New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-08-14


Vet the pubc who going home with empty pockets,
rail at the apparent carcessness and stupidity Of the
Jockey may unwttingly do him cruel injustice. The
blame for the defeat Of horse who should have won
often docs not lie with him. but with the men by whom
he is employed.
"Of ell the who work for their bread IN tms
world jockeys are perhaps the best abused said
welknown English rider to the writer, In the course
of talk during the Newmarket Craven Meeting some
years ago. If the public and the spaper men who
crticse would try to lift the curtain Just little they
would plainly that tho Jockey had been fooled rs
badly anybody.
cease in point could give fifty II had time,
but thee illustrations will serve / may ride, say,
four races in nm afternoon OF my four mounts three hail
from strange stabes-tat is TO say, stables to which
! am not attached by contract, and about the inner
workings Of which l know rather less than Hihdoo
may know that the people for whom am riding are
as we call II, crooked may despsc them as rogues,
but they willing TO pay my price and In these days
O man with family to support cannot afford to throw
money away. While l do nv best to win, / fulfil my
duty to the public, and there my responsibility ENDS
Now what often happens? The horse Is filled with
water or otherwise ehectually 'stifcned before the
race but OF course don't know that until we have
started The nag, heavily backed by the public. runs
at the tail OF his field for the whole Of the journey
Fraud yels the public: Jockey not trying yard
never made an effort TO get up!' sometimes the
owner Is thief and will give instructions which he
knows will make It impossible for the horse to VIM
Or he is q fool with scarcely judgment enough to
keep himself warm, and will tell TO ride the race
In a way that would beat Ormonde II IS all very
we'll for people TO say that jockey should his
Judgment. If he did that he'd soon be on the ground
and he'd stay there He must follow the owners or
trainers orders. II he fails to do the stable Will
not employ him again, but, anyway, the whole blame
Of defeat Is cast upon the shoulders OF the jockey
All things considered, his lot is not happy one
n ho i'm lp
mounted on handsome three yearod colt and radiant
I'm the silk and satin jacket glisenng IN the sunlight
know only one side OF his life they have adequate
realization OF the dangers, the risks and the msees
OF his calling. When the Jockey answers the buele
call at the starting post he knows that he may be
brought back bleeding, senseless, dead, with all
semblance OF humanity crushed out Of him. His
mount slips or stumbles In the crOwdng for the turn
into the homestetch, and he is on the ground with
the iron hoofs busily pounding out his ife There Is
another time in his existence when he thinks with
envy Of the toers In the mines OF Siberia This Is
when he is wasting to ride. wasting" Involves
among other things twelve hours Or so spent in a
Turkish bath ten-mc walk muled in fanncls, under
the heat OF the July sum- abstinence from all solid
food or nourshment for periods ranging from twenty
four to fortyelght hours.
Fred Archer wasting to ride knight Of Burghley
in the Manchester Cup, by Primrose II, lived for
two days on half dozen crackers and occasional
Tara will tell you that in order to ride at certain
weight ii is common experience for them to 60 with
out food for twenty four hours
Perhaps Jockey In England or America Is so
we'll versed in the many and devious ways Of the
horses and his owner James Mclaughlin, probably
In all respects the most accomplished horseDan this
country ever produced. McLaughlins weight which
now reaches 14O pounds. has kept him out OF the
saddle for the greater part of the season, and in all
probability the public have seen the last Of him as
q Jockey. Yet the memory OF his brilliant
achievements will live while the American turf lasts
On the art of riding one can talk more entertain
ingy with better effect, with higher authority than
Mclaughlin. Certain observations the subject
made by him in a talk with the writer are worth
recording here.
"Talh about the best method OF riding a horse"
said Mclaughlin, there fifty different ways Of
riding horse, simply because there are fifty different
kinds Of horses. No two horses are exactly alike In
disposition temperament. and man must be years
IN the saddle before he acquire the art. for 1t
Is an art, of Immediately appreciatng and adapting
himself to the peculiartes Of his mount about which
he has previously known nothing. have ridden
many hundred races. and each OF them was in
some respect, however insignificant, different from
all the others. Yet in riding. In all other things,
there are certain standing rules from which no
experienced Jockey ever departs. In my opinion. a
man is never good jockey until he has learned three
nse the WHIP. Judgment Of pace Is, OF course, the
first and most important element In riding n race.
A man understands pace when he tell within
. fraction OF a second just how fast each quarter
mr. half mile Is being run. Then lie knows by the
work which his mount has already done, and by
his preyous record, whether the pace for the full
distance is likely to be hot for hm-and he makes
his race accordingly.
"A good Jockey should be able to tell within an
eighth Of a Wile Just how much chance his horse
has of winning. II he finds that the pace Is too
hot for him. he will lie back seventh or eighth or In
q race Of q mile or more. last, carefully nursing
his mount SO that he may have something left Tor
the finish. II the pace is good and not too fast
for him. he Will take his mount well up into the
bunch lying in a good position, third or fourth or
nth until the time comes 10 make HIS EFFORT II tho
poce be slow he can take his horse up In front and
keen him there. An experienced jockey can wait
In front Just easily as or easier than, he can
No o. but, after all, the art Of waiting properly
forms part Of, and Is akin to, judgment OF pace.
A thorough knowledge of the horse his constitution
and his eccentrices Is also essential and In order
To acquire this boy must be bred In the stable al
most from his infancy. He may not be able, while
v4dtne accurately to time halves and quarters to a
r,action but all the same. he will know by the way
his horse is running and by the way he behaves Just
bsv much he will have left at the nish ana In that
c.se he will know just what to do"
Won we're always exceptionally lacky-or ex-
esptsonaIly clevcr-in getting sooo START ITO" o'u
- manage 10 do TT" asked the writer
~. Nj, me whole secret lies. perhaps, In never
...,,. vmr eve off the starter no matter which way
1913 800 h..h is turned. When once n Jockey
ss.r,.s t.mili,r with the methods Of particular