“In the sport of kings, Jerry Bailey is the king of kings.” – Charlie Rose, 60 Minutes

A remarkable narrative of failure and redemption -- the fiercely candid autobiography of the world’s greatest jockey, depicting not only the intense inside story of professional racing, but of his greatest victory of all…against himself.

“I had hit bottom. My descent into alcoholism had been slow, but now I was lying at the bottom of the ocean, searching for a ray of light. I needed to breathe again. I needed to live again…It was up to me.”

He is considered the leading rider of his era, one of the greatest jockeys ever to break from the starting gate. He has won every major race there is, and then won it again; set earnings and stakes records and entered the Racing Hall of Fame. But none of it was possible until he beat his demons.

Astonishingly frank, vividly detailed, Against the Odds chronicles the making of both a man and a champion: the years of drinking, cruelty, anger, despair; the moment of truth, with the help of his wife, Suzee; the dramatic rise to the top that was made possible only because of his triumph over alcohol. It takes us into the racing world as only someone who has lived it can, the joys and dangers, adrenalin highs and controversies, from the stables to the stretch drive.

It is a book not only for every racing fan, but for everyone who has ever known the catastrophes of addiction, in themselves or a loved one – for everyone who wishes to encounter an extraordinary human story. It is a new classic of the literature.

Jerry Bailey has won the Eclipse Award as the nation’s best jockey seven of the last nine years. He has won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes twice each, has won a record fourteen Breeders’ Cup races, and in 1995 was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame. In 2003, he shattered the longstanding record of most stakes win a season and his own North American record for most purse earnings in a year. He lives in Florida, with his wife Suzee and son Justin.