Wild Ride: The Rise and Tragic Fall of Calumet Farm Inc., America's Premier Racing Dynasty

by Ann Hagedorn

Wild Ride is Ann Hagedorn Auerbach's award-winning chronicle of the tragic story behind the downfall of horse racing's crown jewel.

Founded in 1924 by Chicago mogul William Monroe Wright, Calumet Farm was to the world of thoroughbred racing what the New York Yankees are to baseball--a sports dynasty. The stable bred so many superstars that it became the standard by which all achievements were measured in the horse racing industry. But during the 1980s, a web of financial schemes left Calumet destitute.

Auerbach's account is an investigation of the fast-track, multibillion-dollar thoroughbred industry and the fall of Calumet--the inside story of a debacle that extended further than anyone could have imagined. Spanning four generations, this fast-paced saga brings to life a gallery of colorful characters from Calumet's glittery past. Wild Ride shows the industry's transformation from a clubby blue-blood society where a handshake closed a deal to a high-stakes business bulging with bankers and scandalous deal making. When the Bluegrass Bubble exploded, one of America's largest family fortunes lay in ruins.

"A fascinating tale with a cast of characters worthy of Dickens -- or Runyon." -- Carl Desens, BusinessWeek

Genres: Nonfiction, Horse Racing, Sports, Horses, True Crime, Racing, Animals

480 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1994

About the author

Ann Hagedorn is the author of five books, including the recently released The Invisible Soldiers: How America Outsourced Our Security. She was born in Dayton, Ohio and grew up in Dayton, Kansas City and Cleveland. Since college, she has lived in Chicago, Ann Arbor, MI, Lawrence, KS, San Francisco, and New York City. Hagedorn earned a B.A. in history from Denison University, an M.S. in information science from the University of Michigan, and an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University.

Her first professional job was on the library faculty at the University of Kansas where she worked as a research librarian and later directed a grant-funded project to compile a reference book on the history of economics. In pursuit of a writing career, she moved to New York City, where she found both a job and a place to live via New York University: a position on the library faculty writing speeches, brochures, and grant proposals, and an NYU apartment on Washington Square Park. Two years later, she began her master's work at Columbia. She also holds a German language proficiency degree from the Goethe-Institut in Prien-am-Chiemsee, Germany, and studied at Yale University under the tutelage of Arna Bontemps, esteemed participant in the Harlem Renaissance, for the purpose of writing her college senior thesis on the Harlem Renaissance writers.

Hagedorn took her first newspaper job at the San Jose Mercury News where she wrote about crime and covered trials in San Francisco's East Bay region. Her next job was writing for the Wall Street Journal in New York City where she reported on a broad range of subjects, writing front page stories on violent crime in shopping malls, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the longest criminal trial in U.S. history (the McMartin child molestation case), issues of geriatric convicts in federal prisons, securities fraud and penny stock fraud on Wall Street, the travails of takeover artist Paul Bilzerian, the rise and fall of Sasson jeans king Paul Guez, and litigation against dogs, especially in canine court in Los Angeles, among others. She also wrote about legal issues, bankruptcy cases and numerous federal trials.

In 1991, Hagedorn focused her knowledge of fraud and bankruptcy on probing the collapse of America's premier horseracing dynasty, Calumet Farm. The result was the highly acclaimed book Wild Ride: The Rise and Tragic Fall of Calumet Farm, Inc., a story of greed and intrigue in the 1980s that is now under option with Paramount Pictures.
The author left the WSJ in late 1993 to join the New York Daily News as Special Projects Editor. There, in addition to overseeing projects, she wrote multi-part series on geriatric inmates in New York prisons, New York lawyers who were laundering money for Colombian drug cartels, capital punishment, and a four-part series on George Steinbrenner and the bankruptcy of his shipbuilding empire ( which won an Associated Press award.) Next, she wrote a mini-sequel for the Wild Ride paperback edition and began researching and writing Ransom. After the release of Ransom, Hagedorn wrote a piece for The Washington Post and taught a narrative non-fiction writing course at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, where she had been giving lectures in various classes for several years. During that time, she discovered a stunning story in the Ohio River Valley that resulted in her third book Beyond the River, now under option with Clear Pictures Inc. After writing Beyond the River, she taught a writing course at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism in Evanston, Illinois and while in Chicago began the research for Savage Peace.

