Rat Race by Dick Francis
Dick Francis, who died in 2010, wrote novels that involved horse racing. Forty of his books were best-sellers. Typically, the main character in his books is a jockey or someone connected to horse racing. Francis was a very successful jockey for almost twenty years, winning over 350 races. He retired in 1957 after a series of falls convinced him that it was time to do something else. His first novel was published in 1962.
Rat Race is about a pilot, Matt Shore, who works for Derrydown Sky Taxis, a small charter company that ferries rich people from place to place. Some of his regular customers are jockeys and horse people who work in the business. Matt used to fly for British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), an elite global carrier, but something happened on a flight that caused him to be released by the company. He also used to fly charters in South America but something happened there that caused him to move on to his current position which, in the world of commercial flight, is one rung up from crop-dusting. The pilot also has been divorced for three years, and he is responsible for a substantial monthly alimony payment to his former wife.
The book begins as Matt Shore meets the people he will be flying to a series of races around England. This group was a regular account for the pilot Matt replaced, Larry, who moved on to a job in Europe. The customers are an interesting bunch. Major Tyderman is a retired Army officer who is very proper and very fussy. Annie Villars, an older woman, is a high-level horse trainer. Eric Goldenberg is an off-putting rich guy who hangs around racetracks. Kenny Bayst, a journeyman jockey, is on the flight as is Colin Ross, the most popular jockey in Great Britain. He is literally a superstar, with fan clubs all over the kingdom. He needs a ride to the track at Newbury for the races.
Colin invites Matt to watch the races from the paddocks, where the horse people hang out, but the pilot is not interested. He has no use for the sport of kings (and queens since Elizabeth, a huge horse fan, is Queen of England). They land and the passengers head to the races. Major Tyderman and Eric Goldenberg seem to be arguing as they head off.
Matt tidies up the plane and notices that another charter plane from Polyplanes Services, a rival of Derrydown, has landed. Matt greets the pilot who gives him the cold shoulder. Matt is not having a good day - squabbling passengers and belligerent competitors do not make for a good time. Suddenly an angry young woman steps out of the other charter.
She is Nancy Ross, Colin’s sister, who is looking for the previous pilot, Larry, who of course is not there. He also has her handbag and keys which she left in his plane by mistake a few days ago. There was also a hundred pounds in the bag, money Colin had given her to pay a bill. She is miffed.
She is a pretty lady who invites Matt to come with her to watch her brother race. Despite his lack of interest in the sport he joins her. She talks up her fascination with horse racing which is outdoors and exciting. He’s still not impressed.
Major Tyderman walks over to Matt and asks him for the key to the plane where Tyderman left his racing form which he needs to place his bets. The major walks off and a man, Chanter, who is dressed like a hippie, comes over and starts harassing Nancy. He’s a part-time college art teacher who is obsessed with Ms. Ross. The feeling is not mutual.
Chanter is immediately jealous of Matt and calls him a “stinking bourgeois”. Chanter won’t go away despite Nancy's asking him to. For the next half-hour, the hippie painter extols the virtues of Marxism and the evils of capitalism. The three headed off to the bar for soft drinks - Matt is flying in a few hours and can’t touch alcohol. There they hear a large Australian in a foot cast praising the virtues of a new insurance policy, the Racegoers’ Accident Fund. He paid five pounds for a year’s coverage so when he broke his foot, he received a payment of £1,000 (pounds).
Chanter leaves to teach a class and Nancy and Matt talk. It turns out that Nancy has a twin sister, Midge, who has leukemia.
The major and Eric Goldenberg are still arguing as they pass the Australian with the broken foot. The invalid, Acey Jones, knows Eric and invites them to join him for a drink. Acey sees Nancy and Matt and invites them over.
The races are over and Matt and his passengers head to the plane. Kenny Bayst, the jockey who was on the flight, tells Matt that he won't be flying back. He’s ticked off at the fact that a horse that Annie Villars trained cut him off in a race, thus costing him a winning finish.
They take off in a rainstorm. The weather isn't awful but the plane feels sluggish so Matt makes an emergency landing in Nottingham shortly after takeoff. The passengers complain but the pilot calls the shots when it comes to safety.
