'fearless' by chris pitt.

​Chris Pitt writes the books I wish I could write. ‘A Long Time Gone’, a comprehensive record of lost and sometimes forgotten British racecourses, sadly it is a number that the government restrictions of present times that could easily be added to over the next twelve-months, is a book that should be on every racing enthusiasts book shelves. ‘Go Down To The Beaten’, a book dedicated to owners and jockeys that took part in but did not win a Grand National, though oddly the author finished the book with a short chapter on A.P.McCoy and his victory in 2010, is the sort of off-centre book that both appeals to me as a reader but also the like of which I could see myself writing one day in the future, if I could ever get round to the research.
So, I admire Chris Pitt, that is now clear.
‘Fearless’, his latest offering is more mainstream that the two books already mentioned, though in his inimitable manner he has produced a book that is both professional in its adherence to research and fact but also slightly hobbyist in the telling of Tim Brookshaw’s life story. 
Tim Brookshaw’s career as a jockey was in the main before I became aware of the sport. His career came to a juddering halt in 1963, with his final winner coming in December of that year. Looking through the list of his winners, he rode 555 in total, there are a few horses I vaguely recall, Blue Rondo, Joss Merlyn, Mariner’s Delight and Eternal to name but 4. His big three were Happy Spring, one of the few horses to finish in front of Arkle, Mill House, the best horse he ever rode, winning at Cheltenham in 1962 when the future Gold Cup winner was trained by Les Dale, and of course Wyndburgh, the horse he rode to finish second in the 1959 Grand National when from Becher’s second-time round he rode without irons and even then thought he would have won if the race had been half-a-furlong further. It is generally considered the greatest fete of horsemanship seen on a British racecourse.
It is obvious Tim Brookshaw was cut from a different cloth to you or me or even his fellow jockeys. He was admired by his peers, especially those at the top end of the sport. Surprisingly he was better liked and appreciated by the public than he was by his family and equally surprisingly his family are blunt and to the point when describing their relationships with him. A man who would sometimes go the extra mile to help someone, he was also capable of brawling with his brother over what as observers would consider quite trivial matters.
Yet his immediate family, especially his stepson, asked Chris Pitt to write Brookshaw’s biography, believing him deserving of the honour. Indeed, if you recall the meat and drink of his life-story, breaking his back and being told he would never walk again, only to prove medical science wrong by not only walking but riding again, and not only riding but schooling and riding work, it thus far has been one of racing’s great literary omissions that no one has written a biography of him.
Whether after reading ‘Fearless’ you think him, as a man, worthy of the honour will depend on whether you can get a psychological grip on his character. To my interpretation, he was as down-to-earth as any man can get, a spade was never a shovel to him, and when he considered himself right about a subject no other argument would persuade him otherwise. Like many before him, he seemed to have a greater affinity with horses than humans, especially family. Yet at the same time he did not seem troubled by ego or bigheadedness.
He died of pneumonia in 1981, he was only 52. I think he would have wanted to die on that Sunday in November as shockingly, almost mockingly, after being able to defeat medical science by both walking and riding again after breaking his back, a fall from a horse at home had resulted in two broken bones in his neck, rendering him, once again, paralysed. 
‘Fearless. The Tim Brookshaw Story’ by Chris Pitt, can be bought from the Injured Jockeys Fund, priced £14.95. It is a soft-back, so is annoying to read as the book keeps wanting to close but for all of that I recommend it to all racing enthusiasts.