She has given lectures on writing at Vassar College, Berea College, Denison University, Wilmington College, Ohio State University, the Antioch Writer's Workshop, and the Mercantile Library in Cincinnati, among other venues.

Her latest book, The Invisible Soldier

Reviews

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The amount of disgust I felt while reading this book....I am simply unable to express using the written word. I learned a lot from it, and it was hard to put down, so I suppose it served the purpose it was meant to. I am glad to have it in my collection.

Calumet Farm was founded by William Monroe Wright in 1924. The farm originally was for the breeding and harness racing of Standardbreds. (This is also a really fun sport. The only horse race I have been able to watch in person was at Bluegrass Downs where they were doing some harness racing.) William Monroe Wright's son took over the farm and converted it to Thoroughbred breeding and racing. A lot of big name horses came out of this farm: Whirlaway, Citation, Pensive, and Alydar just to name a few. Unfortunately, Alydar is one of the centers of this book. Most racing fans know what happened to Alydar, as well as the speculation and controversy surrounding his "accident" and death. The granddaughter and her sorry, shady, piece of absolute TRASH husband took over the farm after the death of her grandparents (her father died before her grandmother). That husband was irresponsible, disgusting, and crude. He put a multi million dollar business into bankruptcy, did his best to blacken the family name and achievements, and put a horrible stain on horse racing. What happened to Alydar was NOT an accident, in my opinion, by any stretch of the imagination. He was a swindler and a rascal. Absolutely disgusting. Calumet was auctioned off and taken over by Henryk Kwiatkowski for $17 million dollars. He returned the grounds and business to a reputable standard, which is the farm I grew to know. Currently, the farm is ran by his family and trustees.

Growing up, Calumet Farm was a name that I knew well. They had some really amazing horses that I enjoyed seeing run. I never knew the sordid part of the farm's history, as it was well over by the time I was old enough to get into horses and racing. After reading this, I wound up on social media, where I saw some posts from Calumet. I felt absolutely disgusted, knowing the things that happened. I really had to sit and have a chat with myself about the rationality of that. It was just completely disgraceful. I hope very much that the new owners can continue the uphill climb and high standards. I wish that I could tour this farm when I am in Kentucky in a few months to see other racing sites, though I think I would be very emotional about it.

[Karen Krivo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh- painful to read. There’s a story in there somewhere but it’s buried between too much banking information. It’s like reading page after page of accounting records and reports. Don’t waste your time with this one.

[Eventer79 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subtitle of this book should be "Greedy, selfish people excel at destruction." Meticulously researched, this is a look into what happened at Calumet, simultaneously fascinating and nauseating.

[The Lexington Bookie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you live in the area, you can still drive past the farm, and see for yourself the images that Auerbach describes- the white double fencing, the devils-red trim on white washed barns, the acres of famous Kentucky bluegrass dotted with horses. But the Calumet you see isn't the dynasty that existed prior to 1990, and reading about the fall brought chills to my spine.
If you're a horse junky like me, or interested in historical novels (Kentucky history in particular), horse racing and breeding, or crime novels, Wild Ride is a must read.

[Tom M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ann Auerbach wrote about the rise and fall of Calumet Farm and the turbulent years of the horse Industry in a very investigative way. The deals that were made would not have been accepted in any other business. She did not leave a leaf unturned when it came to understanding how a Farm of this magnitude with so much success could go bankrupt. The owners and managers that took Calumet to the top and then let it sink was the story Ann revealed.
It was more detail, thus a bit boring at times, than I would prefer, but no doubt Ann told the full story of what happed to a Lexington dynasty.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, but gave it three stars because the middle of the book gets pretty dense with all the wheeling and dealing and sorting the people involved in Lundy’s schemes. I thought the author could have broken this down more for the reader. Still very interesting and shocking at what they got away with.

[Ronda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a truly great read.

