Barbaro Updates: 1010

updates are now here.

Update 6219: The first book signing, in Quarryville PA, was a great success. I had hoped to sell 40 books, we sold 80 books and had a lot of fun! Thank you everyone for your support.

On Monday I visited the various retailers in the area that have the book, to make sure they had enough while I was on the road, which is where I am now. I stayed last night in Camden, and today I am heading to Aiken for a book signing. Tomorrow it will be Georgia, and then on Saturday I will be at the fair Grounds for the Louisiana Derby, signing books. It should be a very interesting few days! Here is the entire book signing schedule.

Update 6218: A decent slate of graded stakes are on offer this weekend, including the Rebel Stakes from Oaklawn Park, a key prep for the Arkansas Derby. The popular Blind Luck will also be running at Oaklawn Park in the Azeri Stakes: Twinspires.com Weekend Stakes: Where To Watch.

The book has now be out for about a week. I am guessing 300 copies have been sold so far. The feedback has been quite positive, so I am super psyched. A few retailers now have the book, including the Kentucky Derby Museum gift shop.

Book signings begin on Sunday, at Quarryville, PA (1 – 4pm). I will be very interested to see how this first event unfolds! Following the signing we will have a celebratory drink!

Update 6217: Well it’s been a very hectic few days with the book. They arrived on Thursday, one day ahead of schedule, which was great! So Thursday was mostly about unloading nearly 5,000 books, into my house. On Friday I did a little test shipping with the help of a friend who has done a lot of shipping, and sold a few books locally. I also visited a couple of retail stores, the first to make the book available is the Chester County Book and Music Company! Here I am with the book on display.

I also shipped 100 books to Amazon, and was told it would take a couple of weeks for the book to go online on Amazon.

On Saturday I went into Fair Hill to see if anyone wanted to buy the book. Here is trainer Mike Trombetta, with his new copy.

On Monday I sent out 27 packages via the postal service, I am starting to get more comfortable with that process. Amazingly the books I sent to Amazon on Friday were available for sale Monday afternoon, so now the easiest way for anyone to buy a book, in the US, is to purchase directly from Amazon.com.

Update 6216: This weekend’s graded stakes races, we also have the current Derby favorite, Uncle Mo, running in the non-graded Timely Writer: Twinspires.com Weekend Stakes: Where To Watch.

I will do an update, tomorrow, with everything that has gone on with the book. Suffice it to say, the last few days have been crazy, in a good way!

Update 6215: Well I had six books, now I have one left and am now waiting for the main shipment to arrive, which will be a few days yet! I donated one book to a silent auction over the weekend. It was bid up to $130. I was pretty psyched about that, I had intended to bid up to about $70 myself. I wanted to make sure the book earned some money for the charity and I could have used it over the next week or so. But I did not need to bid!

I had a few books sent to a friend of mine near the Toronto area, they arrived yesterday. Hopefully I will do a book signing up in the Woodbine area, so the books are now already there!

We made a short video yesterday, to serve as a “trailer” for the book. I hope you enjoy it: GREATNESS AND GOODNESS: BARBARO AND HIS LEGACY – BOOK PREVIEW BY ALEX BROWN. It would be great if you would share this video with your friends!

Update 6214: This weekend’s graded stakes races include Grade 1 races from Santa Anita (including the Santa Anita Handicap) and the Gotham Stakes from New York: Twinspires.com Weekend Stakes: Where To Watch.

The highlight for me this week was the arrival of the first 6 books! They were expressed shipped to me from the printers, the remainder are being trucked and will be approximately another couple of weeks. The feedback from those who have seen the books has been positive. Tonight will be an interesting test, one is being auctioned off at an event I will be attending!

HRTV has been in the area this week conducting a number of interviews for a piece on Barbaro it plans to air in April. I interviewed with them yesterday afternoon, I had just received the books! Here is HRTV’s Kristen Rocky, checking out the book.

Update 6213: I have been working on details of the book signing schedule. I am looking at adding locations that are on the route I will be driving. This may include South Carolina and Georgia for example. An FOB has made a very generous off; she will donate $1 per book sold at a book signing, up to $500, to be split between the Laminitis Fund and Canter MD. Just very cool.

On the racing front Gulfstream hosted the key races. Nicanor ran a decent race I thought, in very tough company for a first race after a bit of a break. Hopefully it will set him up well for his next start. Flashpoint and Soldat ran great races in the Triple Crown preps to signal they are serious contenders.

Update 6212: The focus of this weekend’s racing will be on Gulfstream Park. They host a couple of Derby preps, which include one of the leading candidates for the Derby in To Honor and Serve. On Sunday Nicanor will return to the races in the Grade 3 Canadian Turf Stakes: Twinspires.com Weekend Stakes: Where To Watch.

Today I had an interesting conversation with Amazon.com It looks like it makes sense for me to use their fulfillment service and make the book available on Amazon.com Not only will this reduce my own logistical work, but Amazon are able to heavily subsidize the cost of shipping the book out. I also went into Fair Hill and showed the book proof to a few people, including Bruce Jackson at the Fair Hill Equine Therapy Center. We talked about the Center stocking a few copies and making them available for visitors. I left the book proof at Equine Vet Care and will pick it up tomorrow.

Update 6211: I had an interview today with a local reporter, as a result of stopping by the offices of Chester County Press last week. We met at the West Grove library, where I am scheduled to do a presentation on the book in late May. We met for 90 minutes, as I went through the proof of the book and we chatted about why I wrote the book etc. It was a very enjoyable meeting, and hopefully Nancy will write a nice story ahead of the first book signing in Quarryville on March 20. Nancy was pretty interested in the illustrations for the book, she knows the illustrator!

When the mail arrived today I received a check for $36. Someone has bought a book! The first sale, although they are not yet on sale. Very cool nonetheless. I also had an e-mail exchange with the consulting firm I have been working with in order to put the book together. The books may be arriving a day or two later than we had hoped. I have some flexibility in the schedule, but it adds a little stress.

Finally HRTV is planning a Barbaro update (five years on from his Derby), and will be in the area next week doing interviews. They may interview me. I hope I will have an advanced copy of the book to show them.

Update 6210: The big news today is that the Keeneland Library may host me as part of a Speakers Series, on April 16 which is Bluegrass Stakes day. It is not yet confirmed but I am excited about it. I have enjoyed my visits to the library, and to speak about Barbaro, and the book, at the library would be an honor. I also had a good conversation this morning with Joe Drape (New York Times). He gave me some additional ideas about marketing the book.

One day closer …

On the racing front, the biggest news today was the mating of Zenyatta and Bernardini: Horse of the Year Zenyatta Bred to Bernardini.

Update 6209: I am now going to return to almost daily updates on this site. The focus will shift now towards the Barbaro book I have been writing, and am nearly ready to sell. I will also filter in current horse racing news as we begin to focus on the Triple Crown.

Today I visited with Ellen Harvey, Executive Director of Harness Racing Communications, and Dr. Patty Hogan of Hogan Equine.

I had met Ellen once before, during a trip to New Holland. Ellen has been very helpful to me in terms of teaching me a little about the standard bred world, and also has some book experience in terms of helping with the excellent book, Crazy Good. I had not met Dr. Hogan before, but I knew her by reputation. She has testified in Washington on the horse slaughter issue. Anyway, it was a fun meeting, showing the proof of my book and talking about some of the issues I addressed in the book. Here is Dr. Hogan, with the book, in her office.

On my way to New Jersey, I stopped in our local gas station and bumped into Dr. Kathy Anderson. I had not seen her for a while, so got a chance to show her the proof. She seemed excited. She is off to Dubai early next week, IF I can get the book by then (first half dozen books are supposed to be express mailed to me sometime in the next few days) she wants to take a copy to Dubai. Fingers crossed! It will be a few more weeks then until the 5,000 arrive!

Finally, I am again contributing to the Paulick Report’s weekly Derby list. I am not sure you want to follow my picks, but it’s fun to see who is being picked and what the leading horses are up to: Vinery LTD presents the Paulick Derby Index: Risen Star Coming Up Strong.

And here is the Barbaro book page for all the latest information.

Update 6208: A number of grade 2 and grade 3 events on offer this holiday weekend: Twinspires.com Weekend Stakes: Where To Watch.

I have now created a web page that includes everything about my upcoming Barbaro book.

Update 6207: Three year olds are in action this weekend with three Graded stakes on offer for that division, among a busier weekend for racing: Twinspires.com Weekend Stakes: Where To Watch.

Update 6206: Three Grade 1 races are on tap this weekend, the highlight of which is the Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park: Twinspires.com Weekend Stakes: Where To Watch.

I am starting to organize a few book signings. This weekend I am heading to Kentucky to try to arrange a few more signings ahead of the Kentucky Derby!

Posted by Alex at 10:20 PM | Comments (746)