The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-09-09

world That he has wider reputation
than any other jockey is certain, and
while it would be unjust to many of the
riders Of this country to say that he was
! the best jockey in the world, as is often
claimed for him, it is certain that he
stands in the very foremost rank of his
| profession.
Sloans early history has little of the
romantic to it. His success of the present
| is due largely to steady application to
work in a racing stable, where he started
as mere stable hand, and to natural
| aptitude for the work. Included among
| Sloans accomplishments is Judgment of
pace which seems to be intuitive with
! him, and which is really the ladder by
which he has climbed to his present posi-
! tion
COMES FROM KOKOMO
| Sloans parents were poor and the first
| important event in his life was his adop-
| ton by man of the unromantic name
/ of Dan Blouser, who still lives at Ko-
komo, Ind, where Sloan's early years
were passed. 1t would appear to the
average person that the mere fact of be-
| ing raised in town named Kokomo was
| enough to discourage a boy, but Sloan
has since shown that he is possessed
of an extraordinary streak of luck, the
! first illustration of the fact being his
ability to leave Kokomo. His foster par
ents objected to his leaving, however,
SO Tod took French leave when he was
about fifteen years of age and ran away
| to a fair, which was in progress at In
dianapolis
1t may be mentioned here that Sloan
showed no indications of being anything
out of the ordinary when he was a boy,
| his favorite playground being the street
| to1A ~ Ilni17 oil
unknown. Hair raising stories have been
| published from Tkokomo ever since Sloan
became famous about his habit of sub
DUNG wild horse every other day or SO
! just for the pastime of the thing. but
those best acquainted with him are en-
tirely ignorant of any such occurrences,
and they are most likely only the stock
stories of Kokomo, prepared in honor of
her only son who has won fame.
For three or four years Sloan follow
ed the races at Indiana country fairs, rid
ing horses occasionally in races, but more
often acting merely as stable helper or
rubber. He was in the habit of galloping
the horses every morning to exercise
them however, and it was no doubt at
this time that he picked up his knowledge
of pace, knowledge which is SO unfail-
ing that it seems almost intuition. AT no
time did Sloan's performances give the
remotest indication that he was destined
to become one OF the greatest jockeys
of his day.
IN EAST ST. LOUIS.
After career of several years as sta
be boy, Sloan drifted to the East st.
Louis race track in the early nineties.
Continuous racing was in full blast there
at the time giving an opportunity for
Jockeys to develop, which was taken adj
vantage of by many. Almost every stable
boy at the track could have an oppor-
tunity several times during a winter at
least to secure a mount on some horse or
other, and as good jockeys also rode
there, the stable boys had an opportunity
to study their methods and improve If
they would To give Sloan the fullest
credit, however, it must be said that ow-
ing to the number of sprint races at the
course and the sharp turns of the track
itself, which necessitated hustling for a
position near the rail If the horse was to
have chance, the great majority of the
Jockeys turned out by the East ST. Louis
track were of the rough riding order, who
never amounted to much on larger
track. That Sloan acquired the knowl-
edge of jockeyship as he did is point for
which he must be given credit.
AT THE SOUTH SIDE.
When the South Side track opened
Sloan secured mounts more frequently, he
having attracted some attention by his
work. His brother, Cassius, was also
riding at the track at the time, and fire.
quenters of the South Side track during
its early days will recolect seeing on the
Jockey board of the course the names of
c. Sloan and T. Sloan, c. Sloan riding
about thrice as often as his now famous
brother.
HIS CHICAGO WORK.
About five years ago Sloan went East
to ride on the tracks near New York
There, by a stroke of good fortune, he
was given an opportunity to ride some of
the better class of handicap horses, and
the results were fairly startling. Every
racegoer will recollect the establishment
felt there and doubtless everywhere else
where Sloan had ridden when the news ap-
peared in the papers that Sloan was rid
ing four and five winners day, and was
outriding in close finishes the best jock
eys in the East. Almost every one con-
sidered his success a streak of luck and
expected that he would soon drop back
to his old position But 1t was not so.