After being injured while racing in Ireland’s famous Foster Stakes, the Black and Alec head to the Irish coast to recuperate. While there, they are charmed by the pleasant people and intrigued by tales of the kelpie, a shape-shifting creature of myth who carries unsuspecting riders off to a watery grave. Alec meets a lonely local girl, Mora, who has found a stray pony. Alec, recognizing her love of horses, teaches her to ride. But when Mora disappears, Alec realizes that she has been carried off by the mythical kelpie. Now, Alec and the Black must race the shape-shifter, not realizing that if they lose, not only will Mora be lost forever, but so will the Black.

When Alec receives the Black Stallion’s first son as a gift, he believes his dreams have come true, but Satan’s savage arrogance makes him dangerous and unpredictable. Still, Alec is resolved to gain the fiery colt’s trust, even if he must risk his life to do it.

Sired by the champion Black Stallion, Black Storm is everything a race horse should be--strong and fast, brave and proud. But he is also very hard to handle, and his unruly nature makes him a misfit at Hopeful Farm. Young jockey Alec Ramsay continues to believe in the unpredictable colt, confident that Storm has it in his blood to become a champion steeplechaser. Unfortunately, Storm's trainer, Henry, has lost patience with the colt's violent mood swings and is threatening to sell the magnificent animal--at any price. Now Alec must convince Henry to allow him and Storm to enter one more race together. One more chance for the Black Stallion's Steeplechaser to prove himself a winner. And one last chance to save Hopeful Farm...Praise for Steven Farley's "The Black Stallion's Shadow (spring 1996): "In the Farley tradition, the plot gallops off to a dramatic start...his simple writing style and fast-moving plot will satisfy those who've devoured previous adventures of the Black and his clan."--"School Library Journal

The timeless tale of 14-year-old Velvet Brown's participation in the Grand National Steeplechase has thrilled generations of readers. The story provides a positive role model for girls and remains ever popular with young horse lovers.

First published in 1941, Walter Farley's best-selling novel for young readers is the triumphant tale of a boy and a wild horse. From Alec Ramsay and the Black's first meeting on an ill-fated ship to their adventures on a desert island and their eventual rescue, this beloved story will hold the rapt attention of readers new and old. This book has been selected as a Common Core State Standards Text Exemplar (Grades 4-5, Stories) in Appendix B.

Becoming a steeplechase jockey takes great courage, especially when following in the footsteps of a legendary father. Growing up, Patrick Smithwick idolized his father, A.P. Smithwick, considered the greatest steeplechase jockey in America at the time. In this compelling memoir, Patrick Smithwick recalls how his father's success shaped his own ambitions and dreams. Despite witnessing the pinnacle of the sport, the younger Smithwick started his own journey without a leg up. He mucked stalls and lived in tack rooms, learning the sport from the bottom up. After his father was severely injured in a racing accident, young Patrick did not sway from pursuing his dream. Though he may not have reached the career heights of his father, Patrick Smithwick succeeded in carving his own niche as a top steeplechase rider.

The moving story of a tough little horse, a gifted boy, and a woman ahead of her time. The youngest jockey, the smallest horse, and an unconventional heiress who disliked publicizing herself. Together, near Liverpool, England, they made a leap of faith on a spring day in 1938: overriding the jockey's father, trusting the boy and the horse that the British nicknamed the "American pony" to handle a race course that newspapers called "Suicide Lane." There, Battleship might become the first American racer to win England's monumental, century-old Grand National steeplechase. His rider, Great Britain's Bruce Hobbs, was only 17 years old. Hobbs started life with an advantage: his father, Reginald, was a superb professional horseman. But Reg Hobbs also made extreme demands, putting Bruce in situations that horrified the boy's mother and sometimes terrified the child. Bruce had to decide just how brave he could stand to be. On the other side of the Atlantic, the enigmatic Marion duPont grew up at the estate now known as James Madison's Montpelier—the refuge of America's "Father of the Constitution." Rejecting her chance to be a debutante, denied a corporate role because of her gender, Marion chose a pursuit where horses spoke for her. Taking on the world's toughest race, she would leave her film star husband, Randolph Scott, a continent away and be pulled beyond her own control. With its reach from Lindbergh's transatlantic flight to Cary Grant's Hollywood, Battleship is an epic tale of testing your true worth.