Horse racing columnist and author Jay Cronley, who penned the novel which would later be turned into racing classic ‘Let It Ride’ with Richard Dreyfuss, has passed away at the age of 73.

In addition to Let It Ride, novels that Cronley penned were turned into the feature films ‘Funny Farm,’ ‘Hold-Up’ and ‘Quick Change.’

TROT Magazine profiled Cronley (English / French) back in 2009. He explained that his novel ‘Good Times,’ which was made into Let It Ride, was the only horse racing movie to focus on the gambler.

“From My Friend Flicka to Seabiscuit, you don’t even know they gamble on the races,” Cronley told TROT Magazine. “And that’s what was fun about our movie. It’s about gambling. It showed people gambling and betting. I don’t think there’s ever been another horse racing movie about gambling.”

Cronley, who worked for the Tulsa World and Tribune as a columnist until about a year ago, was a contributor to ESPN.com, where he showed the world his passion for horse racing. He was always talking about the ponies – whether it was how the mainstream media fails to cover racing’s great stories or how the live racing experience trumps a day in the teletheatre.

Cronley was a friend of racing and its legion of handicappers and will be missed.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Jay Cronley.