Randy Romero's Remarkable Ride Hardcover - 2010

From the rear cover

"Bill Heller is among the most prolific of American turf writers, and he is at his best in Randy Romero's Remarkable Ride, a fascinating chronicle of the jockey's peak-and-valley existence both in and out of the saddle, from the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father to a soaring career shot through with accidents, injuries, and illness. In spite of all this, Romero rose to become one of America's leading riders. It is all in Heller's book-the pain, the glory, the triumph over adversity."
-William Nack, seven-time Eclipse Award recipient and author of Secretariat: The Making of a Champion

"Randy Romero has long been acknowledged as an outstanding jockey, but Bill Heller's well-researched, very interesting biography puts Randy's life and career in the proper context. Considering what life has dealt him, Randy's accomplishments are even more impressive. It's a story of grit, talent, and bravery. A remarkable ride indeed."
-Mike Kane, former communications officer, National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

"Bill Heller has done a wonderful job of portraying the very interesting and intriguing life of Randy Romero."
-Shug McGaughey, Hall of Fame trainer

From the jacket flap

Born in Louisiana's Cajun Country in 1957, Randy Romero showed an early flair for riding and an uncompromising fearlessness that would follow him throughout his life. This candid biography begins with the jockey's unstable childhood in an abusive home and continues through the riding career that would make him a legend.

Despite missing some six years of riding due to injuries, Romero remains one of the top jockeys in Thoroughbred racing history with a record that exceeds four thousand victories. He has suffered a punctured lung, broken bones, and more than twenty major surgeries and survived a near-fatal fire from a sweatbox explosion. However, Romero has never given up his passion for the sport.

Romero persevered and won races at such notable tracks as the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, Keeneland in Kentucky, Belmont Park in New York, Arlington Park in Chicago, and Gulfstream Park in Florida. He rode the distinguished fillies Go for Wand and Personal Ensign, who, as a result of Romero's perfect performance in the 1988 Breeders' Cup Distaff, became the first undefeated major American Thoroughbred in eighty years.

Now retired from racing and undergoing dialysis, Romero exemplifies the power of the human spirit. Pictures from his past depict him as a young child already on horseback while others show him triumphant after yet another victory. Interviews with colleagues and reflections from family members reveal a fiercely determined but soft-spoken man who pushed through seemingly overwhelming obstacles to overcome, both on and off the racetrack.

Award-winning author Bill Heller is a regular contributor to Trainer Magazine and Canadian Sportsman, and he handicaps for the Daily Gazette of Schenectady, New York. Heller's ten national awards for magazine writing in the field of horse racing include the Eclipse Award, the William Leggett Breeders' Cup Award, and five first-place honors in the American Horse Publications Awards. He is a member of the writers' corner of the Harness Racing Hall of fame in Goshen, New York. This is his twenty-first book. Heller resides in Albany, New York, with his wife, Anna, and their son, Benjamin.