The plane touches down safely and all the passengers leave it. Matt goes to find a mechanic, at which point the plane explodes.
The headlines in the British press were all about how the nation’s favorite jockey escaped death. The inquiry by the Board of Trade ultimately concluded that a small bomb triggered by a radio signal blew up the plane. Because he was the pilot, Matt was questioned several times about why he landed the plane. He kept telling them that the control stick was sluggish and they finally believed him. Matt does reveal that Major Tyderman went back to the plane to get his racing form. Since the major did not bother to relock the plane, anyone could have planted the bomb.
During the Board of Trade inquiry, we learn that Matt was convicted of negligence in the breaking of rules while flying for BOAC. He kept his license and his rank of captain, which is strange when someone is nailed for negligence. The Board of Trade determined that Matt had given the correct orders to his first officer who was actually flying the plane. The first officer should have been held responsible for the near-collision. The first officer pulled some strings and knew the right people so Matt took the career hit.
One theory is that rival carrier Polyplanes set off the bomb but there is no evidence. That seems a bit of a stretch since Derrydown is a small company that really doesn’t threaten the much larger operation.
The plane that blew up was the best one in the small fleet of Derrydown Sky Taxis. The owner, Harley, buys a very used aircraft to replace it. It flies but it's a big step down in comfort and safety.
Matt Shore is not a happy man. His plane blew up, although no one was hurt. The Board of Inquiry experience opened up old wounds about his dismissal from BOAC. Finally, his wife is carping about her alimony payment being a week late. The divorce happened because the wife was fooling around with a neighbor while Matt was flying around the world for BOAC. Still, Matt has to pay her a good chunk of his salary.
Matt is soon flying his usual customers to the races. After landing, he stays near the plane, making sure no one puts a bomb in it. As usual, the Polyplanes pilots are nasty to him so he ignores them. The major, Eric, and Annie are joined by a large man and a small boy, the Earl of Wessex and his nephew, Matt. The two Matts hit it off and the Duke talks to Matt, the pilot, and sets up a special flight for his nephew’s birthday.
The Duke is independently wealthy but he does have an interest in the insurance industry. He is the main backer for the new racing personnel policy that shells out money for any injury. The Duke tells Matt Shore that he should buy a policy.
Matt sees that jockey Kenny Bayst is being beaten up by two big men. Matt, who is skilled in some serious fighting techniques, drives the bullies away and tends to Kenny, who is very grateful. It turns out that, on occasion, Kenny has thrown a race or two. These guys were beating him up because he stopped doing that.
Matt flies his racetrack passengers back to Cambridge. The Duke was on the flight. Matt let him sit in the co-pilot’s seat which delighted his royalness. Colin invited Matt to spend the night with him at his home in Newmarket instead of flying home, an invitation Matt accepted. Colin had invited his sisters, Nancy and Midge over for dinner which they cooked. The four of them had a splendid time, tempered by the fact that Midge looked like she had leukemia. Her siblings didn’t seem to notice that, but Matt did.
They try to figure out why the plane was bombed. Some people believe that it was an attempt on Colin’s life, but no one’s sure why anyone would want to kill Colin.
Matt flies back to Derrydown’s base and goes to his apartment. Soon, a young woman comes to see him. She is Honey, daughter of Harley, the owner of the flying company. Honey likes Matt but he is not interested. She is not happy but she gives Matt his schedule for the week. She also informs him that the Board of Trade wants to talk to him again about the bomb. That isn’t good.
Matt looks out the window at the dreary sky. He decides to clean the place up. “Impatiently, I got up and cleaned all of the windows, which improved my view of the airfield, but not of the future.”
The Board of Trade investigators found out that Matt took out a generous insurance policy that named his wife as the beneficiary. Even after the divorce, she still will get a lot of money if Matt dies. The investigators believe that the ex-wife has a strong motive to want Matt dead. Her new husband also works in technology so he may have the skills needed to plant and explode the bomb. Matt flatly rejects this theory.
Matt spent the week flying people around. When he got back to his home airfield, Honey had bought food and beer and brought it to his apartment. She knew that Matt was short on money so she paid for everything and said he could pay her back when he could. Matt is moved by her kindness. Maybe things are looking up.
