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Thoroughbred #49
Rising Star
Is Wonder's Star a has-been?
No one thought Wonder's Star would get well again. Everyone was certain he would never run another race. The racing press was calling him a has-been. But Christina Reese never gave up hope. Slowly and steadily she's been bringing Star back into racing condition. In her heart of hearts she still has Triple Crown dreams for them, but the Kentucky Derby is only a few months away and they're running out of time!
Instead of starting with an easy local race, Christina enters Star in a tough Derby prep race, praying that he can withstand the gruelling pace. Is it too much, too soon? Or will Star shine like the champion that he is?
No one thought Wonder's Star would get well again. Everyone was certain he would never run another race. The racing press was calling him a has-been. But Christina Reese never gave up hope. Slowly and steadily she's been bringing Star back into racing condition. In her heart of hearts she still has Triple Crown dreams for them, but the Kentucky Derby is only a few months away and they're running out of time!
Instead of starting with an easy local race, Christina enters Star in a tough Derby prep race, praying that he can withstand the gruelling pace. Is it too much, too soon? Or will Star shine like the champion that he is?
176 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 24, 2024
This was about the best book Karle Dickerson wrote for the series, which really isn't saying much. After all, she was the one who sprung Lyssa on us poor readers, and wrote the majority of the never-completed storyline of Parker's Olympic quest. Here, she focused on Christina trying to get Star back on the Derby trail after his near-fatal virus attack.
Could a three-year-old Thoroughbred come back to racing form so quickly after such a severe illness? In the real world, no. He'd need at least six months off. But this is the Thoroughbred series, where reality is usually not a factor.
Except for two moments. One was when Christina announces that she wants to delay going to college. This made total sense. You just cannot be a jockey and go to college. This was published in 2001, before online classes became the norm, but "gap years" were.
The second was that Christina decides to go to the Louisiana Fair Grounds track to prep Star for the Kentucky Derby. This accurately reflected the importance Louisiana began to play as a key Derby prep state, kicking New York to the curb by 2015. Even Florida isn't much of a player anymore.
This isn't a particularly memorable book from the series, but it was one of the very few of the Star stories that at least made a little bit of effort to reflect reality. This book would also be referred to in many of the later books during Star's eternal three year old campaign.
We've gone back to having terrible covers again. Star here is based on a photo of an Arabian. If the horse looks familiar, that's because he's the sane one used as the model for book 22, Arabian Challenge. Christina is in no way wearing the correct gear for a jockey. And I have no idea what's going on with the rail. Looks like an earthquake hit Louisiana during Star's stretch run.
Not many other horses appear in this book, but those that do usually only appear briefly. They include Celtic Mist, Dazzle, Fast Gun, Perfect Heart, Image, Rhapsody, Igor, and Thunder Bones, who I think is only referred to as Thunder in later books.
Could a three-year-old Thoroughbred come back to racing form so quickly after such a severe illness? In the real world, no. He'd need at least six months off. But this is the Thoroughbred series, where reality is usually not a factor.
Except for two moments. One was when Christina announces that she wants to delay going to college. This made total sense. You just cannot be a jockey and go to college. This was published in 2001, before online classes became the norm, but "gap years" were.
The second was that Christina decides to go to the Louisiana Fair Grounds track to prep Star for the Kentucky Derby. This accurately reflected the importance Louisiana began to play as a key Derby prep state, kicking New York to the curb by 2015. Even Florida isn't much of a player anymore.
This isn't a particularly memorable book from the series, but it was one of the very few of the Star stories that at least made a little bit of effort to reflect reality. This book would also be referred to in many of the later books during Star's eternal three year old campaign.
We've gone back to having terrible covers again. Star here is based on a photo of an Arabian. If the horse looks familiar, that's because he's the sane one used as the model for book 22, Arabian Challenge. Christina is in no way wearing the correct gear for a jockey. And I have no idea what's going on with the rail. Looks like an earthquake hit Louisiana during Star's stretch run.
Not many other horses appear in this book, but those that do usually only appear briefly. They include Celtic Mist, Dazzle, Fast Gun, Perfect Heart, Image, Rhapsody, Igor, and Thunder Bones, who I think is only referred to as Thunder in later books.
October 29, 2025
It was an enjoyable story, but I wasn’t a fan of the “fortune teller” but, it was unnecessary and took away from my enjoyment of the story.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews