Ten years ago, at 51, Cinemagnate Louis B. Mayer discovered that all work and no play were making him, a dull boy. He tried golf, and decided he was not the type. Then he bought a race horse, and found a plaything that appealed to his instinct for high drama and fascinating figures. He confided to friends: "I'm going to run this stable the way I run my studio —build it on personalities." But once the heady smell of the stables got him, things got out of hand.
In an era when horse racing was...
To continue reading: or Log-In