Nancy is a fledgling pilot. She is not fully licensed yet but she is authorized to fly short trips with passengers. On one flight, Matt invites her to be his co-pilot. He sees that she is going to be a very good pilot.
Eric Goldenberg and Kenny Bayst are also on that flight. They are arguing and it’s pretty clear that in the past Goldenberg had paid Bayst to lose races. Kenny tells Eric that he is not working for him anymore. Eric is not happy.
Matt and Nancy are becoming an item. They have a pretty heavy talk about Midge’s cancer. Nancy feels almost guilty that she is enjoying life so much with her siblings even though Midge is sick. Matt makes a nice observation: “You’ve come through the dark tunnel. You’re out in the sun at the other end. You’ve done most of your grieving already. You are a most extraordinarily strong family. You’ll remember this summer because it will be something worth remembering.” Nancy is impressed.
Matt has been thinking about the bombing. He thinks about who would have a motive for bombing the plane, including Harley, his boss who will receive a nice insurance settlement on the wrecked plane. Maybe Polyplanes, Derrydown’s rival, wants to get rid of the competition. He even tries to think of a reason why Larry, his predecessor pilot at Derrydown who left under a cloud, would want to plant the bomb. None of these people have a good motive for destroying the plane, so Matt keeps thinking.
Matt has an idea what might be going on so he calls the Board of Trade and tells the investigator that it’s likely that one of the passengers put the bomb on the plane. Matt thinks that Major Tyderman is the most likely suspect since he went back to the plane alone to get his racing form. The major could have planted the bomb then. Matt believes that the target of the bombing was the plane, not any of the passengers. Needless to say, the Board investigator dismisses Matt’s take as crazy. Matt comes back with an interesting fact. During WWII, Major Tyderman worked in the army’s bomb unit.
Chanter, who is still obsessed with Nancy, periodically shows up at racetracks where Colin is riding and Nancy is watching. She keeps rejecting him, but the art teacher plows ahead with his clumsy advances.
Nancy is flying a group of racing people, including her brother, Colin, from the Haydock track home to Cambridge. She is excited at getting the chance to sharpen her skills while actually transporting passengers. Matt, who is scheduled to fly to a different destination at about the same time, checks the weather forecast for Nancy. There will be some rain but it should be OK for flying, even for a relatively inexperienced pilot. Matt also gives her some tips on what landmarks she should be looking for as she nears Cambridge.
Nancy takes off. Matt is getting his plane ready when Major Tyderman comes over, looking white as a ghost. Tyderman thought that Matt would be flying the plane that Nancy is piloting. When pressed by Matt, the major confesses that he put acid on the electrical wires that control the instrument panel that gives information about the engine. After a half-hour or so, the acid would eat through the wires and render those gauges useless. Tyderman thought that the experienced pilot. Matt would have no trouble coping with the lack of instruments. Nancy does not have the experience to fly and land with no instruments.
Matt needs to get in touch with Nancy. He calls the air traffic controller and tells him what’s going on. The controller tries to reach the plane but the radio is non-responsive. The acid did its work.
Matt has a plan. He needs to intercept Nancy and find a way to communicate with her so that she can follow him in and land her plane. He takes off with his passengers, forgetting to tell them that they're not going where they thought they were going. There will be a detour to Cambridge to help Nancy and her passengers.
First, he has to find Nancy’s plane. He needs help so he calls the Royal Air Force that has sophisticated radar stations all over England. They agree to figure out exactly where she is. He gives the RAF details about Nancy’s flight plan.
It is interesting that the RAF quickly agreed to help Matt. Once the military folks learned that racing legend Colin Ross was on the plane, they were eager to help out.
Naturally, the weather is deteriorating. The cloud level has dropped, it’s raining, and visibility is getting worse.
Dick Francis writes many pages about the technical aspects of identifying a plane among the many that fly the friendly skies of England. The RAF does find Nancy’s plane and Matt heads towards it. One of his passengers, a rich jerk named Ambrose, figured out that the plane was not going in the right direction to get him home. He complained bitterly, but the other passengers shushed him. They want to help save the plane and Colin.
