Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-15
ONCE FAMOUS
JOCKEY DIES
WAS NOTED FOR RIDING AT
ST. LOUIS
Charley VerpIanck, Better Known as
MONKEY Charley" a Negro
Rider of Olden Days,
Is Dead
Special to The Herald.

special TO The Herald.
ST. LOUIS. Jan. 14.-The last bugle
call has sounded for the once famous
Jockey, Charley Verplanck, Familiarity
known to racegoers as Monkey Char
ley" one of the best negro pilots that
ever held down saddle around st.
Louis, and a rider of more long shots
to victory than any other two boys in
the profession.
He died recently in the City hospital
In Louisville of tuberculosis, after a
long illness.
Verplanck was born thirty eight
years ago in kingstown, N. Y. He
grew up in the atmosphere of the
stables and learned early in life the
idosyncrasies of the turf kings and
queens.
Nerplanck made his start as a rider
with Louis G. Morris, who had a stable
of mongrels and went about the middle
states showing at the various cross
roads fairs and contesting with the
skates" that wore the local colors for
the sranty guerdon of the free-for-all
race.
1t was not the sort of life the little
jockey longed for and he soon de-
camped and Joined the stable of Henry
Nungrasser, who flOurished during the
days of old Guttenburg.
Five years Charley remained with the
GERMAN, ana Ill tndl tllne rose IrOln ii
stable boy to a jockey who ranked with
the foremost and had the largest in
dividual following of that time.
One afternoon a few weeks ago Ver-
planCk was in a reminiscent mood and
spoke of some of the great races in
which he had taken part and won.
He was riding free lance at that time
and had the mount on the joke horse,
Noah. a patriarchal nag, hoisted into
the betting ring at the luscious odds
| of $50 to l to tempt the long-shot and
the ght-drop-dead players.
1t was at Oakley, and there was one
of the biggest crowds of the season out
to cheer on the favorites Coming into
the stretch in that, an ordinary mile
purse affair, there We're three horses
struggling for the inches that would
| tell the result.
They finished driving, and not one
| faltered in the last few strides; but
Monkey Charley. riding like a little
black imp. coaxed his mount until the
builder OF the ark seemed to extend
| like q bit of elastic and nose out his
field in the last step.
The race which the colored boy
wanted to win was, as he said, a
steeplechase at Brighton Beach. At the
time he was under the banner of Gus
Weingard and had the mount on Wei
lington, half brother to Hanover, and
| nllnSelI one Oh lIle greatest IlOISeS VI
| the day.
Wakely, who was on Echo, the favor
| ite, was a grandstand rider, who had
somehow or other conceived an intense
dislike for Charley and did not hide it.
He had taunted him while weighing
| in with the fact that he would not only
not WIN the race, but would be dis
graced before the big crowd.
The two horses topped the sticks to-
gether, and at the finish the negro's
nursing tactics stood him in good
stead, for he swept in winner by a
whisker
Verplanck rode many years for the
Dalys, who nicknamed him Banty, a
name which clung to him throughout
his life.
He was never mixed up in any scan
dal, and said that his proudest boast
was that, although he had often beer
tempted, sometimes with more than he
could make with months in the saddle
he had always obeyed his "mammy's'
teaching and withstood the proffereC
bribe.
He was a great favorite with the
women bettors, and won many good
Il sized bets for the fair racegoers or
mounts at long prices