Best Mate leads the field of strong contenders . . .

Sports Books 2004/General: Best Mate: The Illustrated Story of the Nation's Favourite Horse (Anne Holland), €24.61 - If Best Mate wins his fourth Cheltenham Gold Cup in a row next March this book will need another chapter or three, but for now it provides the illustrated tale of one of racing's greats, tracing his story from his, well, foalhood days in Co Meath, to when he came under the wing of Henrietta Knight and Terry Biddlecombe.

Best Mate: Triple Gold (Henrietta Knight) €13.15 - If you haven't enough of Best Mate's story you could try this book, the first paperback edition of Henrietta Knight's own account of the wonder horse - this edition includes three new chapters and brings the story up to date.

Days of Thunder: The History of the Ulster Grand Prix (Alastair McCook) €27.99 - Featuring a selection of previously unavailable photographs from the archives and first-hand accounts by some of the race's greats. It is a history of the Ulster Grand Prix (motorcycling).

The Pits: The Real World of Formula 1 (Beverley Turner) €22.34 - Written by one of ITV's Formula One team The Pits looks into the often murky world of the sport, examining, for example, how venues are chosen and the power of the sponsors. The blurb promises "after reading this no-holds-barred description of life in the pits, elite motor racing will never seem the same again". Judge for yourself.

Alex Zanardi: My Story (Alex Zanardi, Gianluca Gasparini) €27.90 - The former Formula One driver lost both his legs in an accident in a cart race in Germany 2001 but, despite insisting he never wanted to race again, returned two years later in the European Touring Car Championship. This is his story.

Johnny Owen (Jeff Murphy) €23.17 - Written with the support and co-operation of his family this is the biography of the Welsh boxer who died in the 1980s after a brutal fight and was the subject of one of the most memorable pieces of sports writing, by Hugh McIlvanney.

Jimmy Connors Saved My Life (Joel Drucker) €23.83 - It's not the first biography of Connors but it's different, largely because Drucker was a close, if mildly obsessed, confidant of the tennis star and, so, is able to include interviews and information on a player who admits himself to have been narcissistic and paranoid at his peak.

Muscle: A Writer's Trip Through a Sport with No Boundaries (Jon Hotten) €16.05 - Hotten spent two years in the company of bodybuilders and lived to tell the tale, in the form of Muscle. "From Margate to Mexico, Amsterdam to Arnie's place, Muscle is a book for everyone who's ever looked in the mirror and wanted more" claim the publishers. The Rough Guide to Muhammad Ali (Paul Simpson, Jon Hotten, Richard Pendleton) €11.75 - Another for the ever-growing Ali library, this one covers all 61 of his fights and includes 101 of his greatest quotes.

Feet in the Clouds: A Tale of Fell-Running and Obsession (Richard Askwith) €25.32 - It mightn't have the most tempting title but Askwith's book was one of the year's successes, making it onto the William Hill Sports Book of the Year list.

Confessions of a Speedway Promoter (John Berry) €21.72 - Another of 2004's unlikely successes. The "most controversial speedway book ever written" reveals the level of race-fixing, and other goings-on, in the 1970s and '80s. Berry was one of Britain's most successful promoters.

Ross O'Carroll-Kelly: PS, I Scored the Bridesmaids (Paul Howard) a9.95. Like your average bookshop we're not quite sure how to categorise Ross O'Carroll-Kelly's latest offering but considering he was a former schools rugby legend we'll accommodate him here. Read him and weep, and pray your children never end up living or sounding like him.