Dark Horse, by Muriel Lennox. (288 pages, Beach House Books, 25 Leuty Ave., Toronto, Ontario M4E 2R2, Canada; (416) 698-1257; $29.95, hardcover.)

The subtitle to Dark Horse, written by Sovereign Award-winning writer Muriel Lennox, is "Unravelling the Mystery of Nearctic." The mystery, however, is not a whodunit but mostly an account of the generations of breeding that produced Nearctic, sire of Northern Dancer, and an explanation of the author's belief that the talented, headstrong colt was mishandled during his racing career in which he battled a quarter crack and other ailments.

A lifelong horsewoman and veteran racing journalist, Lennox grew up near E. P. Taylor's Windfields Farm near Ontario, where Nearctic was foaled in 1954. She also wrote the books Northern Dancer: The Legend and his Legacy and E. P. Taylor: A Horseman and His Horses. From all this research, she has a great deal of knowledge to contribute to her book about Nearctic.

Lennox wonders why Windfields did not give Nearctic every advantage to allow the colt to reach his full potential; why he did not compete in the Queen's Plate Stakes, Canada's great race for three-year-olds; why he was not kept with Canadian-based trainer Gordon "Pete" McCann, for whom he excelled, instead of being sent to numerous trainers in the United States; why the era's top jockeys did not ride the colt when he competed in the United States; and why he was not allowed to ever fully recover from a quarter crack that occurred during his two-year-old season.

Many of the answers can be found in Lennox's opinions of Joe Thomas, who was Windfields' racing manager, and Horatio Luro, one of Nearctic's trainers. She writes that Thomas was severely underqualified for his position and discusses the acrimony between Thomas and McCann, Windfields' longtime Canadian-based trainer. About Luro, Lennox writes, "Was Horatio Luro a gifted trainer? A great horseman? I doubt it. But he was clever enough to have good horsemen working for him É" About Nearctic's quarter crack, Lennox writes, "It is quite possible that neither Luro nor Thomas had the experience to recognize a quarter crack or to understand its implications."

Lennox questions why Taylor would allow Nearctic to toil under such conditions and explains that at the time he was preoccupied with expanding his business empire, which funded his immense breeding and racing operations. Among Lennox's sources are Bill Reeves, who was broodmare manager at Windfields, and McCann's daughter, Reta. Lennox's repeated attempts to interview the reticent Pete McCann never resulted in more than a few words about Nearctic.

The first half of Dark Horse is a rousing tale of Taylor and how he built his racing stable, and it recounts many of the horses that contributed to Nearctic's rich pedigree and their blue-blooded human connections. She explains tenets of influential Italian horseman Federico Tesio, who bred Nearctic's sire, Nearco, and accompanies chapters on Nearctic's racing career with black-and-white win photographs. Unfortunately, once Nearctic's racing career ends, Lennox quickly wraps up the book with a brief overview of the stallion's career at stud and some of his most famous descendants. The best, fittingly, is about Northern Dancer in which Lennox has more opportunity to criticize Luro over his handling of Northern Dancer's dam, Natalma, and explains the decision to breed the filly to Nearctic.

While Dark Horse promises a bit more than it delivers, it is a suitable biography of Nearctic, who deserves to be much more than a footnote in the story about the most influential sire of the modern-day Thoroughbred.

Win, Place and Show: An Introduction to the Thrill of Thoroughbred Racing, by Betsy Berns. (219 pages, Daily Racing Form Press, 100 Broadway, 7th floor, New York, NY 10005; (800) 306-3676; http://www.drf.com; $9.95, softcover.)

Bet With the Best. (256 pages, Daily Racing Form Press, 100 Broadway, 7th floor, New York, NY 10005; (800) 306-3676, http://www.drf.com; $29.95, softcover.)

For inclusion on your holiday gift list are two new books from Daily Racing Form Press-one for the casual racing fan and one for the horseplayer. Win, Place and Show is an entertaining, insightful introduction to Thoroughbred racing, while Bet With the Best is a textbook for students of handicapping.

In Win, Place and Show, author Betsy Berns, a sports marketer who wrote The Female Fan Guide to Pro Football and The Female Fan Guide to Motorsports, has fun explaining Thoroughbred racing and calling on several notable members of the racing industry to discuss what they do. The foreword was written by basketball coach and Thoroughbred owner Rick Pitino. Jerry Bailey details his daily routine as a jockey and Bob Baffert explains how he learned to train racehorses. Ted Hill, D.V.M., discusses his role as a racetrack veterinarian and announcer Tom Durkin explains race-calling and advises aspiring announcers. (One tip: Gain theater experience to learn to speak correctly and perform in front of people.)

New York Racing Association President and owner-breeder Barry Schwartz talks about aspects of racehorse ownership, and Mike Lakow, director of racing for NYRA, describes the responsibilities of a racing secretary.

Along the way are instructions on reading Daily Racing Form past performances; explanations of racehorse care, equipment, and medications; definitions of the types of races; tips on handicapping; and ways to enjoy a day at the races. Berns uses boxes titled "Fun Fact" and "Helpful Hint" to explain racing lingo, the intricacies of the sport, and exploits of famous horses. "The Jockey Club is not a group of jockeys who socialize with each other," reads one Fun Fact. "It is the official registrar of all Thoroughbreds in the United States."

Berns, who has organized the book in sections called furlongs, also explains the Triple Crown (and includes recipes for the official drink of each race) and Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, and presents a glossary of racing terms. She amusingly devotes one chapter to "How to throw a great Kentucky Derby Party" with suggestions from Louisville socialite Patricia Barnstable Brown.

For handicappers and the racing industry, the fact that 80% of all handle on horse racing is recorded at a place other than where the live race occurs is a huge change in racing from years past. In an attempt to address that and other differences in today's sport and their effects on the strategies of people who wager on racehorses, nine of the Form's handicappers, including Washington Post columnist Andy Beyer and Daily Racing Form Editor Steve Crist, have contributed to Bet With the Best.

Each handicapper covers one or more topics relevant to wagering on racehorses: simulcasting, pace, value, track bias, trainers, key races, keeping records, class, European racing, pedigrees, and stakes races. Writers accompany their comments with numerous examples, as well as past performances and charts as they appeared in the Form.

The handicapper in your life should enjoy spending time with the Best gang and possibly will find new insight, depending on his or her level of expertise.

The Injury-Free Horse, by Amanda Sutton. (160 pages, Trafalgar Square Publishing, P.O. Box 257, Howe Hill Road, North Pomfret, VT 05053; (802) 457-1911; http:www.trafalgarsquarebooks.com; $27.50, spiral-bound hardcover.

The Injury-Free Horse is a wellness guide for horse, rider, and caregiver.

This compact handbook is packed with information presented in a concise, simple format and accompanied by color photos and illustrations. Author Amanda Sutton relies heavily on checklists to help evaluate a horse and interpret subtle changes in gait, muscle tone, posture, shoe wear, and behavior to identify problem areas. Step-by-step directions show ways to alleviate those problems through trainin