King of the Wind

Book Description
A fictionalized biography of the Godolphin Arabian, ancestor of the modern thoroughbred, including Man O War and Sea Biscuit. After a dramatic account of Man O War s last race, the story shifts to the 18th century royal racing stables of the Sultan of Morocco. It traces the fortunes of Sham, the foal born bearing the marks on his coat of both good and bad luck and the mute stable boy Agba who travels with him from Morocco to France, as an unwanted gift from the Sultan to the King, Louis XV. Sham is sold as a carthorse and finally arrives in England, where, after many disasters his majesty is finally recognized and he becomes the prize stallion of the Earl of Godolphin. The gravestone of the Godolphin Arabian can still be seen in the Earl s old stables at Wandlebury Ring, Cambridgeshire.