It's a fact based book on one of Kentucky's premier Thoroughbred farms, rise and fall.

It also answers questions as to what happend to the great race horse Alydar.

I couldn't put it down.

I recommend to everyone.

Happy reading!

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book for anyone in the horse racing industry. I read this while I was working for an insurance company that insured Thoroughbred racers. Bought it for my dad and he loved it as well. Great non-fiction read!

[Kim B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wild Read!
Having grown up riding saddlebreds and familiar with Kentucky (lifetime member of the American Saddlebred Horse Association), this was a fascinating back drop to horse country history! Even got my horse trainer interested in reading it.

[Neil Crocker · Rating 2 out of 5]

If this 400-pager was a 200-pager, I would recommend it. This book sort of tells us how Calumet Farms went down the drain during the 10-year period that the farm was run by JT Lundy. Except we never really do find out where all the money went.

[Brian Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Auerbach's well-reported, well-sourced, informative story on what happened to one of America's premier Thoroughbred farms was like watching a car careen down a hill into certain disaster. You can see the crash impending; you know it's going to happen and you know when it does that the utter level of destruction is going to be real--and spectacular.

You find yourself--at least I did--wishing you could go back in time and derail J.T. Lundy from his Neolithic idiocy and rampant greed. None of it was necessary. Not. A. Thing. And that it happened was a breakdown of every financial guard-rail--such as they were then.

So when it happens, you alternately cringe and want to punch someone. That's the path Auerbach takes you on this tale.

As someone late to the horse racing game through a former job of mine promoting Santa Anita Park, Auerbach's description of the breeding process was fascinating. She does a great job filling in holes that many horse racing fans are unaware of and she does it in an explanatory, detailed manner that leaves the reader without any ambiguity.

Sometimes, she gets a little too deep in the bluegrass weeds and the book drags. But understand she does this to remove that ambiguity on what was a complex, multi-faceted level of greed and fraud. She has to get deep to fully explain what happened to Calumet and we readers were the better for it.

Aside from revealing many of the facts going into big-time horse breeding, the one thing I loved about this book was Auerbach's constant theme that horse racing is an insular, inbred (beyond the breeding shed) sport where outsiders are pushed away and discouraged from taking an interest in the sport. As someone who worked in the sport and was constantly frustrated by the clubby mentality of it--in all facets--she could not be more dead-on nails.

A fascinating read on numerous levels.

[Nic · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poor Alydar. An incredible horse murdered for insurance money by a money-hungry sack of shit who had no business running one of North America's most prestigious Thoroughbred farms. I firmly believe Lundy had Alydar killed and will never be convinced otherwise. It's a shame it was never proven and that that asshole never paid for such a horrible crime. And the Wright heirs are also guilty of a crime: negligent stupidity. Who just signs forms and contracts without reading them first? I found their idiocy to be unbelievable.

This was indeed a wild ride, but it became very repetitive with some figures repeated so many times that I now have them memorized. And for a book that I thought would never end, it in fact ended quite abruptly and felt unfinished to me. So much time was spent describing everyone of Lundy's cronies, bad business deals, and fraudulent loans that the momentum of the book became bogged down with numbers. I confess that there was a lot of skimming right up until that abrupt end.

[Alan Smithee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating story about the creation of a family fortune and legacy, and then it’s loss. What’s the saying? Three generations (or is it four?) from shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves? That applies here. I struggled between rating the book 4 stars vs. 3. Was tempted for three because there is far too much detail of financial transactions and misdeeds in the JT Lundy era. Not necessary and really doesn’t add to the story. In the end, I decided on 4 stars due to the depth of research and a compelling narrative as related by the author. As a retired attorney who has been involved with complex financial fraud cases, and bankruptcy, I had a good appreciation of the developments later in the book, as the empire began to collapse, the inevitable bankruptcy filings and suits on personal guaranties. All in all, a good read, but don’t get overly caught up with the detail about multiple financial transactions involving Calumet Farms, horse sales and grants of breeding rights. The detail is unnecessary and really doesn’t add to what is otherwise a compelling story.