Matt sees Nancy's plane. He instructs Annie Villars to write out letters on sheets of paper in Matt’s notebook. Annie and other passengers hold up letters spelling out different things such as FOLLWBASE, which means follow Matt’s plane to the Cambridge airfield. Matt then tells Annie and crew to write out numbers to give Nancy the correct heading to get to the airfield. They also use this primitive communications method to give the other plane information on the barometric pressure that is needed to calibrate the altimeter and other techie stuff to help her land the plane.
Nancy makes a perfect landing followed by Matt. Everybody hugs - not a very British thing to do - and all is well. Matt and Colin find the acid bottle contraption that destroyed the wires that powered the instruments. Both of them come to the same conclusion. Someone is trying to make it look like someone is trying to kill Colin while making sure he survives.
Meanwhile, Matt is in trouble again with the Board of Trade. In helping Nancy, he illegally flew his passengers over the open sea, a no-no. He can’t deny it since the incident was on the front page of every newspaper in Britain. The Board is not impressed that Matt probably saved Nancy’s passengers’ lives. After all, he did break the rules.
One of the tabloid newspapers dredged up the story about how years earlier Matt was reprimanded and fired from BOAC for reckless flying. The story did not explain that Matt had been falsely accused. That was something that wasn’t public, although the Board of Trade investigators had figured it out.
Now that he knows about Matt’s past, Colin decides that he can’t fly with him so he goes to Polyplanes for his air travel. One of the Polyplanes pilots tells Nancy lies about Matt’s background so she takes off in a huff. Matt is not having a good day. The hero thing about saving Nancy and her passengers didn't have much sticking power.
Matt and Colin talk and the jockey calms down. He says the real reason Nancy took off is that she's in love with Matt and he doesn’t seem to think as much of her. This is news to Matt who is nuts about Nancy, but he is totally broke and under investigation by the Board of Trade. He is not in a good place to get married or even get serious about a woman who is used to the finer things in life.
To make matters worse, Colin tells Matt that he thinks that Nancy has gone to be with Chanter. Matt is upset but he does realize that he is in love with Nancy.
Matt gets a call from Colin. It turns out Nancy did not go to find Chanter. She went to visit an old friend from college for a few days. She's heading back. Nancy also saw Major Tyderman in a car with a large man. The police have not been able to find Tyderman who is wanted for questioning about several criminal incidents.
Matt is still trying to figure out what’s going on. He decides to talk to Annie who has known Major Rupert Tyderman for years.
It turns out that Tyderman was cashiered out of the army for doing sleazy things involving taking money from people. He’s always wanted to be wealthy and isn’t fussy about how he gets his money. Over the years, he “borrowed” money from Annie which he often did not pay back. A few months earlier, Rupert told Annie that he had a good thing going that would make him rich. Just before that, Tyderman had asked Annie to introduce him to the rich Duke of Wessex which she did.
Matt has figured out that the race personnel insurance policy may have something to do with what’s been going on. After his scary flight with Nancy and the sabotaged plane, Colin very publicly announced that he was buying the insurance policy. The market for the coverage seems is growing.
Matt calls the Duke’s estate and asks for a meeting with him. The Duke likes Matt so it’s set for later that night. Matt has no car so he borrows Honey’s and drives to his appointment.
The Duke is with his favorite nephew, Matt, and they are playing with a large layout of model trains. Matt the pilot gets to drive the trains a bit and then asks the Duke if he met with Tyderman. He did and he also met with Eric Goldenberg who the Duke did not like. Matt asked if the subject of insurance came up with Tyderman. The Duke says that Tyderman didn’t bring up insurance but his friend, Charles Carthy-Todd did. They talked about the new Racegoers’ Accident Fund. The Duke, who worked with Lloyd’s of London over the years, was intrigued. He agreed to back the business with lots of his money. It turns out that the Duke gave the fund £100,000 to back it.
Matt is suspicious of Mr. Carthy-Todd but the Duke assures him that all is legitimate. After all, the man has pictures of himself with famous people in his office and he is very well spoken.
Matt finds out from the Duke that the fund is doing very well, especially since the two near-misses involving ace jockey Colin Ross.
