Imperial Valley press., 1941-02-04
Sports Parade
Nv HENRY McLEMORll

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 4. (UP)-
The old Jockey read aloud from the
racing form.
He will ride the favorite up
there - find the track wide, the
turns we'll banked, and clear sailing
along the rail-
This fine tribute to Earl Dew,
couched as it should be in the Ian
guage of the turf, appeared over
the signatures of Eddie Arcaro,
Sonny Workman, Carroll Bierman,
Johnny Gilbert, and a score OF
other riders who had thundered
along the backstretch and fought
down the straightaway with the
Iowa boy whose tack is hung up
forever.
That's mighty nice" the old
Jockey said, choosing his words as
carefully as he used to pilot a thor
oughbred through needle-eye
opening in the stretch, '"and 1 hope
we won't have to read any more
things like it this year. But I'm
afraid We will. It's miracle some
boy isn't hurt or killed every day.
AS if to explain this somber state
ment. the man who used to boot
the racers home 20 years ago, re-
called the days when he was an
swering the bugle's call astrlde
thoroughbred's back.
In my time there wasn't a thlrd
of the racing there is today. There
were no tracks in New England,
California, or Florida. So, there
were jockeys enough to go around.
Most of the boys who rode were old
hands at the game. They had come
up the hard way and knew all the
answers to the dangerous game OF
racing. Now, there are something
like $4,000 races year in this
country That means there must
be a lot of jockeys. And jockeys
aren't made overnight
The old-timer paused, and SEEM
ed to read in his listeners express
sions that he was condemning Dew
as a rider. He was quick TO correct
this.
Not that Earl wasn't good
rider. He was. A fine one. But ne
wasn't any Johnny-come-Tuesday
either. He had been riding since he
was 13. It wasn't his fault his horse
went down. But there is many a boy
wearing silks today who doesn't
know anything about riding a horse
much less about keeping out OF
Jams, or, more important, getting
out of a jam when he gets into
one. I see races all the time-al
over the country-where the riding
is so foolhardy and SO bad that
almost have to shut my eyes. II
scares YOU to death, that sort OF
riding, when you have been through
the mill and know the dangers that
are out there on the track, even foi
the best of riders
The greenland, the unsure rider
is not only a menace to himself bu'
a menace to every other Jockey ir
the race, the oldtimer pointed out
I'm the old days, we used to YET
to one another when we saw a jan
coming up. And we knew enough
to protect ourselves and the fellow
who was headed for trouble. But
now a lot of the kids just climb
aboard a horse, shut their eyes, and
pray. And there are ten thousand
and one things that can happen tc
you when you're rolling along or
a racing horse. And ten Thousand
and one worse things that can hap
pen if you go off the horse. Let's
| Just hope the Lord keeps holding
on to their reinS".
If the old-timer is right-and hf
does make sense, doesn't he?-what
is the solution? Just as there are
so many concert pianists, so there
are only limited number OF boys
skilled in the ways Of riding g
thoroughbred. Still with racing ex-
panding all the time, there is 6
growing demand for more and more
Jockeys. There can't be racing with
out them. There cannot-accordine
to some-be safe and sane racing
with youngsters who make the jump
from exercise boy to jockey almost
overnight. It's a problem for wiser
head than mine.