Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-04-19
-MsSAltla<
9ai1y eagle
BOYS TAUGHT TO RIDE.
HOW YOUNGSTERS ARE TRAINED
TO RIDE RACERS TO VICTORY.

To be a Jockey a Boy Needs Nerve
and Cool Head-The Road to For
Other Matters.
"Do you want boy?"
IA boy? What for? What can you dog"
"Ride horses, siT.n
"How much do you weigh?'
'Sixty pounds, and I'm good rider"
This was the conversation overheard in the
paddock at Monmouth park the other day,
and then the writer began to ask some ques-
tons of one of the trainers about the boy
jockeys, how they begin, the work they have
to do and how they are paid. To be a good
jockey requires a great deal of hard work,
nerve and patience, and those who are popul-
lar now have worked hard for years to earn
their regulations. All the big jockeys have
commenced 10 work when very Young, and
those who are young now and just begin
ming to ride in races all hope that some
day they viii be as good riders as McLaugh-
lin, Garrison, Hayward and others. IL a boy
wants to become a jockey be must be very
fond of horses and not at all afraid Of them,
and he must become attached to a racing
y
old When he first enters the stable be win
he put to work as stable boy and have to
carry water TO the horses, make up the bed
ding, clean harness and lead the horses about
for exercise He will find that the work is
not easy He will be at the beck and call of
every one in the stable, and, if he wants to
succeed in the profession he has chosen, must
be willing to work
DURING THE RACING SEASON.
During the racing season the boys are all
In bed by or 9 o'clock at night at the latest,
and they are all on the track with their
horses by sunrise the next morning. All the
work done in training the horses is done at
dawn. The next move good boy will get
Is to have horse given him TO rub down and
10 keep clean In this position he is called a
rubber. After this, if he is a bright boy, he
Is allowed to ride a horse in his exercise gal
Tops This is as far as many of the boys ever
rise because the next position is that of a
Jockey.
To be jockey a boy must have lots Of
nerve, a cool head, and be good rider. He
must be good judge of pace and know very
nearly how fast the horses are going along.
II a trainer thinks a boy could be trusted
with horse in a race, he gives him a mount
in some unimportant race and then if the
hoy does well he will soon rise to the top of
the tree A Jockeys pay is good. McLaugh-
lin gets $4,000 n year from the Dwyer
Brothers. Isaac Murphy gets $4,000 year
from Lucky Baldwin. Fitzpatrick gets
SIS 900 year from the Fairfax stable and
Garrison gets 5, 900 a year from Capt S. S.
Brown; others get paid in proportion accord
ing to their abilities. All these riders are al
lowed to accept outside mounts; that is they
are allowed to ride for any one when they
are not wanted by the stable to which they
are engaged. For these outside mounts they
are paid S25 if they win and so if they lose.
But very often when they win big race
they get much larger fees. Mccarthy got
$1,000 for winning the Brooklyn handicap on
Dry Monopole, and last year Fitzpatrick was
paid $1,000 for winning the Suburban on
Troubadour for Capt. Brown. Some of the
jockeys spend the money they make as fast
as they get it, but others save it, and many
of them are very rich men.
FORTUNE OR A BROKEN NECK.
The dangers of a Jockeys life are very
great. They may be thrown in race at any
time and be trampled to death by horses be-
hind them. The horse they IRE riding may
fall down and 10y rolling on them kill them.
Very often they get SO crowded i'll race
against other horses or against the rails that
their legs are broken and sometimes the
horses they handle are so savage that they
kick and bite the boys. When boy decides
TO become a jockey he must make up his
mind either to make his fortune or to break
his neck One of the best trainers for Jockeys
in this country is Father Bill DAILY. He
taught Mclaughlin and Garrison to ride and
was making a good lightweight of little
Moran when he was killed at Brighton Beach
last year. He is now teaching Palmer TO
ride. In some of the stables the boys are
treated very well. They all have TO live on
the track, and some of the large stables like
the Fairfax, Haggins and the Dryers have
rooms fitted up for the boys, where they can
learn to read and write and have a library of
good books for them TO read in their leisure
time.
In addition to other things a jockey must
have a strong constitution. When they have
to ride in races they must not exceed the
weight that the horse has to carry, and to get
to this weight they have TO train. There are
several ways they have of getting off flesh.
One is by taking medicine. but that is not a
safe way. One is by taking Turkish baths,
but the most popular way is by taking lots
of exercise with heavy clothes on.-New
York Mail and Express.