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Thoroughbred #10
Pride's Last Race
Race to the finish...
Wonder's Pride has just had the best year of his life! First he ran to a stunning victory in the Breeders' Cup race. Then he was named Horse of the Year. Pride's trainers, Samantha McLean and Ashleigh Griffen, can't wait for the start of another spectacular year.
But on the verge of his five-year-old season, Pride develops a deadly illness. Pride will never race again -- he may even die! Everyone else says there's no hope for Pride, but Samantha refuses to give up on him. Can her determination save the famous horse?
Wonder's Pride has just had the best year of his life! First he ran to a stunning victory in the Breeders' Cup race. Then he was named Horse of the Year. Pride's trainers, Samantha McLean and Ashleigh Griffen, can't wait for the start of another spectacular year.
But on the verge of his five-year-old season, Pride develops a deadly illness. Pride will never race again -- he may even die! Everyone else says there's no hope for Pride, but Samantha refuses to give up on him. Can her determination save the famous horse?
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
9 people are currently reading
399 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 19, 2024
I honestly don’t have much to say about this one. It was fine, it was there—that’s about it. Oh, except apparently the author didn’t even check her own books for facts because Mike didn’t buy Sierra, he bred him. 🙄 Goodness gracious, get it right already, it’s not that hard.
‼️Content‼️
Language: gosh; God (1); oh my God (2); heck; darn; darned; darnedest
Sexual: kissing (not detailed)
Other: a horse gets sick and almost dies; a mare miscarries her stillborn foal; grief
‼️Content‼️
Language: gosh; God (1); oh my God (2); heck; darn; darned; darnedest
Sexual: kissing (not detailed)
Other: a horse gets sick and almost dies; a mare miscarries her stillborn foal; grief
September 22, 2008
The end of the Pride era. They should have just ended the series here.
October 3, 2014
I love this book series it's awsome I recommend it for anyone
November 10, 2012
I will one day rate the entire series and sort them out on my shelves and add when I believe I read them (all between 1999 and 2003, basically), but I will put this review here as a placeholder for now.
I'll just say it again: I loved this series SO much, and it has so much sentimental value. I am kicking myself in the pants for giving away my original copies.
I'll just say it again: I loved this series SO much, and it has so much sentimental value. I am kicking myself in the pants for giving away my original copies.
April 30, 2015
A great series for tweens that love horses and/or are interested in horseback riding or racing. Teaches about the struggles of working with animals and the benefits.
These books teach about loss as well as gain. They teach life lessons to their young readers.
These books teach about loss as well as gain. They teach life lessons to their young readers.
August 18, 2024
Before we get to dissecting the corpse of this book, let's examine the cover closely, class. Now, covers for the Thoroughbred series have been notoriously bad, from showing horses in the wrong colors to having the horses look like anything other than horses. But THIS, class, is the piece de resistance.
Just take a good look at the sly expressions on both girls, and horse. If that's not the look of a love triangle, then I'm not the sucker who bought this book.
This would be one of the last books original author Joanna Campbell (real name Jo Ann Simon) would pen for this funky series. She left the series due to burnout, because HarperCollins made her churn out four books a year. Although this is an engaging enough read, her sloppiness really starts to show. For example, in just a few pages, she twice mentions that Samantha is starting her senior year at Henry Clay High School.
But it looks like she started to make a point ... and then completely forgot about it in the drama of Pride getting colic. Just before Pride develops colic, his stall door has been decorated for Xmas. The cause of his colic was seemed to be mysterious (and, granted, that can happen to horses) but the timing made it seem so damn obvious to the reader, and yet the characters are completely clueless.
Then, there is the whole outrageously unrealistic scenario over Townsend Princess' injury. Who the fuck allows an unproven rider on a million dollar filly? It doesn't matter if she's the half-owner's wife. No trainer would allow this. EVER. They get paid to keep the wrong people off of their horse's backs. The trainer would even resort to lying, "Oh, the filly is lame," if necessary. Yeah, a lot of trainers don't care about their horses feeling pain, but they DO care about how much the horses are worth, and want to at least keep the horse from depreciating in value.
Another incredibly unrealistic point is that Ashleigh and Samantha are determined to race Pride as a 5 year old. He's not a gelding. He's worth far more as a stud than he'd ever make from racing. He could also dIe in a race. Supposedly, the characters know that, being in racing and all. In a 2014 online interview, Campbell/Simon stated that she was frustrated at how racehorses are so retired so quickly. So, this improbable plot line was editorializing.
There are other howlers in this book, but I think you've got my point.
Other horses mentioned in this book include Wonder, Mr. Wonderful, Miranda, Blues King, Cisco, Sierra, Lord Ainsley and Top Hat.
