Farewell to Free Love, By Tony Linnett
How the pandemic and a terminal cancer diagnosis couldn’t stop Free Love.
‘An honest, informative and thoroughly enjoyable account of a journey in shared racehorse ownership during the most troubling of times.’
Bob Champion CBE
ALL PROCEEDS GO TO THE BOB CHAMPION CANCER TRUST
Farewell to Free Love is a warm and humorous tale about keeping a cheap, shared racehorse ownership adventure alive during a global pandemic and a personal health catastrophe.
‘Joy ever close to disaster is a wonderful thing. That’s what Tony Linnett has got from his share in a racehorse and what shines out in his splendid book.’
Brough Scott MBE
‘Tony Linnett’s experience encapsulates the ups and downs the vast majority of owners go through in their love of racing amidst the turmoil that life chucks at us. I won't read a more genuine and heartfelt memoir for a long time.’
Robert Cooper, Sky Sports Racing presenter and journalist
In his first two books (A Year of Free Love and Another Year of Free Love), the infectiously optimistic author chronicles an eventful journey from the sales ring to the racecourse. Tony Linnett went into partnership with four long-standing friends who hatched a plan to buy an unraced yearling filly at the Newmarket sales in October 2017. Their subsequent 10,000 guineas purchase was named Free Love, and during her first two seasons she notched up four victories and exceeded everyone’s expectations.
The author’s third and final book, Farewell to Free Love, is a horse of a completely different colour. The small group of lifelong friends whose budget racehorse ownership adventure was nearing an end had a modest enough ambition. All they wanted was one last season of fun with their cheaply bought filly, and perhaps a tilt at a big race. What followed was a global pandemic that stopped the world of racing in its tracks, and a personal health crisis that turned the author’s life upside down. It is the latter that prompted Tony to donate all book proceeds to the Bob Champion Cancer Trust.
The surreal and almost forgotten nature of the pandemic is recalled in vivid detail in Farewell to Free Love. The author takes us back to lockdowns, racing behind closed doors, masks and social distancing on the racecourse, vaccination passports, the rule of six, and incomprehensible tiers.
Above all else, Farewell to Free Love is enthralling reading, not only for racing enthusiasts, but also for those who take a general interest in sport.