Thoroughbred Series

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The Thoroughbred Series is a series of intermediate children's books published by HarperEntertainment, an inprint of HarperCollins, between 1991 and 2005. The books were originally created by Joanna Campbell, although the majority of the series was written by a large panel of writers. Spin-offs include one other book series, the Ashleigh Series, and three separate books published under the Thoroughbred Series imprint as part of the "Ashleigh Collection."

The books follow the lives of several girls as they work with Thoroughbred racehorses. The series mainly takes place on Whitebrook Farm in Versailles, Kentucky, and on several Thoroughbred race tracks across the United States. In the first book, A Horse Called Wonder, twelve-year-old Ashleigh Griffen moves with her family to Townsend Acres in Lexington, Kentucky and falls in love with a sickly filly, whom is eventually named Ashleigh's Wonder. Because the filly is born weak, Ashleigh is determined to raise the filly into a healthy yearling in order to keep her from being auctioned. Wonder becomes the central focus of the series for three more books before the storyline shifts to her foals and a number of other unrelated horses.

Contents

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[edit] Structure of the Books

The Thoroughbred Series is written in the third-person style and typically from one person's viewpoint. For the first twenty-three books, the series is told from the viewpoints of Ashleigh Griffen, Samantha McLean, and Cindy McLean. Each girl had a stretch of books told from their perspective before the next girl entered the series. After book twenty-three, the series started what was called the "New Generation" and skipped ten years to a new group of characters: Christina Reese, Melanie Graham, Parker Townsend, and a small group of minor characters. These books were still written in the third-person, but the viewpoints of characters would alternate between books.

[edit] Thoroughbred Series Titles

For a list of Thoroughbred Titles, see List of Thoroughbred Books.

[edit] Main Characters

[edit] Ashleigh Griffen

  • First Appearance: #1, A Horse Called Wonder
  • Family: Father, Derek Griffen, a breeding manager; mother, Elaine Griffen, also a breeding manager; sister, Caroline Griffen; brother, Rory Griffen.
  • Spouse: Mike Reese, a trainer and racehorse owner, with whom she has a daughter, Christina Reese.
  • Profession: Trainer, Jockey, Co-owner of Whitebrook Farm.

[edit] Samantha McLean

  • First Appearance: #5, Ashleigh's Dream
  • First Book as Main Character: #6, Wonder's Yearling
  • Family: Father, Ian McLean, a racehorse trainer; mother, Suzanne McLean, deceased in a riding accident; stepmother, Beth McLean, an aerobics instructor; half-brother, Kevin McLean.
  • Spouse: Tor Nelson, an equestrian rider, with whom she has a son, Lucas Nelson, and a daughter, Leah Nelson.
  • Profession: Trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses, trainer of Thoroughbred steeplechasers and eventers, co-owner of Whisperwood Farm.

[edit] Cynthia "Cindy" Blake McLean

  • First Appearance: #12, Shining's Orphan
  • First Book as Main Character: #13, Cindy's Runaway Colt
  • Family: Biological father and mother were killed in a car accident when Cindy was an infant. Ian and Beth McLean become her foster parents and then legally adopt her.
  • Spouse: Benjamin al-Rihani, owner of Tall Oaks, with whom she has an adopted daughter, Allie al-Rihani.
  • Profession: Trainer, jockey, co-owner of Tall Oaks.

[edit] Christina Reese

  • First Appearance: Super Edition: Ashleigh's Christmas Miracle
  • First Book as Main Character: #24, The Horse of Her Dreams
  • Family: Father, Mike Reese; mother, Ashleigh Griffen; cousin, Melanie Graham, a fellow jockey and trainer.
  • Profession: Trainer and Jockey, Studying to be vet as of book #72 Legacy's Gift

[edit] Melanie Graham

  • First Appearance: #24, The Horse of Her Dreams
  • First Book as Main Character: #25 Melanie's Treasure
  • Family: Father, William Graham, a music producer; mother is deceased; stepmother, Susan; uncle, Mike Reese; cousin, Christina Reese.
  • Profession: Trainer and Jockey.

[edit] Allison "Allie" al-Rihani

  • First Appearance: #67, Breaking The Fall
  • Family: Father, Craig Avery, deceased; mother, Jilly Avery, deceased; is legally adopted by Ben al-Rihani and Cindy McLean.
  • Profession: Jockey
  • Inconsistencies: Allie's mother, Jilly Avery, was described as having died of leukemia two years before Allie's entrance to the series. However, Jilly was seen at a party no more than two months before Breaking The Fall, in #59, "Star's Inspiration".

[edit] Parker Townsend

  • First Appearance: #33, Racing Parker
  • First Book as Main Character: #41, Close Call
  • Family: Father, Bradley Townsend, heir of Townsend Acres; mother, Lavinia Townsend, a Kentucky socialite.
  • Inconsistencies: The character of Parker was originally seen several books previous as Lawrence Hotchkins-Ross "Ross" Townsend.

[edit] Bradley "Brad" Townsend

  • First Appearance: #1, A Horse Called Wonder
  • Family: Father, Clay Townsend, owner of Townsend Acres; mother and older sister are mentioned briefly and never named.
  • Spouse: Lavinia Townsend, with whom he has a son, Parker Townsend.
  • Profession: Heir to Townsend Acres.

