A Fine Place to Daydream: Racehorses, Romance, and the Irish

Twenty-five years after Laughing in the Hills, his racetrack classic, Bill Barich gives us another—about how he fell in love and found a new life in Dublin, where he was soon caught up in the Irish obsession with horses and luck.

At venues grand and lowly, Ireland’s steeplechase season hits its stride in October and reaches a crescendo at England’s Cheltenham Festival in March, when the Irish take on the Brits for bragging rights before a crowd of 50,000. To prepare himself for the fierce rivalry, Barich traveled his adopted country and met the leading trainers and jockeys; such champion jumpers as Florida Pearl and the quirky Moscow Flyer; the beleaguered bookies who work rain or shine; and a host of passionate, like-minded fans—from Father Sean Breen, the “Racing Priest,” to T. P. Reilly, whose peculiar betting system turns on a horse’s looks.

Witty and philosophical, vividly written, A Fine Place to Daydream is a paean to the real Ireland, a moving account of a surprise romance, and the thrilling record of a hugely exciting season at the track.