A sport based on one animal sitting on top of another and trying (usually) to be the first pair to reach a wooden stick is a curiosity in itself. So it’s no surprise that horseracing is full of curiosities.

The curiosities in this collection have been chosen to arouse interest. They are stories of those curious creatures - people, and of horses.

The curiosities are arranged in themes so that the reader can dip in and out, as the mood takes them. The collection should leave them with a benevolent view of an intriguing sport, if they didn’t already have one.

Owners, jockeys, the horses, racecourses, officials, prizes, trainers and staff, racing journalists, betting, bookmakers, punters, skulduggery - one of Britain’s best loved racing journalists David Ashforth has found the stories to capture the readers attention on all these topics and more.