Josh Pons won two Eclipse Awards for his journalism in The BloodHorse, presented for best stories of the year in the sport of Thoroughbred racing. He is the author of two books published by Eclipse Press: Country Life Farm: Three Years in the Life of a Thoroughbred Horse Farm and Merryland: Two Years in the Life of a Thoroughbred Training Farm. Pons joined BloodHorse upon graduation from the University of Virginia, where he majored in English. After three years as a journalist, he entered the University of Kentucky Law School, graduating in 1982, then returned to his family’s Country Life Farm. Professionally, he served as president of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association for six years and is currently president of the foundation responsible for the Maryland Horse Library and Education Center. He and his wife, Ellen, live in Fallston, Maryland, on Country Life, the oldest Thoroughbred farm in the state.
[In Merryland] Josh Pons, with his lyrical prose and down-to-earth observations, tells the story like no one else could. * Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred * Josh Pons, the Samuel Pepys of American Thoroughbred writers, has once again fashioned among the most readable, entertaining, and gracefully written books in the canon of modern Turf literature. Merryland is a day-by-day chronicle enriched with local color, telling anecdotes, and prose that comes alive with wisdom, insight, and even love. For anybody who cares for this game, this is a wonderful read. -- William Nack, author of Secretariat: The Making of a Champion and My Turf: Horses, Boxers, Blood Money, and the Sporting Life