Author
DAWN LEFEVRE
One Woman's Story of Family, Love, and Loss in the Horse Racing World
Dr. Tony Ryan Book
Award Finalist
Nineteen-year-old Dahlia Leggett never dreamed that she’d wind up back at Garden State Park, training a ragtag stable of misfit Thoroughbreds. Or that she’d fall for Steve, the sexy son of legendary trainer Bill Bassett, her nemesis. But after the sudden death of her estranged mother Marilyn, it’s goodbye college and hello racetrack.
Marilyn had once been a star jockey but her relationship with her daughter was less than stellar. Robbed of sharing in a cheesy chick-flick reconciliation with her mother, Dahlia is left with only memories, boxes of racing memorabilia, and a cottage on her grandparents’ horse farm. When she stumbles upon a shocking videotape among Marilyn’s possessions, it threatens her precarious relationship with Steve but reveals a way that she can make amends to her mother.
Can Dahlia achieve her mother’s dream without losing the man she loves?
Book Reviews
Diana Hurlburt, Readers’ Up
LeFevre’s first novel announced her as a fresh and formidable voice in the niche area of our interest; her second outing cements her place among the constellation of indie racing writers. Her books' appreciation of regional tracks like Garden State, of hard-knocking stables and local trailblazers, make them feel timeless. Above all, Racetrack Rogues has that elusive, imperative element so prized by railbirds: heart.
5 Stars for Racetrack Rogues
Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite
Dahlia loves animals, particularly horses. She grew up around them with her mother, Marilyn, being a star jockey. Marilyn had hoped Dahlia would follow her example and become a jockey, or at least a trainer. At nineteen, though, Dahlia was more interested in university grades and her goal of becoming a vet rather than the racetrack life that ruled her mother. Then she learns that her mother has died suddenly, and her grandparents are struggling to keep their horse farm afloat financially. A dangerous horse threatens not only Dahlia’s grandfather but also their ability to save the farm. Remarkably, Dahlia has a knack with horses, and she manages to do what others can’t - train this dangerous horse to race and maybe even win. Lured back to life on the track, Dahlia stumbles into one mystery after another while going through her mother’s things. And some of these mysteries threaten a growing romance between her and the son of a rival trainer. While Dahlia quickly establishes a reputation for training the untrainable, the plot continues to thicken, and the romance sizzles. But, she still can’t remember what she last said to her mother, a tragic family eclipse that haunts her daily.
Dawn LeFevre’s novel, Racetrack Rogues: One Woman’s Story of Family, Love, and Loss in the Horse Racing World, is a fast-action, powerful story that will engage horse-loving readers of all ages. The author has woven a plot full of horse racing, training, romance, family ties, and so much more. It’s a high-energy story that lures the reader right from the first page. The characters and situations are believable, and the author’s knowledge of horses and horse racing is obvious. The dialogue and narrative are well developed as both characters and settings are established, allowing the reader to feel instantly comfortable within the story, which is powerful and thrilling right to the very end.
Reader Reviews
Heather Karrer - Amazing Read - 5 Stars
Dawn has an amazing way of making you feel like you're in the book. Her first book was amazing and left me wanting more. Racetrack Rogues did not disappoint! Kept me turning the pages and interested until the very end. The emotions that the story brings are very relatable! Can't wait for more stories to come from this author!!
Christina M Wood-Smith - Great Read -5 Stars
I loved the characters, their emotions and depth. I loved the underdog plot. Most of all I loved the horses, especially Muffin.
Interviews
With PastTheWire.com
First of all, congratulations on your book Backstretch Girls winning Best Horse Racing Fiction at the Equus Film and Arts Festival last month.
Thank you! It was mind-blowing to say the least. I feel so honored and thrilled.
You have a new horse racing fiction book out now called Racetrack Rogues. What is it about?
It’s set in the 1990s and tells the story of a college student named Dahlia and her rocky relationship with her mother Marilyn, who’s a jockey at Garden State Park. Dahlia dreams of becoming an equine orthopedic surgeon but after Marilyn’s sudden death she returns home to her grandparent’s horse farm. There she gets caught up with helping rogue racehorses and by healing them, she in turn heals herself.
Racetrack Rogues features several misfit racehorses; can you tell us more about them?
