Casey's Shadow

by Burton Wohl

This is the story of Casey, a gallant kid, only eight years old. This is the story of Casey's Shadow, a fast colt, a dynamite quarter horse. This is the story of two true champions--and the world's richest horse race. "The All-American ain't the only horse race in the world. But you see, what you got there is a million-dollar purse. And what we got here is a horse--a real winner." That's Casey's father talking, a loser aching to put his name on a winner. Finally, this is the story of a world exploding with the excitement of pounding hooves as the horses race toward the finish line--and victory for one.

Genres: Animals

119 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1978

Reviews

[Bonnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you think books turned into movies is bad, consider movies turned into books. Based on the screenplay, this book reads a lot like a movie, with a lot of swift scene changes from paragraph to paragraph. And you can almost hear the montage music in places as well. I vaguely remembered the movie from when I was a kid, and found the book cheap at a used bookstore, so figured why not? It was predictable, in the way that most horse racing movies are (drugs, breakdowns, and so forth), and I couldn't even get excited or happy about the title horse winning the big race because of how badly he was treated by the trainer both before and after.

[TE · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was just a couple of years old when this book was first published. It may be more well known from the 70s movie of the same title, featuring Walter Matthau, about a hard-luck kid, his ne'er-do-well father, and an orphan colt he raises from birth.

Inside the cover of my edition, which is a first edition, is a stamp which reads "Snooper's Barn" 1101 Garrison Ave., Fort Smith, AR. This old-school used bookstore is one of my dad (and my!) favorite places, and I remember when he came to visit me when I lived there as a kid in the mid-80s, going to this bookstore to browse, and he bought this book for me. I had seen the movie on TV, so I was familiar with it.

It's about a trainer who comes across the opportunity of a lifetime, when his son purchases, on behalf of one of his clients, who is none too thrilled, an old mare bred to a great champion running Quarter Horse. The mare dies giving birth, so his youngest son, Casey, raises the colt. Lloyd's other two sons, Buddy and Randy, make up the family of men, and all are involved in the Quarter Horse industry, barely surviving, until this colt comes along. It had a rather sad, and unsatisfying end for me as a kid, but it also leaves the reader to somewhat write their own ending, and, because of all the misfortunes of the perpetually down-on-their-luck characters, you really find yourself pulling for them.