The Scudamores: Three of a kind is a 15-chapter book that has been six years in the making. It gives the reader a brilliant insight into the famous Scudamore racing dynasty across three generations; grandfather, the late Michael Scudamore, a Grand National-winning jockey; his son Peter, eight-time champion jockey; and his grandchildren racehorse trainer Michael Jnr and top jockey Tom.
In his introduction, Peter explains how the book came into fruition and it’s conclusion, four years after the passing of his father Michael in 2014: “Work began on this book six years ago, in the autumn of 2012, when my father sat down for a series of interviews with Chris Haslam, a friend of the family who had taught English at Tom’s school. They chatted for hours on end, kicked around a lot of subjects and Chris taped it all. I’m so grateful to him for the idea and for having the initiative to make it happen.
“Two years later, my father and mother died within days of each other. Anyone who has lost much-loved parents will understand what I went through then and the loss I’ve felt since. It was a long time before I felt able to return to this project and look it in the face.
“But now, thanks to Brough Scott, Liz Ampairee and others at Racing Post Books, my family and I have been able to finish the job that my father and Chris Haslam started.”
The format of this book is unique, with each chapter broken up into snippets of dialect from the Scudamore family, as if they are all sat around a table together having a chat.
This style makes it particularly digestible for the reader, the kind of enjoyable, easy-read book you can put down and pick up again without feeling interrupted.
The topics covered within the 300 pages are interesting and engaging; they talk about life as a Scudamore, the realities of making a living as a jockey, how the racing game has changed over three generations, plus an insight into training racehorses and much more.
Just in time for Christmas, this book should be on any racing fan’s wishlist – full of history, fun anecdotes and a great insight by Michael Snr of how racing used to be “back in the day”. As Peter writes, this book is the perfect tribute to his late father and an era of racing that most of us will never know.
Price: £25 hardback, or from £16.66 on Amazon
Published by: Racing Post Books, 2018
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