vets, breeders, track operators—their conflicting interests, and their sins, leaving it to the reader to draw their own conclusions about who or what is to blame for the crisis gripping a beloved industry. And maybe it’s all the suspects after all.
What I appreciate most as someone who first walked the dirt track at Churchill as a small kid is that this isn’t a preachy takedown of horse racing and its people. Instead, it’s a tough-love conversation about the longstanding cultural practices that endanger it.
This book should be required reading for any Kentuckian. So, pour a bourbon and saddle up.
This deeply researched and sourced book nevertheless reads like a classic mystery. Think Murder on the Orient Express but set among the backsides of racetracks across the country. Lillis methodically and (for the most part) impartially introduces all the players—owners, trainers, vets, breeders, track operators—their conflicting interests, and their sins, leaving it to the reader to draw their own conclusions about who or what is to blame for the crisis gripping a beloved industry. And maybe it’s all the suspects after all.
What I appreciate most as someone who first walked the dirt track at Churchill as a small kid is that this isn’t a preachy takedown of horse racing and its people. Instead, it’s a tough-love conversation about the longstanding cultural practices that endanger it.
This book should be required reading for any Kentuckian. So, pour a bourbon and saddle up.
May 10, 2025
I went into Death of a Racehorse expecting real journalism. What I got felt more like a dramatic blog post in hardback.
The structure is all over the place. Instead of letting facts do the heavy lifting, the author inserts themselves constantly — opinions over evidence, emotion over insight. Some of the stories had potential, but they’re told with so much dramatization it starts to feel forced. Like the goal isn’t to inform, but to push an agenda.
And honestly, it shows the author isn’t close to racing, can tell they've not been for a long time. The examples are dated. The context is shaky. The tone feels like someone trying to sound in-the-know but clearly is not.
Worse, the writing tries to be a thriller — all breathless sentences and big reveals — but it just feels overwritten.
Disappointing. Overcooked. Wouldn’t recommend.
The structure is all over the place. Instead of letting facts do the heavy lifting, the author inserts themselves constantly — opinions over evidence, emotion over insight. Some of the stories had potential, but they’re told with so much dramatization it starts to feel forced. Like the goal isn’t to inform, but to push an agenda.
And honestly, it shows the author isn’t close to racing, can tell they've not been for a long time. The examples are dated. The context is shaky. The tone feels like someone trying to sound in-the-know but clearly is not.
Worse, the writing tries to be a thriller — all breathless sentences and big reveals — but it just feels overwritten.
Disappointing. Overcooked. Wouldn’t recommend.
June 15, 2025
This book is a must-read for everyone in the horseracing industry but I think it'll be interesting for anyone.
You may not remember Medina Spirit but you probably know the name Bob Baffert. Whatever you know about the name, you don't know about the person or about his story. I know my opinion has changed.
To get there, you have to understand the history of not only the sport of horse racing but also the history of regulation. I'm an owner and breeder, and a member of Virginia's Racing Commission. Everyone in the industry should read this book to understand why we're where we are.
Lillis has written an honest appraisal of the industry. Everyone in the industry should read it.
You may not remember Medina Spirit but you probably know the name Bob Baffert. Whatever you know about the name, you don't know about the person or about his story. I know my opinion has changed.
To get there, you have to understand the history of not only the sport of horse racing but also the history of regulation. I'm an owner and breeder, and a member of Virginia's Racing Commission. Everyone in the industry should read this book to understand why we're where we are.
Lillis has written an honest appraisal of the industry. Everyone in the industry should read it.
July 31, 2025
I appreciate this book a great deal. The author does a good job conveying just how complex the horse industry is and examining how different opposing factions shift views depending on the topic. There's no easy answer but at the end of the day, while I fully believe the majority of people involved are doing it for the love of the horse, it can be hard to see a path where what they are doing is for the good of the horse. But at the same time, those horses need to eat. A work like this is important to drive those sorts of uncomfortable conversations and pull a lot of what goes on into the daylight.
June 18, 2025
On the surface, I do think this book is a love letter to horses as the author says. As stated multiple times, horseracing is a complicated industry because these animals are a cross between pets and livestock/animals that "earn" their living. It was Interesting to read about the inner workings of racing and the people that make it happen. I think she Fairly presented Bob Baffert in her writing as well and exposed the lack of effort animals loving lawmakers are doing to protect racing's most valuable asset, the horse.
July 28, 2025
Explores the current state of the horse-racing industry through the career of controversial trainer Bob Baffert. Baffert has been investigated numerous times for the doping of horses yet he remains a major player in the industry.
Notice - industry. Horseracing has always had those who try and manipulate the system but the numerous deaths of horses in recent years has put a greater magnifying glass on the problem. Why is there so much controversy about which drugs and doses are legal. If the horse needs the medical dosage to run, should they be running at all?
interrupated
Notice - industry. Horseracing has always had those who try and manipulate the system but the numerous deaths of horses in recent years has put a greater magnifying glass on the problem. Why is there so much controversy about which drugs and doses are legal. If the horse needs the medical dosage to run, should they be running at all?
interrupated
June 16, 2025
There is a lot to unpack here and a lot of it is unpleasant. The author has a foot in each camp, as a lover of Thoroughbreds who has track experience, and as an investigative reporter with gravitas.
This is a very detailed book but certainly a worthwhile read.
I would really like to see her ~ or somebody! ~ tackle the "big lick" and the stacks in the Tennessee Walking Horse world.
It's a slippery slope!............
This is a very detailed book but certainly a worthwhile read.
I would really like to see her ~ or somebody! ~ tackle the "big lick" and the stacks in the Tennessee Walking Horse world.
It's a slippery slope!............
June 12, 2025
Liked the first half. Bored with the second half
June 12, 2025
Anyone involved in racing needs to read this book. Period.
June 22, 2025
free the horses!!!!!
July 30, 2025
I never knew the dark side of the racing world. It’s unbelievable how many drugs and treatments can be given to a horse to make it perform better.
July 31, 2025
I knew nothing about horse racing. Now I feel like I've got a solid grasp on the culture. I couldn't put this book down.
September 10, 2025
Must read for all fans or enemies of horseracing.
September 15, 2025
Enjoyable.
September 21, 2025
I actually DNF'd this book after skimming much of the middle because for me it wasn't a compelling enough look into horse racing and it went over the same material too many times for me personally.
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