Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1877-05-25
AN ENGLISH JOCKEY.

AN ESGLISH JOCKEY.
his Handsome Income, Manner Of
Life and ReIa1iSc Rank in Horse
S0"iety.
Temple Bari
The present chief jockey, we be-
lieve, is not more than eighteen
years Of age, and yet during the
racing season of 1876, he rode not
less than six hundred and fifty
seven times, and won two hundred
and seven races-a feat never before
accomplished by any horseman on
the turf. His five and three.guinea
fees for riding would amount to
more than 82400. A gentleman
who is we'll versed in the t. s., d.
of racing has calculated that the
chief jockey of 1876 received as
much in fees, retainers and presents
as the Lord High Chancellor of
England counting fees at 824O0,
the "Roseberry" present, $1,000
retainers, say 9l20O, and allowing
Tor presents at the rate of $50 for
each Of the two hundred and seven
races he won, f4140, total, fS74O.
This is not an exaggerated state
ment. In all probability the chief
jockey would net another thousand
pounds over his Cesarwitch victory.
in addition to the present of that
sum which he received from his
employer. Many gentlemen will
say to the chief jockey, 81 have
backed your mount; you stand in a
pony to nothing with me-" A
"pony," it may be explained, is the
turf slang for f25. The Jockey who
played the second fiddle last year
rode seyenty-fve horses that each
won a race and two hundred and
thirty-two others, so that his re-
ceipts from fees We're over f1100.
lie also received $1,000 for winning
the Cambridgeshired, besides other
presents, and one or two remaining
fees. His income for 1876 would
probably be above $4,000. With
reference to the remuneration of
jockeys there is this much to be
said they must make hay while
the sun shines; youth very soon
fades into old age, and gifts of horse
manship suitable for lightweight
riding are not continued to jockeys
forever. Out of the hundreds of
boys who annually join the racing
stables, perhaps not ten will have
sufficient nerve and ability COM
bined to ride successfully in one of
the great races of the season, even
after they have undergone a length
ened noyitiate.
At the present time there are not
twenty jockeys who have a claim
to be considered lirst-rate in their
calling, and of the fifty horsemen
who rode the winning horses of
1867, those who were successful
had from five to two hundred and
seven winning mounts. So far as
his income is concerned, even a
fifth-rate jockey may be a gentle
man; he may at any rate earn Il
thousand a year. The. expert
horsemen of the period enjoy a TO-
tai immunity from all the coarser
labor of the stable. The fashiona.
BILE, or, as he is called in the slang
of the turf, the "crack" Jockey,
as soon as his indentures have ex.
pired, requires only to ride his ap
pointed horse; he has no grooming
to do; he keeps a valet to assist
him in changing his dress and to
look after his traps" he travels
from one race meeting to another
in first-class carriage, very proba-
bly, as the companion of the noble
man or gentleman for whom he is
going to ride or has just been rid
ing. In the winter season he will
ride to hounds and enjoy the pleas
ures of the chase on his own thor
oughbred, or he will go "to town "
and indulge in a few visits to the
theator or the opera, Formerly, in
the days when the world was
without railways, jockeys were re-
quired to walk their horses from
one race meeting to another, and
strings Of these animals, accom-
panied by their grooms, might,
during the racing season, be en-