The Perfect Ride

From the adrenaline-pumped moments in the starter's gate at the Kentucky Derby to the fiercely competitive, sometimes hostile environment inside the jockeys' room, Stevens lays bare the thrills and perils of his ambitious ascent—and the doubts, fears, and failures he confronted both on and off the track as his all-consuming passion nearly became his undoing. More than a racetrack reminiscence, A Perfect Ride is the remarkable story of a man who has triumphed over a lifetime of adversity. Searing in its honesty, vivid in its recollections, here is the inside track on a life lived at full tilt, as told by a farm boy who rode his way to the top.

Gary Stevens is always looking for the perfect ride. In this exhilarating, candid autobiography, he recounts the extreme highs and devastating lows of a stellar career that has spanned two decades, taken him around the world on the backs of some of the 20th century's greatest horses, and led to a role in the upcoming motion picture Seabiscuit.

From the adrenaline-pumped moments in the starter's gate at the Kentucky Derby to the fiercely competitive, sometimes hostile environment inside the jockeys' room, Stevens lays bare the thrills and perils of his ambitious ascent and the doubts, fears, and failures he confronted both on and off the track as his all-consuming passion nearly became his undoing. More than a racetrack reminiscence, A Perfect Ride is the remarkable story of a man who has triumphed over a lifetime of adversity. Searing in its honesty, vivid in its recollections, here is the inside track on a life lived at full tilt, as told by a farm boy who rode his way to the top.