Rating: 
Summary: Perfect Journey
Review: After reading The Perfect Ride, I felt so much respect and admiration for Gary Stevens. He describes the athletic demands jockeys must meet and the injuries they must endure with grace. His determination and humanity come through when he writes about his personal life. I also liked his sensitivity to the horses he rides. It's a great read for an inner glimpse at jockey life.
Rating:
Summary: Spectacular
Review: As Gary's literary agent, I'll admit to being far from unbiased. Having just started following the sport of horseracing, I found the book to be a great introduction to the sport--the owners, the trainers, the history, and the relationship between horses and jockeys. Gary is a great story-teller and his passion for the sport and his spiritual relationship with horses made for an incredible read. It's the kind of book that you can read in one sitting. I know first-hand that Gary put his heart and soul into the book, and it shows.
Rating: 
Summary: More Factual Errors
Review: As I read further into the book, I find additional factual errors (I already submitted one review regarding this, but it hasn't shown up yet.). This book could use a good fact checker. Gary states at one point that he returned to Longacres in 1991 to ride Lois Cyphre (I believe the horse's name was actually Louis Cyphre) in the final Longacres Mile at the old Longacres racetrack before it was closed. Yes, he did win the Mile on Louis Cyphre in 1991, however Longacres did not close until the end of the 1992 season and Gary won the very last race ever run there. While these mistakes are probably only recognized by horse-racing fans from the Seattle area, it makes me wonder how many other things in the book are not quite factual. I am enjoying the story and the "behind the scenes" information. It is an interesting and enjoyable book. I just wish it had fewer mistakes.
Rating:
Summary: More Factual Errors
Review: As I read further into the book, I find additional factual errors (I already submitted one review regarding this, but it hasn't shown up yet.). This book could use a good fact checker. Gary states at one point that he returned to Longacres in 1991 to ride Lois Cyphre (I believe the horse's name was actually Louis Cyphre) in the final Longacres Mile at the old Longacres racetrack before it was closed. Yes, he did win the Mile on Louis Cyphre in 1991, however Longacres did not close until the end of the 1992 season and Gary won the very last race ever run there. While these mistakes are probably only recognized by horse-racing fans from the Seattle area, it makes me wonder how many other things in the book are not quite factual. I am enjoying the story and the "behind the scenes" information. It is an interesting and enjoyable book. I just wish it had fewer mistakes.
Rating:
Summary: Well Done!
Review: Gary Stevens, with his co author Mervyn Kaufman have done a great job with this book. The material is well presented, concise and very informative. Stevens clearly loves what he does, has a great respect and appreciation for the many horses he has ridden. He's also overcome many injuries and a childhood disability to pursue his dream of riding throughbreds. I came away from this book learning a lot about the life of a jockey and the horse racing business in general.
Rating: 
Summary: Perfect ride not perfect read
Review: I admire Gary Stevens as a world class jocky, but world class writer he is not. At times he comes across as quite cocky, maybe he has reason to be proud of his success but he sounds conceited more then proud. Often he writes as though he knows more about the horses he rides then the trainers or owners, that he is a better judge of their capabilities then either of the others, and he has been proven wrong on that score. He also seems to be trying to give us a smattering of his philosophy on success and I think he fails. What has worked for him, a God given ability to ride horses well and an incredible tolerance for pain can not be applied to the rest of us. I have to say, I hope Stevens does not follow this book up with any others. He is a much better jocky then writer.
Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Ride: a perfect read for racing fans!
