Letters from Country Life: Adolphe Pons, Man o' War, and the Founding of Maryland's Oldest Thoroughbred Farm by Josh Pons (Eclipse Press) has won the $10,000 Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award, which honors "excellence in thoroughbred racing literature."
Organizers called Letters from Country Life "a retrospective of the Golden Age of racing as viewed through a remarkable trove of correspondence to [the author's] grandfather, Adolphe Pons. Early in the 20th century, the senior Pons had served as private secretary to Racing Hall of Fame breeder August Belmont, a role in which he played an integral part in the breeding and eventual sale of Man o' War. During the Great Depression, Pons boldly struck out on his own, moving from New York to Maryland, where he acquired the 100 acres that would become Country Life Farm. It is today owned and run by his grandsons, Josh and Mike."
Finalists included Arthur B. Hancock III for his autobiography, Dark Horses: A Memoir of Redemption (Stone Publishing), and John Perrotta, for his international mystery thriller, A Beggar's Ride (Short Dog Publishing).