Against the Odds: Riding for My Life

by Jerry Bailey, Tom Pedulla

In a candid memoir of failure and redemption, the world's leading jockey describes his remarkable professional racing career and his long and difficult battle, with the help of his wife, Suzee, against the anger, despair, cruelty, and drinking that could have destroyed his world. Reprint. 25,000 first printing.

Genres: Sports, Biography, Horse Racing

240 pages, Paperback

First published April 4, 2006

Reviews

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jerry Bailey was born in Dallas, Texas in 1957. He began his racing career in the 1970s, riding for many notable trainers at all of the hottest parks. He showed great talent as a jockey and had many winning rides. Some of his most notable horses were Grindstone, Empire Maker, Real Quiet, and Cigar. He did see his share of controversies; from the way he rode to advertisements. Of course, he had conflicts with others during the years where he drank heavily but luckily decided to make a change and seek sobriety in 1989. He has maintained his sobriety since. He retired from racing in 2006 and moved into the world of sportscasting.

I grew up watching Jerry Bailey ride in many races, and I was very glad to discover this book at the used bookstore near me. I appreciated the candidness of this memoir, as it can be difficult to discuss personal issues that one faces. I think that people aren't often aware of the substance abuse that can go on behind the scenes in any sport, nor the mental health issues in general. I thought this was a good book, and I am glad to see Jerry on screen doing commentating for races today.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful, honest look into Jerry's life. It felt like you were riding in those races.

[Julie Havener · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story about an unusually gifted man. Horses are aways of interest. Good pace, well written.

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jerry Bailey and Tom Pedulla, Against the Odds: Riding for My Life (Berkley, 2005)

I started this at the same time I started Annie Duke's memoir, and reading the two in tandem (briefly; this one took a great deal longer) highlighted the deficiencies in Bailey's volume. Well, either that or he just chose an inferior co-writer.

No one who is even remotely involved with Thoroughbred racing could possibly be unfamiliar with Jerry Bailey, one of the most successful jockeys by money earned in history. This is the story of Jerry Bailey's rise to power and the rocky road he encountered on the way. This, interestingly, is one of the book's failings; the rocky road disappears, seemingly, the second Bailey joins AA, and from there on it's clear sailing and a recounting of top-quality races in which Bailey rode. I'm all for that-- one can never have enough descriptions from various points of view of the 1995 Breeders' Cup Classic, for example-- but it makes for a dichotomy in the book, and it seems oversimplified. Now, I've never been an alcoholic and have never gone through recovery, so maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it really is night and day, but it's hard to believe that there were no good times when alcohol was involved and no bad times afterwards. (After all, Bailey did get mounts before 1989; there has to have been something there. One doesn't survive in such a cutthroat world without both talent and results. Ask the thousands of ex-jockeys who never managed to win a stakes race.)

But more to the point, since I'm still thinking about Annie Duke's book, is the dichotomy between the alcohol and the racing. It's as if Part One of this book is about the alcohol, with a little racing involved, and Part Two is about the racing, with interjections about how getting off the bottle made Bailey into the great rider he was until his retirement. A little more mixing up of those things, instead of just giving the story chronologically, might have helped spice things up a bit. It probably wouldn't have done anything to help Bailey's writing style, however, which suffers from what seems an almost pathological lack of embellishment much of the time; the “just the facts, ma'am” approach makes the book drier than one would think a book like this would normally be.

Must reading for Bailey fans; others might want to check it out of the library first and see if they cotton to the style in which the book is written. ***

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting, well written autobiography of one of the world's greatest jockeys. Jerry Bailey gives the reader fascinating insight into the world of thoroughbred horse racing. He recounts his own successes and failures both on the track and in his personal life, including a bout with alcoholism early in his career. Gratefully, both for him and the sport of horse racing, he was able to overcome his addiction. I've always been a big fan of Jerry's and I really enjoyed this book.

[Greg Eldred · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad book. You have to give Bailey credit for fighting his demons and still progressing as of this day.

He realized that family is the most important thing in life, even though he had to put his family and himself through hell to figure it out.

Good read. Worth the time.

[Rochelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very simply written but strightforward and honest. Will recommend to all of the racetrack fanatics I know who are supporters of AA.

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Written for a 5th grader or maybe by a 5th grader. You need to be a serious horse racing fan to find it at all interesting.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

An quick and easy read, but gives insight into Jerry's both personal and professional history in horse racing.