Tapestry of turf: The history of New Zealand racing, 1840-1987 by John Costello

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The grand sweep of New Zealand’s racing history, from the arrival of the first thoroughbred in 1840 to the mighty deeds of Bonecrusher, is captured in TAPESTRY OF TURF.

TAPESTRY OF TURF is the story of racehorses, great and good, of the professional jockeys and trainers who made their imprint on history, of the racing clubs up and down the country who provided New Zealand with more racecourses per capita than any other country in the world; of the owners who sustained the sport through boom times and depression; of the administrators who shaped the course New Zealand racing has taken.

Years of painstaking research and meticulous cross-checking have gone into a monumental work.

All the great gallopers are there, from Lurline and Carbine in the 19th Century to Desert Gold and Gloaming; Phar Lap to Kindergarten; from Mainbrace and Rising Fast to Balmerino and Show Gate, and through to McGinty and Bonecrusher in the 1980s.

All the great sires, from Traducer and Musket to Martian, Absurd and Beau Pere; from Foxbridge through Le Filou and Summertime to Sir Tristram.

All the great horsemen, from Dick Masonand Dan O’Brien to Hector Gray, Grenville Hughes and Norm Holland, to the Skelton brothers, David Peake and his successors of the 1980s, Jim Cassidy, David Walsh and Lance O’Sullivan.

The story of how New Zealand racing took its unique twentieth century form is unravelled –how the amateur sport evolved into a billion-dollar industry.

TAPESTRY OF TURF totals over 500,000 words and 250 illustrations including portraits of 32 champions in full colour.

A truly monumental work.
Publication Details

Title: Tapestry of turf: The history of New Zealand racing, 1840-1987

Author(s):

  • John Costello

Illustrator:

Binding: Hardcover

Published by: MOA Publications: , 1988

Edition:

ISBN: 9781869470319 | 1869470311

559 pages.

  • ENG- English
Book Condition: Very Good

text ffep
1978h

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Foxing - Wikipedia
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Age tanning, or browning, occurs over time on the pages of books. This process can show up on just the edges of pages, when this occurs it is sometimes referred to as "edge tanning." This kind of deterioration is commonly seen in books printed before the advent of acid-free paper in the 1980s.
r/BookCollecting - Is this mold or normal aging for a well used book?
 
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