The star of the book is a huge, mean Thoroughbred named Jersey Judge. He’s put grooms in the hospital and even attacked Dahlia’s grandfather. Dahlia jokingly nicknames the horse Carnivore and in one explosive scene, the two of them bond through their mutual pain. Carnivore is based on a real racehorse that I’d groomed named Judge’s Air who shares the same nickname and affinity for marathon starter handicaps. Dahlia eventually takes on a nervous filly named Moonlight Maiden that refuses to eat, a gate-flipper named Super Monarch, and Sugar Muffin, a pony-sized victim of neglect. All were inspired by horses that I’d worked with during my days on the racetrack.
What was your biggest challenge as a trainer?
Figuring out what makes a particular horse tick. Right from the get-go, I didn’t get many “normal” horses. The first horse I ever trained was a little nickel claimer named Katie C. who had her fair share of problems. She was a bleeder, she had back issues and was anti-social. Two of the three I was able to manage but I never could find a way to make her “social”. You look down any shedrow and every horse has its head stuck out over the webbings, checking out what’s going on. Until you got to Katie’s stall, then all you saw was her red butt. She’d stand there facing the back wall of her stall 24/7 and couldn’t care less about the outside world. I tried giving her toys and extra attention but in the end, she just wanted to be left alone. I had more success with stopping her from bleeding by limiting her exposure to dust, wetting down her hay, daily nebulization treatments and pre-race Lasix injections. I discovered that Katie had a sore back the first time I tried to gallop her – I put the exercise rider up and she sank to her knees. So I put her on a regimen of daily massages and acupuncture treatments. To keep the weight off her sore back I ponied her instead of galloping her. She responded by winning the first time I ran her, breaking my maiden as a trainer. She never won another race but she was consistent – I nicknamed her “Katie Three” because she had a ton of thirds.
Have you trained any rogues?
I prefer to think of them as “problem children”. The key to helping a difficult horse is to figure out the cause of its undesirable behavior. Sometimes it can be a physical problem that’s causing them to act up – for example, a bad tooth can make a horse lug in or duck to the outside. I had one filly who worked bullets in the morning but during races she’d suck back from the other horses. Turned out that she was half-blind in her right eye so we had a special pair of blinkers made to cover her bad eye and she went on to win several races. Mental problems are more difficult to manage and require more time and patience to help the horse work through its fear. We had one horse who was claustrophobic to the point of flipping over in the starting gate. So we started taking him on rides in a small two-horse trailer to help him overcome his claustrophobia. Between that and many gate schooling sessions, he not only overcame his fear, he went on to become an honest runner. It’s always gratifying whenever you win a race but it is especially rewarding when you win with one of your “problem children.”
Was there any horse in particular that caused you to lose sleep?
I had one horse that kept breaking free from his lead pony in the post parade and would run off and get scratched by the stewards. He was on the verge of being ruled off for life so I said, “Fine, I’ll just take him to the gate myself.” And I did. The stewards gave us permission to leave the paddock early and I had to lead my horse and jockey all the way up to the six furlong chute. The first time I did this, the assistant starters actually bet on whether or not I’d make it there with my horse! When I got to the gate and handed my horse over to the assistant starter, he actually congratulated me! It’s quite a long walk to the chute and the ambulance attendants felt sorry for me so they gave me a ride back. I will never forget that unique perspective of watching my horse win while riding in the ambulance that follows the field around the track. For the rest of that horse’s time with me, I always walked him to the starting gate. It was a great weight loss program. (laughs)
What inspired you to write this book?
The unexpected death of my mother, Anne Bradshaw, who was a horse racing super fan and a two dollar show bettor. She went to Saratoga every year, kept scrapbooks of her favorite horses and recorded every major horse race. I was overwhelmed by just how much memorabilia she had collected – everything from racing programs to books and magazines to Secretariat’s tail hair. Like my main character Dahlia, I had a hard time coping after my mother’s passing. It was my mother’s passion for horse racing that incited me to become a trainer. She passed away in March of 2018 and to this day I can’t watch a horse race on TV without expecting the phone to ring the second the horses cross the wire and hearing my mother’s commentary on the results. Only by writing this book was I finally able to work through my pain.
What part of the book was the most fun to write?
I love the scene when Serena takes Dahlia out to celebrate her twenty-first birthday and forces her to ride the mechanical bull at a casino. Dahlia squaring off with Bill Bassett is my favorite scene overall and there are some parts with Crazy Cory where I laughed as I wrote them.
What’s next on your agenda?
I’m currently working on another novel that features Crazy Cory, the break-out character from Racetrack Rogues. He was the comic relief of that book and garnered such a positive reaction from my readers that I just have to run with it. It’s such fun writing a character like Cory and right now I think we all could use a little more fun.
Thank you, Dawn. We all look forward to reading your book!