2013 William Hill Sports Book of the Year – Winner

Doped: The Real Life Story of the 1960s Racehorse Doping Gang by Jamie Reid (Racing Post)

Combining a potent mix of horse racing, drugs, sex, class, crime, gambling and the monarchy, Doped tells the true story of one of the biggest doping scandals in British racing history. In March 1962, an audacious attempt to nobble one of the royal horses alerted police to a well-organised band of racecourse criminals, backed by murderous London gangsters. The subsequent Flying Squad pursuit of the gang brought the quaintly deferential world of racing into sharp conflict with the harsher realities of the ‘You’ve Never Had It So Good’ era.

Jamie Reid is a lifelong punter and racing enthusiast who writes a regular column for the Financial Times. One of his previous books, A License to Print Money, was shortlisted for the 1992 William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award.

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The only other previous winner featuring horse racing was in 2001, when Seabiscuit: The True Story of Three Men and a Racehorse by Laura Hillenbrand scoped the prize.