Matt sees that the Duke is being fleeced by Carthy-Todd and Tyderman. They will skip out with the money paid into the fund before they have to pay out many claims. Matt says that he wants to buy a policy and asks the Duke to set up a meeting with Mr. Carthy-Todd. The Duke is happy to do that.
After dropping off a family, Matt is hanging around the Warwick horse track. He notices a huge ad for the Racegoers’ Accident Fund in the racing program, “Colin Ross has insured with us. Why don’t you?” Given that Colin was involved in two life-threatening flying situations recently, the ad is effective. This confirms Matt’s hunch that the accidents were set up to boost demand for the racegoers’ insurance program and that the people behind the effort will soon abscond with lots of money from people who signed up.
While Matt is musing about all of this, he sees a headline in a newspaper indicating that Major Rupert Tyderman was found dead of a stab wound. Tyderman had been very involved with setting up the bogus flying accidents and the police had been chasing him. Matt figures that whoever is behind the fund had to get rid of Rupert to keep him from cooperating with the police to nail the fraudulent fund’s founders.
Matt meets with Carthy-Todd, the man behind the scam. They have a brief conversation. Matt is completely put off by the man who oozes sleaze.
Once Carthy-Doyle goes off to watch the races, Matt sneaks into the racegoers' fund office at the track to do some digging. He unlocks a file cabinet and finds lots of interesting things including the contract between the Duke and Carthy-Doyle that gave the accident fund £100,000 to start up. He also finds an insurance policy that will pay the fund £100,000 if the Duke dies. Given that Carthy-Todd probably killed Major Tyderman, Matt is concerned about the Duke's safety. Matt also finds the parts and explosives needed to make the kind of bomb that blew up the Derrydown plane. He finds a bomb disguised as a box of candy that Carthy-Todd is no doubt planning on giving to Duke, so he can blow him up and get the insurance money.
Matt also finds crutches, make-up, a wig, and a fake leg cast that would make Carthy-Todd look just like Acey Jones, the loudmouth who hobbled around the bar praising the accident fund for having come through with money after he broke his leg. Carthy-Todd and Acey Jones are the same person.
While Matt is ruminating on all of this new information, Carthy-Todd shows up and throws a knife at Matt. Matt passes out and wakes up a bit later with a knife in his back. His assailant left him for dead but he isn’t. He pulls the knife out of his back and starts to crawl to the race track to warn the Duke about the bomb. Matt’s feeling a bit better as he begins to move.
Matt finds the Duke, his nephew, Matt, and Colin Ross and his sisters. Young Matt has the tin of candy with the bomb in it. Older Matt grabs it and tosses it into the air where it explodes harmlessly. (Not a bad heave for a guy who was just stabbed in the back. Those Brits are tough.)
Carthy-Todd, seeing that his bomb trick didn’t work, starts to run away with a crowd chasing him. He, of course, runs onto the track during a race and gets run over by several horses, thus ending his scam career and his life.
Because this is a Dick Francis novel, it has a great ending. The Duke asks Matt what he can do to thank him. Colin suggests that the Duke set Matt up with his own flying company which the noble nobleman enthusiastically agrees to do. Matt and Nancy are together. Midge’s cancer is in remission.
All is well with the world.
Bob’s Take
Between 1962 and 2010, Dick Francis wrote forty best-sellers, several of which became popular BBC TV shows. He won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar award three times. I’ve read about half of his books.
The stories are narrated by the main character, often a jockey, but sometimes a trainer, an owner, a bookie, or someone in another profession linked to horse racing. This protagonist always faces great obstacles, often including physical injury, but always prevails.
All the novels are narrated by the hero, who in the course of the story learns that he is more resourceful, brave, and clever than he thought he was. Our hero usually finds a certain salvation for himself as well as bestowing it on others. All of the lead characters are male, but some of his later books feature women playing impressive roles.
Dick Francis was a pilot in WWII who flew dozens of missions over Europe. His wife, Mary was a pilot who ran a small airline company. They knew about flying, especially the challenges of operating a small charter firm.
Dick Francis books are the ultimate literary comfort food - nice people, mean bad guys, soft romance, and limited violence. They are short, a bit over 200 pages, and are quick reads. Dick died in 2010 but his son, Felix, continues to write books with the same style and grace.
