The “Rough” is how the heck she did it, and the “Magic” is her writing. We know before reading Rough Magic that Lara Prior-Palmer is the first female to win and youngest rider to enter the race. 4) “Positions are policed by rider satellite trackers” 5) no set route 6) at each of the twenty-five horse changing stations (urtuus), each rider picks their own mount 7) map books “with wriggly red lines” are supplied, but not toilet paper and other necessities 8) the Derby is filmed for worldwide broadcast 9) injuries are expected 10) not everyone will finish. 1) It is “an unsupported one-stage race” 2) Riding, without penalty, is between 7:30 a.m. Before I get into what makes this story so worthwhile, let me tell you a bit about the Derby. I love horse stories, horse racing, underdogs, and amazing finishes. I begged for a review copy of Rough Magic. When eighteen-year-old London resident Lara Prior-Palmer hit the Apply button on the Derby’s website, thirty other contestants had already signed on, the August application deadline had passed, and if accepted, she’d have only seven weeks to acquire sponsors, and pick up her riding skills before the “start gun.” The author describes herself at that age as “a bundle of urges, a series of plunges.” No kidding. The Mongol Derby featured in Rough Magic is a one-thousand-kilometer (just over 621 miles) endurance race across the Mongolian grasslands on the backs of an assortment of wild ponies. MAGIC OF THE WORLD’S LONELIEST HORSE RACE
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