[Sharon Healy-Yang · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this book because I am fascinated by horse racing. I had hoped that I'd get some intriguing and new information about the horses and their human connections at Calumet. Not so much. The early info about Warren Wright, his father, then Lucille and Gene Markey did grab my attention. Again, though, nothing new or interesting about the race horses, especially ones you don't hear so much about like Tim Tam. The majority of the book focuses on the shananigans of J.T. Lundy, the grandson-in-law who took over and ran the great racing farm into the ground with his elaborate scams and frauds. That part was an eye-opener. A truly reprehensible person. Unfortunately, the details of his frauds and scams went on and on in mind-blearing detail. I ended up doing a lot of skimming. To her credit, Hagedorn does take a reasoned approach to explaining the injury and subsequent death of Alydar. Unfortunately, later, she cast doubt on her own findings. Go figure.

[Leslie Goddard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book because of I was interested in the "rise" part of the story -- I wanted to learn about Calumet Farm's origins and the history of its glory dates in the 40s, 50s. When the narrative started racing through those years, my heart sank. One of my big pet peeves is publishers who mis-title books and mislead readers. This is definitely a book that focuses overwhelming on the "fall" side of the story. When it became clear to me, I almost put the book down. But. But .... the story was so compelling and Auerbach is such an engaging writer, I found myself continuing to read ... and then I couldn't put it down. This is a gob-smackingly unbelievable story and I found myself avoiding other things I had to do just so I could read more of it. Auerbach is a skillful storyteller and has an ability to make even obscure financial entanglements comprehensible.

[Paulette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book shortly after it came out. I followed racing for quite awhile and was lucky enough to see some incredible races. Missed Secretariat live but saw Riva Ridge. There were some amazing horses in those few decades. Seattle Slew, Affirmed and Alydar among others. Alydar. Heartbreaking reminder that racing is a serious and sometimes unforgiving business. Famous Calumet Farm came under the management of someone who didn't care about the horses welfare but did care about making a profit and was damaged irreparably. This is that story. If you go to the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, make sure you take time to see all the trophies won by Calumet Farm horses. They were able to acquire the trophies after Calumet Farm went bankrupt. Heartbreaking.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Wild Ride Indeed!

And a tragedy of epic proportions. This well-researched, well-written account of Calumet Farm's illustrious history and the debacle of J. T. Lundy's pillage of the Wrights' legacy is a page turner. Most of the human players are unknown outside their own circles, but the horses are household names. Having spent decades in the horse world, although on a much more lowly scale, I was horrified yet fascinated that Lundy and company could treat these legendary horses and their offspring the same way the Wrights would have treated cans of baking powder. A must read for horse fans; students of human nature; and anyone interested in money, deals, and skullduggery on a grand scale.

[Ian Skeet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book blew me away. I had no idea just how wild the story of Calumet Farm’s collapse really was. The greed. The ego. The sheer scale of the downfall. I’m in my 40s now, I’ve worked in business, seen a few trainwrecks — but this? This was next-level.

What I loved most was how Auerbach wove it all together — the history, the money, the shady characters, the horses caught in the middle. It’s not sentimental. It’s surgical. A forensic look at how one of the most powerful names in racing imploded from the inside.

If you’re into racing, great. If you’re into watching power unravel, even better. It’s Wall Street meets Seabiscuit, with a heavy dose of 'how the hell did they let this happen?'

[David R. McBride · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a horse race fan for most of my life, I remember when this was happening in the 80's, but I didn't know all of the facts. That being said , although I learned a lot that I didn't know, I would have liked to lean more about the people involved and less about the money wasted by that deadbeat J.T. Lundy! There isn't much on the internet about the Wright family or Lundy for that matter although he did serve prison time! I do believe there is more to Alydar's death than meets the eye but I don't think we will ever know all the facts! It's good to know that Calumet Farms is still a going concern because it is a beautiful place and it would be a shame to see it gone!

