High Stakes (published in 1975) - Written by Dick Francis, a toy designer being cheated by his trainer

Richard Stanley Francis or Dick Francis was born in Pembrokshire, Wales, England on October 20th 1920. His father was a renowned jockey and Francis was catapulted in to the world of Horses, Jockeys and racing. He dropped out of school to train as a Jockey and was a fighter pilot in the Royal Air-force during World War II. After the war Francis became a celebrity Champion Jockey winning over 350 races. He was the lead Jockey for the Queen Mother. But he had to drop out of Horse racing after a serious fall and became a racing correspondent for Sunday Express. Dick Francis churned out numerous best sellers and most of his books deal with the mysteries in the realm of Horse racing and Jockeys. He wrote more than 40 international best sellers and is the recipient of numerous awards. Being a three time recipient of Mystery writer of America's Edgar Award he was made the Grand master of MWA. He is also the recipient of Britain's Crime Writers Association's Gold Dagger Award for fiction in 1979 and the Cartier Diamond Dagger lifetime achievement award. He also has the Gumshoe award to his credit. He was accorded a CBE in 2000. Dick Francis died in his Caribbean home on February 10, 2010 bringing down the curtains to an illustrious life.
Published in 1975, High Stakes is vintage Dick Francis, a thriller amidst the turmoil of the racing world. The star is Steven Scott who pays for his expensive hobby of horse breeding with his inventive toys. As a toymaker Steven is a novice with horses and relies on his trainer Jody Leeds whom he trusts implicitly. The duo nets winner after another and this makes Steven a successful horse owner. But as he goes through his stable finances, Steven realizes that he has been taken on a ride.



Jody Leeds had been pilfering large sums of money and Steven proceeds to sack him. Rudely awakened from his neat take aways Jody tries to hurt Steven where it matters most, by taking away his prized stallion, “Energise”. Jody tries to run over Steven while escaping with Energise and is stopped. But he tries again and succeeds in carting off the horse which makes Steven dig deeper.
Soon public opinion sympathize with Jody which further sends Steven's quest to despair. He finds that the racket involves many small betting outfits which have been loosing money. Villains who soon loose money over this affair try to stop Steven and soon he is facing a game of life and death. But Steven is not the one to let things go. He soon acquires new friends which involve his romantic interest and puts in a great plan to get back his horse. All his mechanical inventive genius is put to use to get back Energise and neutralize the villains.
This book is a real page turner with its taut story telling. The ramblings of the horse racing scenario is absent with Dick Francis focusing on the inventive genius of the hero who succeeds to get the horse back. The plot is mesmerizing and I say that the book is a must read.