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Thoroughbred #44
Perfect Image
Will Melanie save Image? Image is wild--perhaps too wild to train for the track. But she' s fast, and Melanie Graham wants nothing more than to be her jockey. If only Image's owner and trainer would let her work with the temperamental filly. Melanie isn't the only one interested in Image. Greedy Brad Townsend wants to add her to his breeding stock. Melanie is sure that Image's talent would wasted as a boodmare--the filly was born to run, and with the right rider she could win big. Will Melanie prove that Image can race before it's too late?
171 pages, Paperback
First published November 22, 2000
260 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 23, 2024
I preferred the Melanie books in the latter half of the series. That's probably because most of them weren't written by the final main ghostwriter, Mary Newhall Anderson. This was written by Alice Leonhardt, who wrote a few of the Melanie/Perfect Image books, so she was able to keep up with the storyline (mostly.)
This has a trashy, soap-opera feel to it, with Perfect Image's owner going downhill due to Brad Townsend. All good book series needs a really bad baddie. This was about the closest Brad came to his full evil potential. Kevin is also still dating Lindsey, which sets up typical teen tensions with Melanie. Cindy is refusing to accept that her jockey career is over, so is quite bratty.
The main plot is trying to train the wacky two year old, Perfect Image. That was decent, but did contain a major bit of misinformation. Then again, the whole series is misinformation about the Thoroughbred racing industry, but anyway. Melanie complains when Image is going to be twitched, whining about it being so cruel. Lip twitches are not cruel, as long as they're not on for more than ten minutes. A twitch releases happy chemicals in a horse's body, making him or her calmer for a few minutes. These chemicals soon wear off. It's been my (agreeably limited) experience that horses who have been previously twitched don't mind getting twitched again, because they like it.
Another bit of misinformation is that two year old Thoroughbreds race at a mile and a half in America. They don't. In fact, they rarely go over a mile and an eighth. Early races for two year olds are almost always less than a mile. The Breeders' Cup Juvenile races on the dirt are a mile and a sixteenth.
Other horses mentioned include Wonder's Star, Pirate, Gratis, Khan, Court Jester, Celtic Mist, Raven and Catwink. There is also a filly named Theatrical. Big whoopsie in that name. Writers in the Thoroughbred series tried to avoid the names of real racehorses as fictional horses. Racing buffs will well remember the bay American grass horse champion from the late 1980s, Theatrical.
This has a trashy, soap-opera feel to it, with Perfect Image's owner going downhill due to Brad Townsend. All good book series needs a really bad baddie. This was about the closest Brad came to his full evil potential. Kevin is also still dating Lindsey, which sets up typical teen tensions with Melanie. Cindy is refusing to accept that her jockey career is over, so is quite bratty.
The main plot is trying to train the wacky two year old, Perfect Image. That was decent, but did contain a major bit of misinformation. Then again, the whole series is misinformation about the Thoroughbred racing industry, but anyway. Melanie complains when Image is going to be twitched, whining about it being so cruel. Lip twitches are not cruel, as long as they're not on for more than ten minutes. A twitch releases happy chemicals in a horse's body, making him or her calmer for a few minutes. These chemicals soon wear off. It's been my (agreeably limited) experience that horses who have been previously twitched don't mind getting twitched again, because they like it.
Another bit of misinformation is that two year old Thoroughbreds race at a mile and a half in America. They don't. In fact, they rarely go over a mile and an eighth. Early races for two year olds are almost always less than a mile. The Breeders' Cup Juvenile races on the dirt are a mile and a sixteenth.
Other horses mentioned include Wonder's Star, Pirate, Gratis, Khan, Court Jester, Celtic Mist, Raven and Catwink. There is also a filly named Theatrical. Big whoopsie in that name. Writers in the Thoroughbred series tried to avoid the names of real racehorses as fictional horses. Racing buffs will well remember the bay American grass horse champion from the late 1980s, Theatrical.
November 9, 2014
Reread.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews