Color fading on cover Glue in spine deteriorating All pages intact starting to become loose AS Barnes & Company, 1973, 96 pages Signed by author Courage, determination, honesty, and a sincere love of the Thoroughbred horse brought Johnny Longden from poverty-riding a mule in the Canadian coal mines-to the top of his profession. In The Longden Legend, Mr. Beckwith chronicles the life of this great sportsman, highlighting all the drama and excitement in the world of horse racing. Because the book is written mainly from interviews with Longden, he expresses his own views on a variety of subjects. There are chapters devoted to the greatest horses he ever rode, the best trainers he worked for, top jockeys he rode against, styles of riding, and his innumerable riding accidents, times he was told he would never ride again. Over the years he has suffered broken feet, a broken back, broken legs and even paralysis, but his bravery and spirit always brought him back. He was pronounced "over the hill" and "washed up" twenty years before he actually hung up his tack. The final part of the book is devoted to his remarkable and immediate success as a trainer. His experiences as a jockey and as a trainer came together when he brought Majestic Prince up to the Kentucky Derby, winning that classic and thus becoming the first and only man in history to both ride and train a winner of the "Run for the Roses."