Good stuff.
Here are my favorite lines, all from the 2nd page...
Murphy remembers an owner telling him: "This is a Korean horse. It doesn't understand Western ways." 
* * *
Murphy was in the stables, offering some last-minute advice to his jockey. Interpreter at his side, he leaned in close with a strategy about when to make a move.
"I can't do it," the jockey said, looking afraid.
* * *
One jockey said he was afraid he might scare a competitor's horse and that its rider might complain.