Evening star., 1940-08-06
Ne Brand Of Tennis Appears Unbeatable District Championship Tourney
The
SPORTLIGHT
Jockey in Tighter Spot
Than Quarterback
By GRANTLAND RICE,
Special Correspondent Of The Star

Special Correspondent Of The Star.
SARATOGA, N. Y. Aug. 6 (N.A
MAJ They were talking about
quick thinking in sport-in the COM
petition that called for snap judg-
ments on a more important scale
the quarterback, the pitcher, the
fighter, In the sweat and turmoil
Of a championship.
The group consisted Of several
Jockeys now riding at Saratoga,
Jockeys who had played golf, who
had followed baseball, football and
other sports.
"You had piece once" a rider
remarked, 'in which you told how
little time football quarterback
had to call the next play compared
to second-guessers in the stands. 1t
might be play that is to win or
lose the game and he has about 10
seconds In which to make up his
mind. That isn't much. But what
about the quick thinking or snap
judgment a jockey often has to
make? Ever think of that?"
Probably not as much as we
should have or might have" we ad-
fnitted.
To Go Inside or Outside
Is Poser for Jockey.
"Well," he said, there are many
times we have to think faster than
any quarterback. Here's a certain
race where have to go inside or
swing outside. Gambling on the in
side spot I might get shut off and
never get out. Swinging to the out
side might lose too much ground.
when an opening develops you
have less than a split second to de-
eide your move. Ten seconds? Why
in 10 seconds good horse will take
you 200 yards. No seconds for us.
There are horses inside of you. out
side of you, in front of you and be-
hind you. There may be a certain
horse in front of which you are not
afraid. There may be one behind
you which is much more dangerous"
Being a good jockey" one of
them said, means much more than
IuSU llulllS liOl sc, N1dIlN vi US
play golf. We know how important
concentration is in golf-how hard
1t is to keep on thinking Of the
right things. It's even tougher in
a tough race. You get your in
structions from the trainer. You
start out to follow these instructions
But lot of things can happen that
the trainer and the jockey and
even the horse never thought about.
First of all, you've got to get
away right. Even with the new
starting gate horse can be look
ing the other way or be off balance
when the barrier opens. Then
you've got to know and Judge your
horse. You've also got to know
and judge the other horses-the
front runners and the stretch finish
ers, which come from nowhere such
as Russia. Fencing, Kievex and
others, which may be 20 lengths
behind and then bowl 'em over
down the stretch.
"You may be following your in
structions perfectly, up to a Ger
tain point. Then a lot of things
you never looked for begin to hap
pen. You are caught in a tight
spot. You've got to find a hole
somewhere, just as halfback does
in football.
IF you are riding a certain type
OF horse-fast and game-you prob
ably won't take the gamble. You'll
swing him wide, get him free from
any interference, and then depend
on his speed down the stretch.
But you may not be on that
type of horse. You may be on a
horse for which you must save all
the ground you can. Then you've
got to find that opening and cut in.
You've got to take the chance. But
you've also got to make up your
mind in a big hurry when you may
be trying to see what the others
are doing
Here's another angle" some one
cut in. There's no living trainer
or Jockey who knows on what dav
a horse may want to run-or not
want to run"
Sonny Workman told me that
some time before.
why do good horses suddenly
quit on you? Why will a punk
platter suddenly start running like
a stake horse?"
Il don't know-and neither does
any one else"
That recalled the day I sat with
Johnny Longden, one of the best.
at Santa Anita. A certain horse was
in the race. I asked Longden about
him.
I've ridden him four times"
johnny said. Hes a 1:13 horse at
best for six furlongs."
That day he won in 1:104-5.
How could I know" Longden
groaned, that he was going to be
over two seconds faster today than
he ever was before? That's IL
lengths"
The Chief Is Like Lightning
Only When He Wants to Be.
mo, you never know about horse
until the race is on" another said,
"and then it's too late. We get ac-
cused for this and that, but a horse
isn't human being. A track coach
can talk to his sprinters or jumpers.
They can tell him things-whether
they are stale or not, whether they
have a bad ankle or a stiff leg. A
track coach has pipe job compared
to a horse trainer. The horses can't
tell him ANYTHING And hv tho +;,,,