If you're looking for the story behind Fusaichi Pegasus (not just the 'PR angle' that I took last week) then there is no better person to tell it than Joe Drape.

Drape's book titled "The Race for The Triple Crown: Horses, High Stakes and Eternal Hope" is a great read. Whilst I would strongly suggest starting at p.1 and working your way through it - if you're the impatient type then head straight for Chapter 5 which starts: "They met for lunch at the Peninsula Hotel in Los Angeles to discuss an extraordinary colt, one that had cost $4 million at the 1998 Keeneland July Sale; a colt that had seduced some of the sharpest minds in horse racing with its almost human curiosity ..." (p.75)

Drape's writing will no doubt seduce you too.

Of interest, Drape's book is as much about More than Ready (Vinery's young freshman star) as it is about Fusaichi Pegasus. But even on the book jacket the horse who would go on to win the Kentucky Derby and call Coolmore home is referred to as 'the mythical horse from Japan' (note he never actually placed a hoof on Japanese soil - he left that to his owner).

It seems the story around this stallion is destined for quite a few chapters yet.