Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-01

ledC pay track on SuDGIDdii uety "Asf 49,
Sloane, in his day the king pin of all the
Jockeys and unquestionably the greatest
race-rider ever developed In this country
After cleaning up something like 100000,
during his riding career, including call-re-
tanning fees. fees for outside mounts. pres
ents from owners and bets put down for
him on horses he rode by the stable con-
nections. Sloane is now virtually 'all In
from the financial point of view. He was
tremendously extravagant while at the
height of his saddle career. Indeed. 1t was
owing to the lavish style In which he lived
while riding in England that he was event
uaIIy ruled off the English turf-most I'M
Justly ruled off, at that, according to the
statements of many noted English turf
men. who stick to it, in spite of the dictum
of the English Jockey Club, that sloane
never rode, while In England race that
was even unsavory, much less croo i
looking; and American turfmen, even those
most prone to criticise the performances or
Jockeys never accused Sloane OF shaoy
riding during his career in the saddle on
this side of the big water. The naughty
English Jockey Club. however, refused to
tolerate the splendiferousness OF Tods
method OF living in England, and way
was found to get rid of him. He wasn't
formally ruled off, but he was warned
from Newmarket Heath" which Is about
the same thing. Sloane, after that, was
ruled off the French turf too on purely
technical charge. Sloane sued the French
Jockey Club, employing the noted barrlster
Labor, the lawyer who defended Dreyfus,
to conduct his case, and he won 1t, obtain
ing q few francs damages from the club
But he was never restored to riding prlvi-
leges in France, and, as the main jockey
club on this side of the pond abjectly fol-
lows the rulings of the foreign jockey
clubs for sensible reason in life that
anybody connected with the American turf
a InY
closed swith his experience in France. He
took a few mounts at one of the New Or
leans tracks last winter, but did not do
well and now he has ridden his last race.
No jockey that ever lived. not even the
famous Fred Archer of England, ever had
even a shade" on Tod Sloane as a rider
of race horses. Grizzled old turfmen who
know the game inside and out-laugh when
It is suggested that some of the noted
Jockeys who came after Sloane might have
been as clever as the wonderful Tod. They
are unanimous in declaring that the Hide
brands the Fullers, the Shaws. the Nicols,
the Millers, the Radtkes and all the other
star riders who have come to the front
since Sloane dropped out were and are the
merest novicet compared to Tod at his
best.
Has Lost the Knack.
I asked Sloane, who is a most intelligent
little man and very lucid talker, If he
thought, supposing he were to be reinstated
anu DeSdll IiCiIiB again, lS "cuid pS 1plS
to put so many mounts over the plate as
in the old days
IT should say not!' Sloane exclaimed
with perfect frankness. Nothing like It,
In fact, I think I'd prove to be q very or
binary jockey If I were to begin again now.
even II l trained for a renewal Of the work
with all my might 1 found that out at
New Orleans last winter. OF course, the
mounts I took down there were plugs and
mere selling platers. but they were at least
as good as the other horses in their races,
and didn't do anything worth mentioning.
The knack had left mel found that out to
my perfect satisfaction. 1t made me blue
to realize it, for l had some slight hope
remaining that eventually / might be re-
stored to the saddle by the eastern turf or
ganzation. But whenI found out that, even
though they might restore me. ia never be
able to regain the form of the old days, l
certainly had a dismal hour or two OF
reflection you can take that from me.
| But I had my day in the saddle. 1t was
longer day than that of most jockeys who
| nudge their way to the front, and 1t would
surely have lasted q great deal longer had
| I not been ruled off in England and France.
| I was IN about the best form of my life
when l warned from Newmarket on
| trumped-up charges and when they put
| me away in France on a mean technically
l was still in great condition, and had l
| been let alone I'd perhaps have gone on
| and ridden TO my notch for four or five
| years more. But my day of decline would
surely have come, anyhow. II Is the eX-
! perience of all Jockeys. Danny Maher, who
| IS stil cleaning up all of the mighty fix
| lures of the British turf, is hanging on an
| extraordinarily long time. and am glad Of
| tia fine little man, Maher, and q great
Jockey. But Maher is exception, too.
Most jockeys have about two great sea-
sons-that is the average. / speak of
| course OF Jockeys who get to the top of
| the class, not of the rank and file of rid
| ers who stick to about the sams notch year
| In and year out for a long period. Two
| years of remarkable riding Is about the
| average for the most remarkable riders,
| and some of them have only one great sea-
| son and then go into the discard altogether
| or join the second-raters. l lasted for five
years at my top notch, in this country and
| Europe. but my case is exceptional. am
naturally a small man, never had to bant
| to take mount, and, despite all OF the
| fsiry stories to the contrary, always kept
myself in condition
| the knack of jockey is-the ability to put
| horse after horse over the plate. l don't
| even know what 1t is myself. I could never
define 1t. AS ! grow older l begin to think
| It is a sort OF magnetism that exudes from
| the great rider and affects the horse he Is
riding That is at least as reasonable an
| explanation as any other. The turf writer
| can talk about Jockeys Judgment OF
| pace his fine pair of hands his splendid
| seat his ability as finisher, and ell that
| sort of thing, but none of these things, nor
| all OF them put together, really explain the
| success of a great jockey. know plenty
! OF actually Indifferent jockeys who have all
| of these requisites of success. and vet they
| can't get out OF the second or third rate
i class to save their lives.
The Knack Of Winning.
There were some great riders In my own
day-Eimms. the colored rider, for instance,
than whom there have been few better
riders In the whole history OF our turf.
But when beat these riders time after time.
day In and day out, ~ I did. even when