Controversy was always hovering in the wings but there was much for racing to cheer with attendances growing at the courses - and in the cinemas where Seabiscuit was one of the year's most talked-about films.
Among the other books that suit my summer taste for page-turning history include No Ordinary Time, by Doris Kearns Goodwin, Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand and, a book I recently read about the relationship between Roosevelt and Churchill, Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship by Jon Meacham.