Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-03-20
A JOCKEYS TUMBLES.
BILLY OONOHUE, THE RACE RIDER,
TELLS OF HIS NARROW ESCAPES.

the hero of many close and exciting finishes
and has probably received more severe falls,
broken ribs and hips and sustained other in
Juries than any living jockey And yet in
conversation and manner he Is as gentle and
refined as one of tho celebrated ''4OO,n never
alluding TO his narrow escape and brilliant
record as Il horseman unless drawn out by
some personal friend
Wv hich of your many falls was the worst ~
The most severe was at New Orleans on
April "A, 1882, on the grounds of the Louisi-
ana Jockey club 1t was in the Cottrili
stakes for S-year-olds at one mile and half
had the mount on John Grayer's chestnut
gelding Warrington, a son of War Dance and
Mamie +. Anglia was the favorite, with
Babcock second choice, and the other starters
being Ellie ii. and Mamie W. Before an
eighth of a mile had been covered Efie H.
fell ahead of me and Warrington stumbled
over her. Anglia, who was behind, came on
top OF me, crushing his hoof into my right
groin and breaking two ribs The reports of
the accident In the papers and Guide vary,
but mine is the correct one As | fell |
could SEQ clouds OF dust and horses all In a
heap, but after that knew nothing until l
awoke three days later in the Hotel Dieu,
where the good Sisters of Charity were nurs-
ing me. In that race Apollo finished first,
with Babcock second, and Mamie W. third
The accident took place just after the start,
as we were making the first turn | suffered
no pain at the time, but when became con-
scious it was imposs BILE to move in bed, and
had to TO helped by the good sisters, who
handled me just like child
FOURTEEN DAYS IN BED
Il was in bed fourteen days, but suffered
no after effects whatever In fact, / have
been particularly fortunate in all my falls, as
| have never been annoyed by any of them
after have once got well. Had it not been
for the accident An ylia would have probably
won and Apollo been second, but there was
little hope for Warrington anyway He
would have finished near the tail end. Still
his people had great confidence in him. Un-
like me, he has never been any good since the
fall Anglia got W after the accident and
jumped half way over the fence, where she
hung until lifted off. Neither Given, whe
rode her, nor Edwa 'ds, who had the mount
on Ellie H., was hurt. said Anglia would
probably have won, because on the first day
of the meeting she had beaten both Babcock
and Apollo in the -Pickwick stakes, in which
race | also rode Wa arlington"
Didn't you have a severe tumble at Mon
mouth few years agol"
You mean thai fall with Wandering.
Yes, it was big shake up, but | was not Sc
verely hurt. | believe it was in purse race
ct mile in July OF 'S5 There were eight
starters and | hao the mount on the late
John Spellman's chestnut gelding Wander
ing His stable thought they had veritable
'cinch, and as | was well within the weight
los pounds, they pu. me up with instructions
TO come away in the stretch. 1t was to
nfn x.r,1 P,.54
man, At the post Wandering commenced
his old tricks, and with buck jumping stood
straight as steeple' in the air. / hung on
with tooth and nail and enjoyed the laughter
from the grand stand and lawn The old
horse delayed the start some minutes but
when the flag fell he was full of running. /
had him well In hani, turning for home, and
was preparing to make my effort, when
Greenland, with Meaton up, fell, and Com
pensation followed, with Willie Martin. |
was on top of them before | knew it, and
then all was blank Willing hands carried
me under the trees, close by, and it wes not
long before | was able to ascertain my in-
Jurles. was laid up for several days and
when next l appeared on the track it was
with black eye, contusions on forehead and
a disabled arm. OF course you want to know
who won the racel Well, it was Executor
a 20 to shot"
BOTH LEGS BROKEN
DO you remember any other fallsr
"Oh, yes, lots of them. | recall my first
tumble at Saratoga, away hack in the seven
ties. The two-year-old Warlock threw me.
and though unconsc cious for nearly half an
hour was ready to ride in the next race
But it was on the GTavesend track in 's7 that
my left leg was broken through the careless
ness of a brother jockey. There were eight
OF US in sweepstakes at mile and a furlong
and Ada ID. was hot favorite MY mount
Santa Claus, was thought to have a good
chance and was free ly backed by his people at
the respectable odds Of eight and ten to one
Tornado, however, took the lead and was
never headed. | would have been second, If
not first, had not one of the boys crowded
old Santa into the rails on the first turn
My horse stumbled and fell, turning a com
plete somersault VITA me. My mind was too
confused to think until after l struck the
ground. This time | did not lose conscious
ness, but suffered great pain, as my leg was
broken. was laid up for nine months and
the Brooklyn Jockey club kindly donated
$500 toward defraying expenses while dis
abled, the surplus remaining serving as q
nucleus to fund for the benefit of sick and
i
from that fall, and think my leg is stronger
than it was before. My other leg was broken
when boy by par ~ of friends skylarking." :"
(Which do you regard the best horse
you ever rodeP
THAT is a difficult question to answer, as /
have ridden many & good ones and lots of bad
ones, but among the best were Thora, Girofle,
San Savior and Eole. In my opinion Mon
archist yxaS no GRO, uoa boy-,a fl,;e ,o,,x
try ever saw. He won twelve straight races
from one mile to tllree miles, and was I'D to
any weight.
''The riding is mt ch improved in the past
ten years and so is the racing There are
more starters now tnn in the old days, when
three or four made up the field. Now ten or
twelve frequently 80 to the post, aid some
times even more have seen thirty odd at
Brighton, and us you know twenty odd have
started in big han n1Icaps at Sheepshead and
Brooklyn.
''The horses of ten and even twenty years
ago were equally "a good over short courses
and much better over long ones than are the
horses of the present day. Few thorough
breds of today can go over distance of
ground like the old times Trainers and
owners are more honest and enthusiastic and
more interest is evir ced by the public in the
sport.
YES, you may say for me that the turf is
improving every year, and that we already
lead the world In the most enthralling Of
sports. New Yori Herald.
At hugging bee for the benefit Of the
church along the upper Hudson, a man while
blindfolded hugged nis wife for several min
utes without knowing who he was huggmg.
I, sn he did find ont he wanted his ID cents
h..