Review: I have long held a great measure of respect for Gary Stevens as a professional racehorse jockey. I've watched him ride some great races on television (having grown up in an area with almost no horse industry at all, I have not had the fortune to see one of his races live). My respect for the man only grew when I saw the movie Seabiscuit (where he plays jockey George Woolf, who rode Seabiscuit in his famous match race with rival War Admiral) and realized he had a bit of acting talent as well. So when I saw his autobiography in the store, I snatched it up right away and am certainly glad I did. Reading it, my estimation of this great athlete went even higher. Stevens begins with his early childhood, living in Idaho. His father worked with Appaloosas, then moved on to Quarter Horse racing, and later to Thoroughbreds. Gary's older brother Scott began a career as a jockey, and Gary soon followed in his footsteps. He was riding Quarter Horses in races (under Scott's name) before he was legally old enough to obtain a jockey's license. The boy fell in love with the sport, and soon made the switch to riding Thoroughbreds. At seventeen, he left home for California, rode a dismal season, and returned to Idaho. There he got married, and over the next few years his career began to take flight and the book describes all his significant wins, losses, and other experiences. Though his career soared over the years, Stevens talks of his constant battle with pain. A series of riding accidents over the years left him with terrible knees, requiring frequent surgery. He endured many breaks from riding in order to undergo rehabilitation, and often returned to the track prematurely, riding despite the pain. He even retired for a short time and tried his hand at training, but found he just couldn't stay away from riding. Stevens' frank discussion of his pain is one of the most inspiring things I've ever read. No matter how much he was hurting, he kept pushing forward, and made more than one amazing comeback in the sport. In addition to race riding, Stevens discusses other major events that helped shape his life - his children, his divorce, his remarriage, and the death of a fellow jockey and close friend, Chris Antley. He also talks of his relationships with various trainers and jockeys; how he makes decisions on which mounts to accept, how to ride his races, and what directions to take with his career; and he evaluates some of the great horses he has ridden, including Thunder Gulch, Point Given, Winning Colors, Serena's Song, Silver Charm, and others. He talks about his struggle with weight, and how he has managed to stay in shape for riding. Stevens has ridden in the United States, Hong Kong, and Great Britain, and he compares the atmosphere and racing procedure in these very different places. All in all, this book is an excellent inside look at the life of a top racehorse jockey. The epilogue touches briefly on Stevens' acceptance of a role in Seabiscuit, the new movie based on author Laura Hillenbrand's best-stelling book. He mentions a few things about the early stages of filming - what it was like to act for the first time, to work with co-star Tobey Maguire, to see an inspiring true horse story come to life on film, etc. My one criticism here is that he does not tell us enough. I really wish he had delayed the publication of this book another year so that he would have been able to include more about his work on the movie. A few reviewers here have commented on a lack of accuracy in the book. Stevens himself tells us early in the book that his accounts are based largely on his own memories, which are fallible. He acknowledges the fact that he may have made some mistakes in his recollections. I don't really hold this against him. I suspect that any autobiography will contain some inaccuracies. The author is relying largely on personal memory, spanning a very large period of time. Stevens' goal here wasn't to provide us with a data sheet on the races he's ridden; he wanted to share the experiences of his life - to show us what's brought him to where he is today. And I think he's done an excellent job at just that. Having a date off by one year here, or not being entirely clear on the legalities surrounding building rights on a certain racetrack there don't detract from the messages the book has to offer. I would highly recommend this book to any horse racing enthusiast.
Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Read
Review: I loved this book. Not just a book for horse people and racing fans, but a true human interest story. He dosen't leave out any of the glory or the agony a rider of his caliber endures. I felt like I was in the race myself, following his narration. Stevens dosen't pull any punches. It is a very honest and inspiring tale.
Rating:
Summary: I really like this book
Review: I really Liked This Book. I Ride And my trainer recommended this book cos she used to work on the race track ireally liked it
~Bria~
Rating:
Summary: Needs proofreading/fact confirmation
Review: I've been a major Gary Stevens fan since he first rode at Longacres in the 1980s. I've been looking forward to reading this book for some time. Received it as a Christmas gift, and I'm about halfway through it. I must admit that I am very disappointed in the book so far. There are factual errors - book states that Boeing could not build on the old Longacres racetrack site because the site was on national park land. That isn't true at all. National park land in the middle of a city? Nope sorry. There were nationally protected wetlands on the site and Boeing had to go through an environmental impact assessment before they could build, but build they did. At another point in the book he talks about winning the Kentucky Oaks - his first Grade I win, then about 4 pages later, he talks about winning the Eddie Read Handicap, "may be his first Grade I win". A proofreader should've caught that one. Only one of those victories could have been his first Grade I win. While the Longacres stuff probably doesn't mean anything to people outside the Seattle area, those of us from there and familar with the track and the sale to Boeing can only be disappointed in the incorrect information presented in the book. I am enjoying learning about Gary's early days and life as a jockey, so the book IS enjoyable, don't get me wrong. Just wish it had been proofed more before going to publication.
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