Blown: The Incredible Story of John Goldsmith: Racehorse Trainer, Gambler and Wartime Secret Agent

by Jamie Reid

An English racehorse trainer and horse dealer's son, John Goldsmith was born and brought up in Paris and spoke fluent French. In 1942 he was recruited in to the legendary SOE, and dropped three times behind enemy lines.  In 1943 he organized the escape of a French air force general across the Pyrenees. A few months later he was caught by the Gestapo in Paris only to engineer his own getaway from a locked third floor hotel room. By the end of the war he had been awarded the DSO, MC, Croix de Guerre and Legion d'Honneur. Resuming his peacetime occupation in 1946 Goldsmith found uncanny similarities between the secret agent's milieu and the black market world of Britain's post war racetracks. In partnership with a high stakes Mayfair bookie, he orchestrated some of the most audacious betting coups in racing history.

384 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2016

Reviews

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting, if slightly annoying, read. I loved the parts that were set in WWII when he worked in co-operation with the French Resistance. It was quite sad contemplating the loss of lives during that time, both French and Allied.

I thought Goldsmith rather blotted his copybook after the war with his dodgy dealings to get his horses on a lower weight in the handicaps etc. He was obviously his father's son in that, but because this behaviour was rife doesn't make it right to me.