Author Bio
Shelley Lee Riley is an internationally award-winning author of "Casual Lies—A Triple Crown Adventure." The memoir shares her story about Casual Lies, the horse she trained through all three American Triple Crown Races—the first woman to do so. After spending five years in the United Kingdom, she returned to the San Francisco Bay Area and worked as a freelance writer for various publications in her spare time. Now retired in Oregon, she enjoys living in a forest, watching deer clearcut the garden, listening to Canadian geese roost on the chimney, and hearing squirrels chew the siding, decking, and sprinkler heads. When not engaged in repairs or gardening, she enjoys writing fiction.
Behind the story
A few years after competing with my horse in the Triple Crown of horse racing, I moved to England. I bought a Triumph Spitfire named Nathan and had it painted candy apple red. I lived in a nine-hundred-square-foot flat, a small part of a two-hundred-fifty-year-old estate built on a medieval site. It was situated on ten acres, featuring a formal garden, but also a spooky, overgrown, walled-in fairy garden. There was a lake, stream, weir, fruit tree orchard, and a mile-long drive lined with six-hundred-year-old stately trees. And the house was haunted! (Someday, I may have to recount that story.)
I spent my time exploring the English countryside in Nathan, and the thing about a car as old as Nathan is that the adventure aspect takes on a whole new level of meaning. When you left in the morning, you weren’t always sure you and Nathan would make it back in the evening. Nathan was prone to bouts of melancholy.
I have lovely memories of the five years I spent in England and my many visits to Europe: the solar eclipse, Comet Hale-Bopp, seeing in the New Year while drinking cheap champagne in the Piazza del Popolo in Rome, staring up at the Eiffel Tower on the Champ de Mars, and finally with the crazy crowds and the majesty of Trafalgar Square in London.
I spent January in Barcelona and fell in love with the city, the food, and the people. I could have happily spent my entire life in an apartment overlooking La Rambla: one word—Paella.
But that was then, and now that I’ve retired again, I’ve moved to the Pacific Northwest. I no longer write special feature articles for newspapers and magazines, which has ended the stress of deadlines. Now it’s about deer clear-cutting the garden, Canadian honkers roosting on the chimney, squirrels chewing the sprinkler heads, the siding, the deck, and raccoons stampeding on the roof in the dark of night. Such is the bucolic life of living in a pine forest. Go figure.
Still, this gives me plenty of time to do what I like to do best—reading and writing. So, following the publication of a memoir about my horse and running him in the Triple Crown, I ventured into fantasy writing. I published Into Madness, Book One in the Born from Stone Saga, in the fall of 2020. Book two, Heart’s Divided, is currently in the works. I’ve also written a story about dragon racing featuring Tivet, a dragonet like no other, entitled “Labyrinth of Ruin.”
Please read on for a brief look into Casual Lies’ incredible journey.
Married to a jockey, I developed my skills as a trainer in the competitive, male-dominated world of horse racing while studying at California State University, Sacramento. All the while, I worked hard, hoped, and dreamed as I guided the young horses under my care.
Twenty years passed in this way, and one morning, in a snowstorm at a January Thoroughbred sale in Kentucky, lightning struck. The inconceivable happened when my eyes met those of a small, fuzzy, and inquisitive seven-month-old colt. After placing the winning bid and signing the sales tag, I had no idea I had just gotten lucky—really lucky. I had struck the mother lode of horse racing, although I wouldn't realize this for many months.
While writing Casual Lies - A Triple Crown Adventure, I realized I was addressing not just horse enthusiasts, but also the television audience that loves horses and who delights in the beauty and pageantry of the sport of horse racing.
I wanted to offer a peek behind the scenes of what happens behind the Network camera lenses, especially for those who tune in on the first Saturday in May to watch arguably the world's most famous horse race—the Kentucky Derby. With its beautiful horses, vibrant crowds, and an excitement that virtually heaves off the screen, every year's event is an extravaganza to the senses.
The book is a true story about the headstrong, talented, and charismatic colt that took me to that event, not just as a spectator but as a participant.
Casual Lies never met anyone he didn't like, and his enthusiasm for life was both palpable and a powerful motivator whenever I began to doubt the wisdom of our course, and my hope started to fade. Together, we challenged the horses and horsemen at the very pinnacle of the Thoroughbred world.
What I learned from the adventure of a lifetime was that believing you can is just as important as hope in achieving a dream.
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