Page 2 - March 2017 Thoroughbred Highlight

You Bet Your Life
Book Release Next Month
Dave Stevenson was the rst jockey to win a Queen’s Plate at the new Woodbine Racetrack in Rexdale, Ontario in 1956 with Canadian Champ.
As part of their 60th year celebration Woodbine
Front Page Photo
Trainer David Bell (middle aboard pony Vinnie) and his wife Val Topp (left) aboard Chiricahua Signal and Gary Edwards (right) aboard Leonards Bay, head out to the training track at Woodbine.
David and Val rented the training barn at Kinghaven Farm for the winter and will have 12 horses at Woodbine this season.
Chiricahua Signal
is a ve year old gelding by Where’s the Ring - Apache Signal, by Announce,
bred by Robert and Beth Hancock, owned and trained by David Bell
Leonards Bay is a three year gelding by Silent Name (JPN) - Miss Laine, by Golden Missile bred by R. Tanel, owned and trained by David Bell.
In 2017 David will have been training at Woodbine for 31 years. Throughout his training career he has amassed 715 wins and close to $33 million in purses. He began training in 1986 and it didn’t take him long to achieve success recording more than $1 million in purse earnings per year in 1989-1990 and 1993-1995 during which time he trained Kissin Kris, winner of the G1 Haskell in 1993. At the turn of the century, David recorded his most successful year as a trainer with horses such as:
Champion 3-year-old colt and multiple Graded Stakes winner Kiss a Native
Champion Grass Mare and Graded Stakes winner, Heliotrope;
Graded Stakes winner, Solitary Dancer Graded Stakes winner, Fly For Avie Multiple stakes winner, Devil Valentine; and more
Racetrack shared the stories
of some of the longstanding names
of the industry. Dave Stevenson was one of them
and as written by Beverley Smith: He went from
mucking stalls and living in a turkey
hut in Kentucky to shaking hands
with the Queen of England, counting Omar Sharif as a drinking buddy,
working as a racing of cial in
two countries, convinced Secretariat’s
connections to have him run his nal race at Woodbine; battling and conquering the formidable unions in New York for the New York Racing Association, turning down a $2-billion offer to build
a state-of-the-art racetrack in the jungles of Central America for a notorious drug lord, and creating the rst system of simulcast broadcasting and offshore wagering in the Caribbean, and Central and South America. He ies his own plane. He’s owned a dozen.
Dave Stevenson’s book, You Bet Your Life, My Incredible Adventures in Horse Racing and Offshore Betting, is due to be released in April and he plans to return to Woodbine for a book signing around this year’s running of the Queen’s Plate in July.
On the Jacket Cover:
Readers will be left breathless at the edge of their seats by the amazing stories. You Bet Your Life will transport readers back in time to the golden era of American and Canadian horse racing greatness. Relayed in stunning detail readers will meet an abundance of colorful characters from legendary gures such as the Dowager Queen of England, Pablo Escobar, and champion Thoroughbreds Secretariat and Seabiscuit to charlatans and cheats, horses and owners, and jockeys and trainers that populated the underbelly and the pinnacle of the horse racing world.
Thoroughbred
Highlight
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Thoroughbred Highlight - Page 2 - March 2017
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Readers will be left breathless at the edge of their seats by the amazing stories in You Bet Your Life: My Incredible Adventures in Horse Racing and Offshore Betting, the story of celebrated jockey Dave Stevenson. A runaway barn hand who be- came a legendary champion and hero in his native Canada, Stevenson’s life is incomparable in its col- or, scope, and excitement.
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Throughout, You Bet Your Life is the ride of a lifetime. Its pages transport readers back in time to the golden era of American and Canadi- an horse racing greatness, traveling across North America and then around the world, all the while meeting an abundance of colorful characters from legendary gures such as the Dowager Queen of England, Pablo Escobar, and champion Thorough- breds Secretariat and Seabiscuit to charlatans and cheats, horses and owners, and jockeys and train- ers that populated the underbelly and the pinnacle of the horse racing world.
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Relayed in stunning detail and brimming with emotional episodes, Stevenson’s memories bring readers to the front lines, so close to the action that you’ll swear you can feel the force of the lly’s kick, taste the grit of the racetrack, hear the roar of the crowd, and smell the alluring perfume of wealthy women.
StevenSon with Morton
My Incredible Adventures in Horse Racing and Offshore Betting
Dave StevenSon with Laura Morton
Will Dave Stevenson’s story enthrall and in- spire readers from its opening pages? You Bet Your Life it will.
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