Ian Wood gives us the guide he wishes he’d had as a trainer

Photo: Mark Cranham/focusonracing.comDoubleHandful: A Stride-by-Stride Guide to Horse Racing is on sale nowIn a game with as many strands as racing, writing a handbook not only for spectators but for employees of its myriad sectors is a task that sounds almost insurmountable. Ian Wood, however, hasn’t shied from the challenge and his recently published DoubleHandful: A Stride by Stride Guide to Horse Racing seeks to give readers an understanding of the sport ‘from the inside out’. Wood even seeks to answer the perennially posed query: do horses know when they’ve won? Perhaps most markedly, potential prospective proprietors are particularly well catered for, with Wood giving guidance on racehorse ownership, prize money, syndicate structures and VAT rules. DoubleHandful: A Stride by Stride Guide to Horse Racing, with the strapline ‘going easily on a tight rein,’ is available to buy now.