Just take a good look at the sly expressions on both girls, and horse. If that's not the look of a love triangle, then I'm not the sucker who bought this book.
This would be one of the last books original author Joanna Campbell (real name Jo Ann Simon) would pen for this funky series. She left the series due to burnout, because HarperCollins made her churn out four books a year. Although this is an engaging enough read, her sloppiness really starts to show. For example, in just a few pages, she twice mentions that Samantha is starting her senior year at Henry Clay High School.
But it looks like she started to make a point ... and then completely forgot about it in the drama of Pride getting colic. Just before Pride develops colic, his stall door has been decorated for Xmas. The cause of his colic was seemed to be mysterious (and, granted, that can happen to horses) but the timing made it seem so damn obvious to the reader, and yet the characters are completely clueless.
Then, there is the whole outrageously unrealistic scenario over Townsend Princess' injury. Who the fuck allows an unproven rider on a million dollar filly? It doesn't matter if she's the half-owner's wife. No trainer would allow this. EVER. They get paid to keep the wrong people off of their horse's backs. The trainer would even resort to lying, "Oh, the filly is lame," if necessary. Yeah, a lot of trainers don't care about their horses feeling pain, but they DO care about how much the horses are worth, and want to at least keep the horse from depreciating in value.
Another incredibly unrealistic point is that Ashleigh and Samantha are determined to race Pride as a 5 year old. He's not a gelding. He's worth far more as a stud than he'd ever make from racing. He could also dIe in a race. Supposedly, the characters know that, being in racing and all. In a 2014 online interview, Campbell/Simon stated that she was frustrated at how racehorses are so retired so quickly. So, this improbable plot line was editorializing.
There are other howlers in this book, but I think you've got my point.
Other horses mentioned in this book include Wonder, Mr. Wonderful, Miranda, Blues King, Cisco, Sierra, Lord Ainsley and Top Hat.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 14, 2018
Nostalgi, trivelig tidtrøyte.
Read
February 14, 2025Oh, Pride. You were my favorite.
October 6, 2025
Childhood favourite series (haven't read in a long time) giving all four stars unless it was a favourite as a child.
June 27, 2020
Pride is the latest WonderHorse, who can mind read and be healed from a ruptured intestine with the power of love. Clearly the author has no idea how SEVERE an intestine rupture is in a horse - it is basically a death sentence. The horse would NOT go home. Intestinal ruptures are a disaster even if the horse somehow survives for a while. I feel like the Breeder’s Cup is where WonderHorses careers go to die- can’t they ever make it past year 3? Also, if Wonder has miscarried multiple times and now has a deformed baby, it might be worth doing more vet work to figure out why? For THE most valuable foals of all time, no one seems to care much about WHY her reproductive success has been kinda crappy.
Of course Brad and Lavinia are cartoonish villains and Mr Townsend is annoyingly absent when convenient and way too lenient the rest of the time. Of course another horse gets a severe injury and it’s all Brad/Lavinia’s fault. More repetitive drama about where horses are boarded. Ashleigh and Sammy are often interchangeable in their shared scenes. There’s an interesting plot line about people doubting Ashleigh after Charlie’s death, but that is immediately dropped after one successful race.
The plot with the disabled riders is shoe horned in and awkward. It could be fun if it wasn’t just “wow isn’t it rewarding to work with disabled kids and they’re such an inspiration” garbage relegated to a few paragraphs every once in a while. I know this is a kid book, but some development or conflict there would be interesting. It’s a lame thing for a C plot- if you’re going to bring it up, why not give it a book or half of one at least? Sierra’s plot was basically filler, this topic is at least more interesting, and it might be fun to give Tor some time to develop beyond Doting Boyfriend.
Of course Brad and Lavinia are cartoonish villains and Mr Townsend is annoyingly absent when convenient and way too lenient the rest of the time. Of course another horse gets a severe injury and it’s all Brad/Lavinia’s fault. More repetitive drama about where horses are boarded. Ashleigh and Sammy are often interchangeable in their shared scenes. There’s an interesting plot line about people doubting Ashleigh after Charlie’s death, but that is immediately dropped after one successful race.
The plot with the disabled riders is shoe horned in and awkward. It could be fun if it wasn’t just “wow isn’t it rewarding to work with disabled kids and they’re such an inspiration” garbage relegated to a few paragraphs every once in a while. I know this is a kid book, but some development or conflict there would be interesting. It’s a lame thing for a C plot- if you’re going to bring it up, why not give it a book or half of one at least? Sierra’s plot was basically filler, this topic is at least more interesting, and it might be fun to give Tor some time to develop beyond Doting Boyfriend.
January 28, 2015
Grade: A
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews