The Dickinson press., 1889-04-13
A JOCKEYS TUMBLES.
BILLY DoNoHUE, THE RACE RIDER,
TELLS OF HIS NARROW ESCAPES.

Fallen Horse-Ho Had a Leg Over Some
of the Fastest Animals That Ever Went
Under tho Wire in America.
William Donohue has ridden many Of the
crack horses in the past ten years, has been
the hero of many close and exciting finishes
and has probably received moro severe falls,
broken ribs and hips and sustained other in
Jurles than any living jockey And yet in
conversation and manner he is as gentle and
refined as ono of the celebrated 400" never
alludins to his narrow escape and brilliant
record us horscman unless drawn out by
some personal friend.
(Which of your many falls was the worst!"
The most severe was at New Orleans on
April "a, lSsa, on the grounds of tho Louisi-
ana Jockey club. 1t was in tho Cottrill
stakes for 3-year-olds at one milo and a half
had tho mount on John Grayer's chestnut
geldinS Warrington, u son of War Dance and
Nannlo II. Anglia was tho favoritc with
Babcock second choice, and the other starters
being Ellie IL. and Mamie W Before an
eighth of n mile had been covered Efie Ii.
fell ahead of mo and Warrington stumbled
over her. Anglia, who was behind, came Oil
top of me, crushing his hoof into my right
groin and breaking two ribs. The reports of
the accident i'll the papers and Guide vary,
but mino is tho correct one AS fell l
could SEQ clouds of dust and horses all in
heap, but after that knew nothing until
nwokc three days later in tho Hotel Dieu,
where tho good Sisters of Charity we're nurs-
ing inc. In that race Apollo finished first,
with Babcock second, and Manic W. th
Tho accident took place just after the st
as we wero making the first turn. suffer-
no pain at tho time, but when became con
scious it was impossible to movo i'll bed, anG
l had to bo helped by tho good sisters, who
handled mo Just like u child.
FOURTEEN DAYS IN BED.
II was in bed fourteen days, but su Tered
no after effects whatever. In fact, rtaa1l
been particularly fortunate in all my falls, as
havo never been annoyed by any of them
after have once got we'll. Had it not been
for the accident Anglia would have probably
Won and Apollo been second, but there was
little hope for Warrington anyway. Ho
would have finished near tho tail end. Still
his people had great confidence in him. I'm
like me, he has never been any good since the
fall. Anglia got up after tho accident and
jumped half way over tho fence where she
hung until lifted Off. Neither Givcn who
rolo her, nor Edwards, who had the mount
on Etlio H., was hurt. said Anglia would
probably have won, because on tho first day
of the meeting she had beaten both Babcock
and APOLLO i'll tho Picllwick stakes, in which
race $50 rodo Walrington."
"Df Iva YOU have severe tumble at Mon
mouth a Wv years agoa"
''YoU mean that fall with Wandering
y O., ~ was big shake up, but was not Sc
yercly hurt, believe it was in purse re1S
at /; lpil9 IN July II 'S5 There were cg&so
starters ,.ill' lad tho mount on the l"E
John Spellnnlts chestnut gclding Wal.
| ing. His stable thought they had u vcrita. &
cinch, and As WAS well within the weigh III
lO5 pounds they put mo up with instructi' ss3
to como away III tho stretch. 1t was 5 g.
on my mount and my friends wero on ~
| man. NJ the post Wandering CONNIE
his old tricks and with buck jumping
| Straight rs steeple " the air. | hui
with toota aud nail and enjoyed the lali
from the grand stand and lawn. Tho
horse delayed the start sono minutes,
when tho ilig fe!l he was full of running
had him we'll ~ hand, turning for home, and
was preparing TO make my effort, when
Greenland, with Me.lon up, i;sl!l, and Com
pensnton followed with Willie Martin l
was on top of them before | knew it, and
then all was II blank Willing hands carried
mo under tho trccs, close by, and it was not
| jurica. was laid up for several days, and
when next | appeared on tho track 1T was
with Il black eye, contusions on forehead and
a disabled arm. Of course you want to know
who won the race! Well, it was Executor
u 20 to shot"
BOTH LEGS BROKEN,
"Do you remember any other falls!n
"Qh, yes, lots Of them. .L,Eecall my first
tumbleat Saratoga, away back n theseyape,
ties. The two-ycar-old WarIDck Shresw, ma,
and though Unconscious ,for inS6k1i9 hAi l&ahRl
hour ! was ready To- ridea1nt tfhe Mlxf 0ac9i,
but il Was pn the Grayesend track IN i65 tAat3
my left leg ss'sas broken through the careless
ness Of "a brothea j6cksya There were eight
OF us in sweepstakes atahiiag .furlong,
imd Ada D. was q bot fay0rits. .as mount,
Santa Claus, was thought ,P have o good
chance and was freely baekSd his tptisa6tls at.
the respectable odds Of Eight Iati t.nItHona,
Tornado, however, took the id and was.
never hcaucd would have ,bsen second, Z
not first, had not one of the Bo5s serowdedi
OIL Santa int" the rails on tho first tausis,s
Ny horse stumbled and fell turning COM
plcte so1nersallt with me. My mind was mb
confused to think until after struck tho
ground This time did not lose conscious
ness, but suffered gre; pain, as my lc. was
broken. was laid up f. nnc months and
| the Brooklyn Jockey cluL kindly donated
500 toward dcfrayins expenses whilo dis
| abled the surplus remaining serving us u
nucleus to Il fund for the benefit of sick and
| disabled jockeys No, never feel the effect
| from that fall, and think my leg is stronger
than it was before. My other leg was broken
| when boy by u party of friends sky ylarkins"
(which do you regard as tho best horse
you ever rode:'
THAT is difficult question to answer, US
have ridden many good oucs and lots o1 bad
ones but among the best were Thora, Giro1e,
San Savior and Eole. In my opinion Nom
archist was tho greatest race horse this coun-
try ever saw. lie won twelve straight races
from o!4o mile to three miles, and was up to
any weight.
The riding is much improved in the past
ten years, and SO is the racing There are
more starters now than in the old days, when
three or four made up the field. Now ten or
twelve frequently SO to tho post, and some
times even more. | have seen thirty odd at
Brighton, and as you know twenty odd havo
started III big handlcaps at Sheepsnead and
Brooklyn.
"Thc horses Of ten and even twenty years
ago were equally as good over short courses
and much better over long ones tuan are tine
horses Of tho present day. Few thorough
breds of today can go over a distance Of
ground like the old times. Trainers and
owners are moro honest and enthusiastic and
more interest is evinced by the pubic in the
sport.
Yes you MAJ say for me that tie turf is
improving crsry year, and that we already
lead tho world i'll the most enthral.in5 OF
sports New York Herald.