Middleburg journalist and author Vicky Moon has written a fascinating new book on the life of America's first African-American female thoroughbred racehorse trainer."Sylvia Rideoutt Bishop Had a Way With Horses" chronicles the story of a remarkable woman who was born, raised, and spent her entire life in Charles Town, West Virginia. She fell in love with horses after a pony ride she took at age eight, started working as a groom at the Charles Town race track at 14, and handled horses for prominent local and national owners by the time she turned 30.

One of 17 children and a descendant of enslaved people, Sylvia Bishop (1920-2004) fought sexism and racial bigotry at the track against a backdrop of the swirling Civil Rights movement. She prevailed to break barriers, shatter stereotypes, and celebrate countless transforming victories in the winner's circle with many clients.

As a single mother after two failed marriages, financial reality forced her to take on extra work in the shipping department at a Doubleday publishing factory in Berryville. Never wavering in her passion, she returned to the track to train horses at age eighty. And finally, with little fanfare, she was honored for her pioneering accomplishments as the first black woman licensed to train racehorses in the United States.

Ironically, Ms. Moon's book was printed at the very same Berryville publishing facility, where several of Sylvia Bishop's co-workers and friends are still employed.

Sylvia Bishop began training in the 1950s and continued working with horses into her 80s before she passed away in 2004. Her grandson, Michael Jones, has carried on the tradition and is now one of Charles Town's leading trainers, giving his grandmother great credit for his wonderful way with horses.

This is Ms. Moon's tenth book, many involving horses and racing. It became a true labor of love after she first met and started interviewing Sylvia Bishop six months before she died. Over the next 15 years, the author interviewed countless friends, relatives, jockeys, trainers, and owners, spent hours researching each and every one of Sylvia's racehorses, and visited all the race tracks where Sylvia took her horses to run.

Ms. Moon, who was a cofounder of Middleburg Life magazine in 1984, has chronicled the lives of the famous and the not so famous and covered major murders and prominent lives for People Magazine and The Washington Post. She writes a monthly life-in-the-Virginia-countryside column "Over the Moon" for Washington Life magazine. She's reported on hunt balls, steeplechase races, and parties from Palm Beach to Saratoga Springs for Town and Country and Millionaire magazines.

She's written about homes and gardens for Veranda and Southern Accents and served as a contributing editor for House and Garden. She appeared on the A&E network's "City Confidential" and served as a producer for Dominick Dunne's "Power, Privilege and Justice." She is a founder and now a writer of Country ZEST & Style magazine based in Middleburg.

Her new book is available at Second Chapter Books in Middleburg or on-line at vickymoon.com. She can be reached at vickyannmoon@aol.com.