Steve Redgrave - A Golden Age

Former British rower and five-time Olympic gold medalist Sir Steve Redgrave tells his extraordinary life story

In 2003 the British public voted Sir Steven Redgrave the Golden Sports Personality of the last fifty years. A fitting award for Britain's most successful Olympian ever, who on 23 September 2000 entered the record books as the only athlete ever to have won five consecutive Olympic gold medals.     Steve's fascinating autobiography tells the story of an outstanding career in sport, from his first contact with rowing as a 13-year-old schoolboy, through his battle with diabetes and colitis. He discusses his rowing partnership with Matthew Pinsent and describes the extreme pressures and emotional conflicts that can cement or destroy a team. He speaks too of his struggle to preserve a balanced family life in the face of an extraordinarily intensive training programme and reveals both the mental and physical pain that go hand in hand with being a world champion.    A Golden Age is a spellbinding insight into the lifestyle and history of one of the world's most motivated and illustrious sportsmen.

Nick Townsend

Nick Townsend tells the story with panache, helped by a close acquaintance with the Irish mastermind of the scheme, Barney Curley, a name which bookmakers have had reason to curse on several occasions… It gets properly into its stride when it focuses on the coup, which in its innovative daring calls to mind The Italian Job.

The full story of how the legendary gambler does it is unveiled. It helps if you know your way around racing, but if you don’t this book will make you want to get clued-up fast.

This is an enthralling read, extremely entertaining, and a revealing insight into one of horse racing’s most colourful, and controversial, characters

Fascinating… written with commendable skill and verve. It is a very readable book. Curley and his coups combine to make a unique story, well told.

This is a brilliant read. Love horse racing or not, you won’t be able to put it down once the action gets going. I just can't wait for the BBC to snap up the rights.

The Greatest Coup in Horse Racing History

__________________ 
The bookies always win. 
 
But one man has been proving them wrong for four decades. 
 
In the summer of 1975 Barney Curley, a fearless and renowned gambler, masterminded one of the most spectacular gambles of all time with a racehorse called Yellow Sam. With a meticulous, entirely legal plan involving dozens of people, perfectly timed phone calls, sealed orders and months of preparation, Curley and Yellow Sam beat the bookmakers and cost them millions. 
 
They said that it could never happen again. 
 
But in May 2010, thirty-five years after his first coup, Curley staged the ultimate multi-million-pound-winning sequel. 
 
The Sure Thing tells the complete story of how he managed to organise the biggest gamble in racing history - and how he then followed up with yet another audacious scheme in January 2014.

Nick Townsend

Praise for The Sure Thing

Nick Townsend tells the story with panache, helped by a close acquaintance with the Irish mastermind of the scheme, Barney Curley, a name which bookmakers have had reason to curse on several occasions… It gets prope ...

The full story of how the legendary gambler does it is unveiled. It helps if you know your way around racing, but if you don’t this book will make you want to get clued-up fast.

This is an enthralling read, extremely entertaining, and a revealing insight into one of horse racing’s most colourful, and controversial, characters

Nick Townsend tells the story with panache, helped by a close acquaintance with the Irish mastermind of the scheme, Barney Curley, a name which bookmakers have had reason to curse on several occasions… It gets prope ...

The full story of how the legendary gambler does it is unveiled. It helps if you know your way around racing, but if you don’t this book will make you want to get clued-up fast.

This is an enthralling read, extremely entertaining, and a revealing insight into one of horse racing’s most colourful, and controversial, characters

Nick Townsend tells the story with panache, helped by a close acquaintance with the Irish mastermind of the scheme, Barney Curley, a name which bookmakers have had reason to curse on several occasions… It gets prope ...

The full story of how the legendary gambler does it is unveiled. It helps if you know your way around racing, but if you don’t this book will make you want to get clued-up fast.

This is an enthralling read, extremely entertaining, and a revealing insight into one of horse racing’s most colourful, and controversial, characters

Books by Nick Townsend

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