Los Angeles herald., 1906-02-12
TOD SLOAN WAS
AVERSE TO WORK
DISLlKED TO TRAIN WITH
OTHER JOCKEYS
Sought to Mix In Social Circles Above
Him and as a Result Incurred
the DIspIessure Of Brit
lsh Turfmen

Now that Tod Sloan has made his
debut on the stage and appears to
have won the laurels It is probable
that the turf has seer the last of him.
This is the turf's loss. In all that
constitutes a successful Jockey, Sloan
was the equal, If not the superior, of
any boy that ever has ridden on
American tracks. Jimmy McLaugh-
lin was marvel at the post and with
2-year-olds; Snapper" Garrison
could outfinish the old boy himself;
Ike Murphy was a perfect Judge of
pace.
Sloan had all these virtues combined.
and others. He won with horses that
other boys could not head a cow in
the lane with. Even his enemies, and
he had plenty of them, unhesitatingly
admitted his superior abilities in the
saddle.
/ His one fault, and 1t must be adj
mitted that 1t was a serious one, in
the eyes of practical horsemen, was
that he objected to the drudgery of
stable work. He did not want to he
on hand before the sun was up to gal
lop horses. He did not want to sleep
at the stable with the other boys.
What he did want was the bright
lights Of Broadway Not as the gen.
eral run Of successful Jockeys, pug
lists and others of that ilk want
them, but as the clubman. He wanted
to live at the best hotels, occupying
the best suites. His evening clothes
came as natural to him as to those
bern to them. He wanted to associate
with those far above him in the eyes
of the world and, like good many
other Americans, he would not admit
that many of them were his superiors.
And 1t was this, more than any
thing else that finally led to his be-
ing in a position that forced him to
turn to some other means Of livelihood
than the turf.
1t took Sloan some time to convince
eastern horsemen that he was
jockey. When he did the money came
rolling into him so fast that, literally,
he did not know what to do with 1t.
But he soon found out His tastes de-
veloped with his money-making abii-
ity, until 1t is doubtful If there was
millionaire in the country that spent
more on his personal needs.
Nothing Too Good for Him
Wherever he went the best was not
too good for him. He even paid more
for his hotel accommodations than
men who could buy and sell him
dozen times over. On one occasion
August Belmont's secretary was sent
iiOSSi
dations for his employer.
IT want them for Mr.. Belmont" said
the secretary, and the clerk, knowing
Mr.. Belmont as one of the financial
powers of the country, naturally
picked out the best there was in the
| house.
How much will they be?" asked the
secretary.
zone hundred dollars a day." was
the ren1v
"oh Mr.. Belmont would never pay
that 1t is entirely too much"
The clerk was dumfounded, and
without thinking, blurted out: why,
that is very reasonable; we have a
gentleman here, Mr.. Tod Sloan from
New York, who pays $3.50 day for
his suite"
These figures may not be exact, but
the story is a true one and illus
trates the trait in Sloan's character
that caused his downfall.
Having demonstrated that he was
the superior of any jockey in this
country, Sloan longed for new fields
to conquer. His eyes rested on Eng
land and soon he was in the tight lit
tie isle" And what a joke he was to
the 'Arrys and 'Arriets and their bet
tiers. A monkey on the stick" is what
the wise sporting writers called him,
because he did not ride with long STIR
rups, sitting upright, as the English
Jockeys had been doing from time i'm
memorial.
Called "Monkey on the Stick"
Well, the monkey on the stick" soon
had the jolly Britons sitting up and
taking notice. He had knack of land
ing his mounts first past the finish and
soon had a following that was bank
rupting the bookmakers. He was rec
ognized as the premier jockey in Eng
land, as he had been in America.
With the masses he was popular.
With the classes his riding ability was
in demand, but his company wasn't
wanted. He was good enough to help
the titled paupers land few big bets
but he wasn't good enough to help
them spend the money. This he did
not care about, but he did object to
being patronized by men who bor-
rowed his money.
That they did borrow 1t those who
We're close enough to him while abroad
knew we'll. 1t was only recently that
one of them, with 1.-TWO men" to look
after his luggage, visited this country
His lordship was riding up Broadway
in a cab, and passing Fortieth street
spied Sloan standing on the corner
with a friend. Immediately he saw
something on the opposite side of the
street that seemed to be vastly inter-
esting.
mo wonder he doesn't look at me-"
said Sloan, "he owes me $1,000 that he
borrowed in England"
Beginning of the End
Sloan's love of the best soon got him
dislked in England. Then came the
incident that gave those who were un-
der obligations to him a foundation to
work upon. While dining with friend
he resented a walters insult with the
first thing that came to hand, which
happened to be a champagne bottle,
Such things happen in London and
New York, too, for that matter. a
dozen times a week, and are never
heard of. But Sloan's "rowdyism"
was cabled to all parts of the world.
And so things went, so his enemies
worked, until he was informed one
winter that 1t would be useless for him
to apply to the English Jockey club
for a license to ride the next season.
No charges of any kind were made
against him, so far as any one had
ever been able to discover. He simply
practically was ruled off the turf be-
cause his personality was not pleasing.
Then followed his disbarment from
French race courses because ne exer-
cisad "a horse that was hainR DreDared