Out of the Clouds: The Unlikely Horseman and the Unwanted Colt Who Conquered the Sport of Kings Hardcover – May 29, 2018

This is an engaging story about Hirsch Jacobs, a scrappy, red-headed Jewish boy from Brooklyn who started out racing pigeons at the age of 12 in 1916 and improbably, by the time of his death in 1970 at the age of 65, had become the greatest horseman in the history of American racing. Upon Jacobs' death, Newsweek's sports editor noted that he was the only figure who ever brought to life the storybook dream of all racetrackers -- that of the little guy who started out with nothing and built a multimillion-dollar empire on wits and skill alone.While Jacobs was the "unlikely horseman," the "unwanted colt" of the title was Stymie, a superbly conformed, high-spirited, thoroughbred whose original trainer let him go in a claiming race for $1500 because he found him to be completely unsuited for the discipline of racing. Hirsch Jacobs was the winning claimant who recognized something special in Stymie. He took a chance that paid off handsomely over the years as Stymie earned nearly $1 million dollars in winnings before retiring. He became known as "The People's Horse" with his exciting come-from-behind finishes that captivated racegoers and made him one of the most popular racehorses of his day.This was an upbeat, feel-good story. I liked the fact that Hirsch Jacobs was one of the good guys who succeeded by being loyal, honest, fair and decent, and he was a dedicated family man. In his business, Jacobs made many friends who were larger than life characters with big personalities whose amusing behavior often added entertaining dimension to the story. Finally, I must add a comment about the sport of pigeon racing that Hirsch Jacobs excelled at as a young teen. The book outlines a fascinating history of pigeon racing going back to ancient times. By the early 20th century it had reached its heyday in the US and had a passionate following. I was quite surprised to learn that homing pigeons even played a critical role as essential messengers behind the lines in World War I. Who would have thought that a book about a race horse would be the source of such a readable and enlightening history of pigeon racing? Anyway, I loved the book, pigeons and all!

This book gives you an insight of the horse racing from the start until the end. From owning to winning.

First of all, I love horses. That's why I chose this book. I thought it would be more of a story with dialogue, etc., but it is more a history of the racetrack. And a history of great horses. Now why do I know about Man O'War, Citation, Gallant Fox, and Whirlaway but not know Stymie? Why? Because he and Jacobs were not a part of the aristocracy of horse racing. I learned a lot about racing but I learned more about the underdog reaching greatness. Jacobs took the time to really understand horses and thus brought them to greatness. I love Stymie and Jacobs. So glad I read this book.

Yes, Where? Look how long Stymie and Hirsch were around, and just see what they did! I had heard of Stymie because C.W. Anderson, a writer of horse books in the 1950's and beyond, wrote about him in his thoroughbred-based book. Horses Are Folks which, if you have a chance, is a great read. Anyway, yes, Stymie was truly impressive, as much as anything because he knew how he wanted to run his races. Jockeys and trainers did well to not mess with Stymie's methods and viewpoints---just let him do what he needed to do. Look how well things turned out after all.Though not having much personal experience with such things, I can say that I was fortunate enough to know a black mare, racing in Massachusetts, who had her own method, as Stymie did. I was told she figured out ahead of time how she wanted to run a certain race and would use any of three different methods for that particular race: for one race she would lag 'way at the back, wait 'til she thought the time was right, and suddenly, pouring on the speed, there she was, passing everyone and winning. Another of her methods: start among the leaders out of the gate, hold the lead, never give it up no matter what---and WIN! The 3rd method: start in a moderate way ,remain in the middle of the pack and then, halfway around the track, overtake the others one by one and---again---WIN. A formidable adversary.Truth can be stranger than fiction., and I know all of this was true because I saw it all.I've gotten as big a thrill out of reading Out Of the Clouds as I did from watching how that black mare operated, and I loved seeing the characters of Hirsch and Stymie brought into print . Sometimes nice guys DO finish first. Don't they. Authors Linda Carroll and David Rossner have written a fine book! Well done!

I've loved Stymie since I was a child, he was one of my early heroes. It was great reading more in depth about his story and about Hirsch Jacobs, two underdogs who made the top the hardest way. Very interesting, great reading about other horses of that era, more of my childhood loves, also about that period in history. Really enjoyed it.

Somehow, I had never even heard of Stymie, despite having a reasonable familiarity with the history of horse racing. This book was well written and explained a lot about horse racing of the time, as well as the people involved in this horse’s career!

I am not finished reading this book, but it is a very interesting, well written true story.