Resilience

by Stephen Irwin

'You either make a decision or circumstances out of your control make a decision on your behalf'. Logan Weston's decision to take the job as co-trainer for Baker Racing in England was the latter. Fast forward two years and he has now become the most successful racehorse trainer in history.

Logan, along with Lance Holyfield and Fergus O'Neil, are preparing the clones for their last five races in the Champion of Champions race series. The witty Irishman, Fergus, replaced Angela Masters when she got sacked from the top job. He quickly forms a bond with Australian Champion Phar Lap, bringing the horse back to his former glory.

Baker Racing has five runners in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in France. Logan has to make the heartbreaking decision to run all his champions against each other. The Arc is the greatest battle of all the races run in the Contention book series, bringing Logan to his knees.

When Ricco Diangelo and Piper Worthington-Jones bump heads, the shock waves leave a trail of destruction through the streets of London and Newmarket. 'They need to be hunted down and killed. Let the dogs off and I hope for everyone's sake, they tear them to strips for what they have done.'

The final book in the Contention book series will put you on a roller coaster of tension and exhiliration. If you have enjoyed the first four books, then it's time you release the reins and stride clear as Resilience will break your heart, captivate your mind and make you laugh, cry and cheer.

454 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 26, 2021

About the author

Born and bred into the thoroughbred industry basically from day one. I spent the last 38 years as a hands on horseman breeding, raising, preparing, pre-training thoroughbred horses. In that time I work for some of the very best breeding farms in Australia in every role. My passion was preparing thoroughbred yearlings ( 1 year old) for sale.
Growing up on the land I enjoyed so many adventures and many are relived in the Contention book series. For example the cattle work Logan does on the race horses my father did all the time. So many of the horseman side of things is based from what i learnt from my father and what I have also passed down to other horseman and women.

I now juggle manufacturing horse equipment, making sculptures and writing.
On the cover of Contention is a sculpture I made called 'Taking the Plunge" it won a major award and now sits at the front and center in a sculpture park in Mudgee NSW Australia. That's actually me in the middle and as well on the cover of book 5 Resilience as well.

In the 38 years I spent in the thick of the Sport Of Kings I rubbed shoulders unknowingly with some shady characters that's for sure. So the names have changed and the story somewhat but 'yeah' if you only knew some of the story behind the characters.

Enjoy the read, and feel free to reach out and touch base and also send me your reviews. Remember I write because I have too as this is more than just a passion to me, but I also write to help take you out of your head and entertain you.

All the best

Stephen Irwin

Reviews

[Leone Wicks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this series of five books. These books are fiction about the racing game. It has it all, romance, drugs, the highs and lows of racing, fraud etc. once you start reading you won’t want to put them down. They are written by an author involved in the racing game himself so he knows what to write and it is pretty accurate. I have been involved in racing all my life and can relate to nearly everything that has happened. The horses are cloned and the names of the people are all fiction, but you can relate to who they are. I have read the five books and wasn’t looking forward to them ending, we need a book six, Stephen.
I’m sure anyone involved with horses would love these books. I’m now getting the Ebooks so my husband can listen to them whilst driving to the races. A wonderful series 👍👍

[Olivia Telfer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book. Took me ages to get through it with life disturbances but so sad to be finishing the series