King of the Wind

Originally published in 1948, Marguerite Henry’s Newbery Medal-winning King of the Wind: The Story of the Godolphin Arabian is a middle-grade historical novel that blends fact and legend to tell the story of one of the founding sires of modern Thoroughbred horses. Through the journey of Agba, a Moroccan stableboy with a speech disability, and his horse, Sham, Henry creates a tale about how loyalty, perseverance, and fate shaped the history of horse racing.

This guide refers to the eBook edition released by Simon & Schuster in 2012.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of ableism, child abuse, and animal cruelty.

Plot Summary

Agba is a young stableboy who works for Mulai Ismael, the sultan of Morocco. Of the 10 horses that he is responsible for, Agba’s favorite is a beautiful bay mare. She gives birth to a foal with a white spot on his heel—the mark of incredibly swift horses. The mare dies a few days later, and the foal seems doomed without his mother’s care. Agba saves the foal, whom he names Sham, by feeding him camel’s milk. Agba promises Sham that the horse will one day be honored as King of the Wind.

Two years later, Agba and five other stableboys are summoned before the sultan, who declares that he will send the stableboys along with six horses to France as a gift to Louis XV. Agba is elated when he and Sham are selected to go to France. However, the captain of the ship mistreats the horses and the stableboys on the voyage, and both the children and the animals are emaciated when they reach Louis XV’s royal stables. The king’s adviser mockingly dismisses the sultan’s suggestion to use the stallions as breeding stock, and the animals are put to work instead.

Sham becomes a cart horse for the king’s chief cook, but the chef sells him to a wood carter because the horse refuses to let anyone but Agba hold his reins. Agba spends days searching the streets of Paris for the horse. Finally, he sees a neglected Sham pulling a cart driven by a cruel man wielding a whip. The wood carter allows Agba to live in his shed because the boy loads his cart for free each morning. Agba spends his days toiling in a market and his nights tending to the horse.

Despite Agba’s ministrations, Sham’s health deteriorates due to his poor treatment at the carter’s hands. One winter morning, the man piles the cart high with logs despite Agba’s protestations and drives Sham out into the slippery streets. When the horse is unable to climb an icy incline, the wood carter beats him until he collapses. An English Quaker named Jethro Coke intervenes and purchases the exhausted horse.

Both Sham and Agba recover their health and spirits during their months at Mr. Coke’s home in the outskirts of London, and the boy and Mr. Coke’s housekeeper, Mistress Cockburn, grow close. However, Mr. Coke reluctantly sends Agba and Sham away after the horse throws his son-in-law. Mr. Coke finds the horse work at a nearby inn, but the innkeeper’s wife sends Agba away. One night, the boy sneaks into the inn’s stables to visit Sham, and the innkeeper’s wife accuses him of being a horse-thief and has him arrested. Agba is imprisoned in Newgate Jail for weeks.

One summer day, Mistress Cockburn learns of Agba’s arrest and has a chance encounter with two aristocratic philanthropists, the Dowager Duchess of Marlborough and the Earl of Godolphin. The nobles secure the boy’s freedom, and the earl brings Agba and Sham to his stables at Gog Magog. Titus Twickerham, the breeder and trainer for the stables, takes an instant dislike to the high-spirited Sham and declares that he is ill-suited for racing and breeding, but the earl remains committed to caring for the horse.

Despite Sham’s improving health and the kindness of the earl and the Duchess, Agba is greatly disappointed because Sham isn’t given a chance to prove himself. The boy despises Hobgoblin, the enormous stallion who is the earl’s pride and joy. Hobgoblin has an exalted pedigree, and the earl hopes that he will sire the finest horses in England. He selects a beautiful white mare named Lady Roxana for this purpose, but Agba notices that Lady Roxana is interested in Sham rather than Hobgoblin. Refusing to stand by and allow his beloved horse to be overlooked any longer, Agba lets Sham out of his stall. The two stallions engage in a ferocious battle for dominance. Although Hobgoblin is much larger, the swift and spirited Sham wins. The victorious stallion prances before Lady Roxana, who welcomes him with a joyful whinny.

The earl punishes Agba and Sham by sending them to an isolated hut in a marsh called Wicken Fen. Two years later, the boy and the horse are welcomed back in triumph to Gog Magog because Lady Roxana and Sham’s colt, Lath, is remarkably swift and graceful. The earl names the horse the Godolphin Arabian, and Sham and Lady Roxana are happily reunited. Lath and his two younger brothers, Cade and Regulus, become accomplished racehorses.

One day, the earl tells Agba that he may have to abandon his project to breed the finest horses in England because he is in debt. Their only hope is a race at Newmarket for the Queen’s Plate and a prize of 1,000 guineas. All three of Sham’s sons compete in the race, and Agba is filled with hope and pride when the earl invites him and Sham to Newmarket.

King George II and Queen Caroline watch the final race, and Agba and Sham are invited to stand at the finish post, which is a great honor. Looking at the young racehorses, Agba realizes that it’s better that Sham won’t compete so that he will never have to experience defeat. Although Lath gets off to a rocky start, he wins the race. Agba and Sham are present at the royal stand when Queen Caroline awards the earl his prize, and she gifts the horse a regal purple feather from her hat. Agba sheds a tear as he realizes that he has fulfilled his promise to be like a father to Sham and ensure that multitudes honor Sham as the King of the Wind.