[Joseph J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not the glory of the race track here. In 1978 I was an Alydar fan in his triple crown duels with Affirmed. I would never see of meet Alydar; when I twice saw and was awed to be in Affirmed's triple corwn presence I felt rather guilty. But this is the tale of Alydar, greed and financial mismanagement leading to his possible murder at stud. This seedy story plays out against the grandeur of fabled Calumet Farm in the Kentucky bluegrass. More financial and personally dysfunctional than sports, this is the story of racing in the hell-bent 1980's when it became a business and an industry and less a sport. Still the grandeur of Alydar prevails.

[Chris Christiansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very in depth account of the rise and catastrophic fall of Calumet Farm. Note that this was written in 1995 so a lot has happened since then. You undoubtedly need to be invested in knowing and wanting to know the intricate details of Calumet to get through this. So you need to be a horse racing fan and be fairly familiar with what Calumet once was in the sport. It's a long read because its very detailed. Fascinating at the same time though. It's a heart-breaking account of pure greed and honestly, pure stupidity because of the love of money. I recommend this if the subject interests you.

[Cheryl L.E. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid 3.5 stars. An interesting read that could really use an updated afterword as much has changed with the farm in the nearly 30 years since this all took place.

It is so tragic how this farm was handled and what happened to the legacy of William Monroe Wright. It was interesting to read about how the money grubbing more more more culture of the 80s contributed to the demise of the farm and devastated the thoroughbred market.

Now when I drive past Calumet, which survives today although not to its previous glory, I feel a bit more sad knowing what was, the depth of what happened, and what could have been.

[Kindra · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author did an amazing job researching the information it took to write this book. I will warn you, to get the overall idea of what was happening to Calumet, she had to present lots of numbers! A there are LOTS of numbers! The story jumps around a bit, but she did a good job. Its a story of hope and determination to build a successful racing facility, only to have it crushed by a few greedy men. I think the lesson here is if you have a business, be involved and never sign papers unless you have read them entirely! It was a book that I enjoyed reading.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1978 one horse was only a hair's breadth from the winner (Affirmed) in each race of the Triple Crown. That horse was Alydar. An amazing horse, the opening pages of this non-fiction book tells a spine-chilling story of the questionable accident that led to his demise, which attributed to the downfall of Calumet Farms.

From the first page, I was drawn into this terrific story. You don't have to be in the thoroughbred industry to love this book. I recommend it to anyone.

5 stars (out of 5)
Published in 1995
480 pages

[Rachel Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably one of the best non-fiction books I have ever read. I cried when it was over, for what had been lost. It meant a lot to me because I was in school at the time at the University of Kentucky, and Calumet was the beautiful farm by the side of the highway, and her trophies filled a room at the Kentucky Horse Park. Such an amazing devastating tale about the ups and downs of the horse-racing industry. I recommend this to everyone.

[Megan Ramsier · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well written book that illustrates the rise and fall of Calumet Farm, a top thoroughbred dynasty for years. It starts from the beginning and ends with the family still struggling with the aftermath. It was very detailed, however some spots were a bit dry. I will read again to go over the history again.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was directed to read by an enthusiast of thoroughbred horse racing. Focused on the history of Calumet Farm, it delves into the excitement and dark corners of horse racing beyond the track. Share in the sport of kings in this highly detailed account. Can get bogged down in the numbers, but helped me to see the broader picture of this industry than one could ever imagine.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I drive past Calumet nearly daily and vaguely remember the controversy surrounding the farm, this was an interesting look at the build up to the height of Calumet’s fame. I got a bit bogged down in the details of the fall. When you finish the book, read the Texas Monthly story of JT Lundy, which will give the story 10 years after the book ends.

[Jackie Tipton · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.25 stars. This was SO. MUCH. INFORMATION. It hasn’t taken me this long to finish a book in a long time. It seemed drawn out at times and though I think most of the information was crucial to the whole story of Calumet, some just wasn’t necessary. Even with it being on a topic that interests me I had a hard time staying interested in the book.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a fascinating story but the maze of businesses and who's borrowing money from who made my head spin and in the end I did lose track. Not the author's fault as she does put a dummies' explanation next to most of it, but couldn't keep up.

If I had known about US business law though I would definitely have enjoyed it more. Going to try other books by the sane author.