title: A Year at the Races: Reflections on Horses, Humans, Love, Money, and Luck
author:  Jane Smiley 
description: Exuberant . . . witty, completely delightful. . . . A kind of <i>National Velvet</i> for adults. <i>San Francisco Chronicle<br /><br /></i>Smiley is arguably Americas foremost author on the subject of love. . . . And love imbues this memoir. <i>The Washington Post</i><br /><br />Smiley has flung herself headlong . . . into horse racing. . . . Enough good horse stories to keep any reader happy. <i>The New York Times Book Review</i><br /><br />Invigorating . . . thought-provoking. A delightful book filled with arcane horse knowledge. . . . It could easily become the bible of the barn. <i>The Baltimore Sun</i>
zlib_text: > > OFF TO THE RACES
  
  > > A SMALL TOWN ENEMIES TO LOVERS ROMANCE
  
  > ELSIE SILVER
  
  > ![](Images/image00165.jpeg)
  
  Copyright © 2021 by Elsie Silver
  
  All rights reserved.
  
  www.elsiesilver.com
  
  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the
  products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance
  to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales
  is entirely coincidental.
  
  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or
  mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without
  written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in
  a book review.
  
  Cover Design: Wildheart Graphics
  
  Editing and Proofreading: Paula at Lilypad Lit
  
  ![](Images/image00169.jpeg)[ Created with
  Vellum](http://tryvellum.com/created)
  
   _For my parents, who spent hours upon hours driving me to and from the barn._
  
  > > “I don’t like people,” said Velvet.
  
  > > “…I only like h