Centaur

<p><b>**WINNER OF THE GENERAL OUTSTANDING SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD**</b><br><b><br>**SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017**</b><br><br><i>Coping with your own death when you are not yet dead is a strange thing...</i><br><br>A natural on a horse since he was able to walk and imbued with a pure love of riding Declan Murphy became one of the most brilliant jockeys of his generation before his world came crashing down at the final hurdle of a race at Haydock Park. His skull shattered in twelve places he was believed to be dead the last rites were read and the <i>Racing Post</i> prepared his obituary. Miraculously and the word is not used lightly he survived and defied medical thinking in recovering to the extent that eighteen months after his fall he was able to saddle up for one more race. As usual he won.<br><br>For 23 years Declan has been unable to tell his story to bring to words existence on the frontier between life and death to describe the incredible bond between man and horse. But now in an extraordinary collaboration with Ami Rao she has helped him find those words a way to piece together what happened before during and after what it all meant and what it means to us all. It is a story of triumph fear love and loss by turns primal heartbreaking and inspirational and ultimately it is the story of hope and of life.</p>