Daily inter mountain., 1900-12-15
THE JOCKEYS.

The final expulsion of Tod Sloan from
the English tracks is the leading topic
of discussion among horsemen. and it's
Importance may be judged from the
fact that the staid New York Tribune
treats the matter edtorially. On the
subject the Tribune says:
The future of Sloan, the most skill
full jockey now living, looks dark. 1t
has been decided by the stewards of the
English Jockey Club that he will not be
allowed to ride i'm England next year
because he has violated certain turf
rules Those stewards are men of long
experience. slow to anger and deliber-
ate in their conclusions. They would
not have taken so serious step with
respect to so successful jockey unless
they We're thoroughly convinced that it
was demanded in the best interests Of
the turf. Sloan has been extremely
careless in many things. and has called
down upon himself a great deal of jus
tifable censure. 1t is not likely that
the English Jockey Club will modify it's
edict against him this year. and it is
certain that the American Jockey Club
will not permit and rider who is under
the ban of the English organization to
take mounts on the Eastern courses in
this country in 1901. Sloan and Spencer
will probably spend next season in re-
tirement Spencer was one of the fore
most of riders this side of the At
lantic and has plenty of ability. but the
American Jockey Club revoked his j.
cense to ride because he had been guilty
repeatedly of offenses more serious than
anything Sloan had ever done Sloan's
license was not revoked, but the Brit
ish turf authorities decided that no Ii
cense would be issued to him next year.
Jockeys of the first rank on either
side of the ocean easily command in
comes for larger than the salaries of the
Justices of the United States Supreme
Court or those of the members of the
Cabinet at Washington They are petted
and tattered to a ridiculous extent.
Memebrs of the nobility and even of the
royal family in England, take them by
the hand and congratulate them upon
brilliant victories in the Derby. the
Oaks or the St. Leger. On the Conti-
nent of Europe and in Australia tri-
umphant riders receive similar honors.
Even in this country turfmen delight to
do honor to jockeys when they carry off
a Futurity or Suburban. Many of
these riders are mere boys, whose early
training has taken place in unfortunate
surroundings and under evil influences.
Their temptations are much greater than
those which allure the average lad. Is
it astonishing, then, that most of them
sooner or later get into trouble? Sloan
! and Spencer are now in the miry. pit of
! turf disgrace. The official action of the
highest turf authorities of Great Brit
ain and America has cast them in. How
can they hope to get out?
Four American jockeys who have been
conspicuous on the English turf in the
| latter part of the racing reason of 1900
| were passengers on the ocean liner
Deutschland, which arrived in New York
last Friday. The jockeys We're the
brothers Lester and Johnny" Reiff. and
| Daniel Maher and "Clem' jenkins.
The Reiff brothers did not attract much
attention in England until the racing
year was well advanced. when Lester,
the elder, by reason of being on even
terms with the most successful English
liders and the noted Tod Sloan, COM
PEELED consideration, while johnny in
the meantime had taken rank with the
most successful of the English horsemen
and was regarded as the best light
weight jockey the turf had ever known.
Maher and Jenkins rode on the New
York tracks until late in the season
just ended, when they left for England
Maher to ride for Pierre Lorillard and
Jenkins to find employment and make a
in trouble through the greater part of
the season with the American racing au-
thorities. Their success was nearly as
great as was that of the Reiffs.
| The news of the English Jockey Club's S
action in the case of Tod Sloan, who,
according to a publication in the Eng
lish Racing Calendar, had been advised
20 make no application for license to
ride in England next season, reached
the four lads while they We're still on
board the ship, and all were eager to
know more about the Sloan case. Les
ter Reiff was more interested, however,
tn news concerning his own case in
connection with the running of Richard
Croker's horse, Scotchman II, trained by
Enoch Wishard, and the Earl of Dur
hams horse, Gero!stein. The announce
ment that the stewards of the Jockey
club had vindicated him, Reiff greeted
with pleasure, though he declared tina,
he had expected no other decision. He
explained that the different conditions
t of the races abundantly explained the
apparent changes in the form of the
horses. OF Sloans case, the elder Reif1
= said:
II cannot say that I am surprised, a.
: I had heard rumors of action to bt
taken concerning Sloan, but at that
| lIlllh oiOdH Will llciS z a SioiNS ~ SiSe'i
+ himself if he can have the case reopened
l know nothing about what Sloan is sale
, to have done, but I am sorry he is il
trouble for he made himself very popu
= lar among the American riders in Eng
land and, as far as know, was Away
within the rules in his riding. AS ia
;, ! as the acceptance of presents is con
cerned, it is a common thing in Eng
land, many of the owners making prac
tice of rewarding their jockeys for an.
= exceptionally good ride. There has beel
a vast amount of talk in England abou
p the actions of the American jockeys an
j. horsemen, but it is my opinion that mos
of it is due to the irresponsible chatte
l. of American race-track followers, VIII
: circulate stories to further their ow1