Having covered Casual Lies as a reporter, I was glad when Shelley Riley decided to record her reflections of his career and Triple Crown adventure.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and she does a good job describing that adventure.
She keeps the focus on “Stanley,” as the horse was affectionately known around the barn. While there are some personal back stories that are not included, they do not detract from the story of how a small training operation that did not even stable at a major racetrack could electrify and energize a sport and an entire region (the San Francisco Bay Area).
The story is simple but unbelievable with the numerous twists and turns.
What if Shelley had not been standing where she was when she and Casual Lies locked eyes before he entered the auction ring?
What if a prospective buyer really had come through with a check to buy the budding star?
What if trainer Duane Offield had not encouraged her to spend $600 to nominate Casual Lies to the Triple Crown?
What if veteran trainer Charlie Whittingham hadn’t taken an interest in her and offered her advice about the Kentucky Derby?
Even if one had no previous knowledge about Casual Lies, the portrait provided is rich and vivid.
Certainly, more detail could be provided in race descriptions, but the story is still more than adequate. This is a page-turner, and the observation about more detail is only because I wanted more pages to turn.
She explains the damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t decision to change jockeys before the Kentucky Derby, explaining how her late husband and training partner, Jim, a former rider himself, decided they needed a more experienced jockey and settled on Gary Stevens (who just won the 2013 Preakness after a long retirement) over journeyman Alan Patterson. But she doesn’t share the personal and venomous reaction to the decision.
Shelley became something of a lightning rod in racing. Some felt Casual Lies was treated almost as a pet rather than a professional race horse. Some thought she and Jim weren’t sophisticated and experienced enough to guide a horse through the Triple Crown series.
And, underlying everything, is the fact that Shelley was a woman in a men’s world.
While concentrating on Casual Lies, Shelley showed how she used sometimes self-deprecating humor to get through the Triple Crown.
And with Casual Lies’ second in the Kentucky Derby – still the best finish for a woman trainer – she was placed in the sometimes glaring spotlight and responded in a way that was positive for racing.
This book is not “Seabiscuit,” but for horse lovers and lovers of the underdog, it tells a story they will not forget.