[edit] Charlie Burke

  • First Appearance: #1, A Horse Called Wonder
  • Family: Family relations were never described.
  • Profession: Described as being a jockey before becoming a trainer.
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] The Series

[edit] The Early Books

The early Thoroughbred Series consists of all books written by Joanna Campbell. From A Horse Called Wonder to Cindy's Glory, Joanna Campbell controlled the storyline. This period consists of fourteen books written between 1991 and 1995. Within this time period, the series begins at Townsend Acres, a large Thoroughbred racing and breeding operation in Lexington, Kentucky. Ashleigh Griffen moves to Townsend Acres after her family's farm, Edgardale, goes through an epidemic and is sold. This leaves Ashleigh traumatized, and she swears to never again love horses like she did at Edgardale. That is before she meets a sickly foal whom she falls in love with and proceeds to nurse to health. This foal is Ashleigh's Wonder, whom becomes the main horse of the series. Wonder goes on to become a significant racehorse, and the series follows the majority of her foals. Other books follow Samantha McLean, whom helps train Wonder's first foal, Wonder's Pride, to Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Breeders' Cup Classic wins. The last books written by Joanna Campbell introduce Cindy Blake, whom quickly becomes Cindy McLean, whom finds and trains March to Glory. These books end after March to Glory is purchased by Whitebrook Farm.

[edit] The Post-Joanna Campbell Books

Joanna Campbell passed the Thoroughbred Series on to Karen Bentley, long-time editor of the series, whom authored nine books from Glory's Triumph to Cindy's Honor. These books consisted solely of Cindy McLean's life as she helped train March To Glory, Storm's Ransom, Wonder's Champion and Honor Bright.

[edit] The New Generation

After book 23, Cindy's Honor, the series skipped forward ten years and began anew as an eventing-focused book series. This series involved Ashleigh Griffen's daughter, Christina, whom traded Wonder's then-last foal, Wonder's Legacy, for a subpar racehorse, named Sterling Dream, that she turned into an eventer. These books quickly transformed from eventing back to racing after fan involvement convinced editors to switch the focus back to racing. At the event of Ashleigh's Wonder's death, Christina became attached to Wonder's last foal, Wonder's Star. The series regenerated from this point into a predominantly Thoroughbred racing focus, leaving eventing to Parker Townsend, whom became part of the series regularly soon after Wonder's death. The series then became focused on Christina and Melanie and their horses Wonder's Star, Perfect Image, and Hi Jinx.

[edit] The Last Main Character

Allie Avery was introduced at the very end of the Thoroughbred Series as the daughter of Craig and Jilly Avery. Craig and Jilly were released from the Thoroughbred Series early on, and were brought back to provide the possibility of Allie, whom was the last main character for the Thoroughbred Series. Allie was both interested in eventing and racing, bringing together the two disciplines in the Thoroughbred Series, although she ultimately decided upon becoming a jockey. She is given Wonder's Legacy, the often forgotten son of Ashleigh's Wonder, as a gift when she is fourteen. The series ends with Legacy's Gift, a book centered on Allie and Wonder's Legacy, as well as the birth of Legacy's daughter, Allie's Wonder.

[edit] Authors

  • Joanna Campbell
  • Mary Newhall Anderson
  • Karen Bentley
  • Jennifer Chu
  • Olivia Coates
  • Karle Dickerson
  • Allison Estes
  • Dale Blackwell Gasque
  • Brook James
  • Alice Leonhardt
  • Chris Platt
  • Lois Szymanski

[edit] Spin-Offs

[edit] The Ashleigh Series

Created in 1999, the Ashleigh Series focused entirely on Ashleigh's life at Edgardale, before she and her family relocated to Townsend Acres at the start of the Thoroughbred Series. The Ashleigh Series was created as a time bubble, as no characters aged, and is not considered to be part of the Thoroughbred Series canon. Fifteen books were written, and in 2003 the series ended with Stardust's Foal, by Chris Platt.

[edit] The Ashleigh Collection

[edit] Battlecry Forever!

Written by Joanna Campbell, Battlecry Forever! was published in 1992 by HarperEntertainment, and again in 1998. The story concerns Battlecry, an unruly black stallion, and Leslie D'Andrea, whom sets out to try and turn him into a champion. Battlecry is the sire of Fleet Goddess, a filly that Ashleigh Griffen purchases in the Thoroughbred Series. It is the only book written outside of the Thoroughbred Series that is considered canon.

[edit] Star of Shadowbrook Farm

By Joanna Campbell, Star of Shadowbrook Farm was published in 1992 by HarperEntertainment, and again in 1998. It is the story of two unlikely eventing champions, Susan Holmes and Evening Star. The characters and storyline do not connect with the Thoroughbred Series.

[edit] The Forgotten Filly

Written by Karle Dickerson, The Forgotten Filly was published in 1993 by HarperTorch, and again in 1998. The characters and storyline do not connect with the Thoroughbred Series.

[edit] Thoroughbred Series Super Editions

Four Super Editions were published during the Thoroughbred Series: Ashleigh's Christmas Miracle, Ashleigh's Hope, Ashleigh's Diary, and Samantha's Journey. The Super Editions follow the same style as the Thoroughbred Series, but were longer and typically involved three or four sections.

[edit] External links