About the author
Nat Gould (Nathaniel Gould, 1857–1919) was one of the most prolific, if not the most prolific, equine authors. Born in Manchester, he worked as a journalist on the Newark Advertiser, and in 1884 left England for Australia. There he worked for the Australian press, and married. He moved to the Sydney Referee, and was made chief racing correspondent, under the pseudonym Verax. After he resigned from the paper because of a quarrel, he joined the Bathurst Times. He was commissioned to write a racing serial, which was published in novel form as The Double Event in 1881. Its publication at the time of the Melbourne Cup, Gould thought, contributed to its massive success. After writing more novels, he returned to England with his family in 1895, and continued to write at a quite phenomenal rate of around four books a year. By the time of his death in 1919 he had published around 130 racing novels, with a further 22 awaiting publication.
Nat Gould’s novels remained in print long after his death, and some are still in print now. Many appeared as ‘yellow backs’, and the young Josphine Pullein-Thompson devoured these.
Finding the books
Many are now being republished by the British Library digitisation project. First editions in dustjackets may well prove very expensive.
Links and sources
The excellent Nat Gould website is comfortingly scholarly, and very well worth a look.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography – Frederick Page, revised Clare Taylor
Personal correspondence with Josephine Pullein-Thompson
Bibliography
Written and published in Australia
The Double Event, 1891
Jockey Jack, 1892
Running It Off, 1892
Banker and Broker, 1893
Harry Dale’s Jockey “Wild Rose” – her Life and Adventures, 1893
Thrown Away, 1894
Stuck Up, 1894
On and Off the Turf in Australia, 1895
Only a Commoner, 1895
Written and published in England
The Doctor’s Double: An Anglo-Australian Sensation, 1896
The Magpie Jacket: A Tale of the Turf, 1896
The Miner’s Cup: A Collgardie Romance, 1896
Town and Bush: Stray Notes on Australia, 1896
Who Did It? 1896
Horse or Blacksmith? 1897
A Lad of Mettle, 1897
Not So Bad After All, 1897
Seeing Him Through: A Racing Story, 1897
Golden Ruin, 1898
The Famous Match, 1898
Gentleman Rider: A Tale of the Grand National, 1898
The Dark Horse, 1899
Landed at Last, 1899
The Old Mare’s Foal, 1899
The Pace that Kills, 1899
Racecourse and Battlefield, 1899
A Dead Certainty, 1900
A Rank Outsider, 1900
His Last Plunge, a Tale, 1900?
The Roar of the Ring, 1900
Settling Day, 1900
Sporting Sketches, 1900
A Racecourse Tragedy, 1901
Warned Off, 1901?
Broken Down, 1902
In Royal Colours, 1902
King of the Ranges: A Blend of Fact and Fiction, 1902
Life’s Web, 1902
A Racing Sinner, 1902
In Low Water, 1903
The Boy in Green, 1903
Blue Cap, 1903
Raymond’s Ride, 1903
The Silken Rein, 1903
The Three Wagers, 1903
Bred in the Bush. 1904
The Gold Whip, 1904
The Second String, 1904
The Rajah’s Racer, 1905
The Story of Black Bess, as Told by her Owner, 1905
One of a Mob, 1905
The Selling Plater, 1905
A Hundred to One Chance, 1906
The Lady Trainer, 1906
A Sporting Squatter, 1906
A Straight Goer, 1906
Charger and Chaser, 1907
The Head Lad, 1907
The Little Wonder, 1907
The Dapple Grey, 1908
The Top Weight, 1908
Whirlwind’s Year, 1908
The Buckjumper, 1909
The Jockey’s Revenge, 1909
The Magic of Sport, 1909
The Reckless Owner, 1909
The Stolen Racer, 1909
The Chance of a Lifetime, 1909
A Great Coup, 1910
The Lucky Shoe, 1910
The Roarer, 1910
The King’s Favourite, 1910
The Cast Off, 1911
Good at the Game, 1912
A Member of Tatt’s, 1912
A Fortune at Stake, 1913
The Trainer’s Treasure, 1913
A Gamble for Love, 1914
Never in Doubt, 1915
The Wizard of the Turf, 1915
Breaking the Record, 1916
Lost and Won: A Tale of Sport and War, 1916
A Turf Conspiracy, 1916
A Northern Crack, 1917
The Rider in Khaki, 1917
The Smasher, 1917
Fast as the Wind, 1918
A Race for a Wife, 1918
The Steeplechaser, 1918
Won on the Post, 1918
Odds On, 1918?
Published after his death
At Starting Price, 1920
A Chestnut Champion, 1920
Racing Rivals, 1920
The Rake, 1920
The Silver Star, 1920
The Sweep Winner, 1920
The Blue Ribbon, 1921
The Demon Wins, 1931
A Derby Winner, 1921
In the Paddock, 1921
A Long Shot, 1921
The Man From Newmarket, 1921
A Stable Mystery, and Other Stories, 1921
A Bad Start, 1922
A Dangerous Stable, 1922
A Great Surprise, 1922
Sold for a Song, 1922
Beating the Favourite, 1923
A Brilliant Season, 1923
The Challenge, 1924
First in the Field, 1924
Riding to Orders, 1924
The Major’s Mascot, 1926
The Racing Adventures of Barry Bromley, 1927
The Exploits of a a Race-course Detective, 1927
Trainer’s Tales, 1927
Written by Nat Gould Jnr (Sidney Nathaniel Gould)
Sable Star, 1937
Annuals
The Sporting Annual for Sportsmen and Sportswomen at Home and Abroad No 1, 1900
The Runaways, 1903
The Outcast, 1904
A Bit of a Rogue,1905
The Pet of the Public, 1906
A Stroke of Luck, 1907
A Bird in Hand, 1908
The Pick of the Stable, 1909
Queen of the Turf, 1910
The Phantom Horse, 1911
Left in the Lurch, 1912
The Best of the Season, 1913
The Flyer, 1914
The White Arab, 1915
