The Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award has narrowed the thoroughbred literary competition to three finalists–Brien Bouyea, Katie Bo Lillis and Gary O'Dell.Castleton Lyons will host a reception for the three finalists on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at the Ryan family's farm in Lexington, Ky. Mark Simon, former editor/publisher of Thoroughbred Times, will open the proceedings and Caton Bredar, longtime on-air reporter, host and handicapper with TVG/FanDuel, will introduce the authors.“Reinventing the American Thoroughbred: The Arabian Adventures of Alexander Keene Richards,” by Gary A. O'Dell, is a biography of a pre-Civil War thoroughbred breeder, researched and written by Gary O'Dell, a Morehead State University professor emeritus whose interest in Richards' Blue Grass Park farm was stirred after researching an earlier history of Georgetown, Ky. In O'Dell's pages, Richards' experiment to breed a better thoroughbred by infusing the Arabian's stamina becomes a travelogue of his trips to Europe, Syria and Egypt in search of fine Arabian blood, while also offering a front-row seat to America's fledgling bloodstock industry at the time of the Civil War.“The Racetracks of America: From the Pre-Civil War Days to the 21st Century” is a comprehensive coffee table book with essays by 35 seasoned turf writers, edited by Brien Bouyea, and thousands of photos and memorabilia that will entertain readers and serve as a valuable reference for racing fans for years to come.“Death of a Racehorse: An American Story” is CNN reporter Katie Bo Lillis' tough-love letter to the thoroughbred sport that she grew up in, riding with her family and working in the Virginia racing industry. Like her mother, Lillis has a reporter's nose for a good story and she went behind the scenes of recent racing scandals, following leads to barns, drug labs, law enforcement offices and racetrack boardrooms. In concise prose, she told the unflinching story, ending on a hopeful note.Other semifinalists were “Pryor Knowledge: Horse Racing, Love, and Slavery in the Antebellum South,” by M.B. Gibson; “When Montana Outraced the East: The Reign of Western Thoroughbreds 1886-1900,” by Catharine Melin-Moser; and “Racing's Return From the Brink: The Incredible Comeback of Old Rosebud and American Horse Racing,” by James C. Nicholson. “The Greatest Racehorse? Man o' War and the Judgment of History,” by Mark Shrager, received an honorable mention.With a $10,000 winner's prize and Tipperary crystal trophy, the Book was launched in 2006 by the late businessman and philanthropist Tony Ryan, a voracious reader who wanted to encourage publication of books on any aspect of the thoroughbred racing industry. The first year, Ryan's Castleton Lyons farm and Thoroughbred Times co-sponsored the award. After Ryan's passing a year later, his son Shane Ryan carried on, while changing the name of the award to honor his late father.The 2025 judging team, all of whom have earned media Eclipse Awards, included Bredar, along with Josh Pons, winner of the 2024 Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award for “Letters From Country Life: Adolphe Pons, Man o' War, and the Founding of Maryland's Oldest Thoroughbred Farm;” Kay Coyte, a former editor at The Washington Post and The Horsemen's Journal; and former Lexington Herald Leader turf writer and historian/author Maryjean Wall.The post Bouyea, Lillis and O’Dell Named Finalists for 2025 Dr. Tony Book Award appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.