234 RACING. 



had not earned their fee unless they punished a horse to excess 

 long after all hope of his winning had passed away. No better 

 contrast between a perfect and an imperfect style can be ima- 

 gined than was exhibited by the race for the Grand Duke Michael 

 Stakes of 1836, in which Jem Robinson upon Bay Middleton 

 defeated old John Day upon Elis. The former never moved 

 in the saddle and never lifted his whip, while, in the case of 

 John Day, the upraised arm and the restless heel were cease- 

 lessly at work. It is easy to understand therefore why it is that 

 Matthew Dawson should with good cause pronounce Bill Scott, 

 old John Day, and Sam Rogers to have been ' good rough 

 jockeys,' capable of getting the last ounce out of a sluggish 

 horse, but little fitted to shine in those ' delicate mouth-touch- 

 ings ' of which the Chifneys, Jem Robinson, Alfred Day, Frank 

 Butler and George Fordham were such accomplished expo- 

 nents. 1 Upon one occasion, Sam Rogers punished The Ban, 

 one of Sir Joseph Hawley's chief favourites, so severely and un- 

 necessarily that ' the lucky Baronet ' registered a vow never to 

 put him up again, and kept his word. One maxim, however, 

 was laid down by Bill Scott who, with all his eccentricities, had 

 a capital head on his shoulders which is of universal applica- 

 bility, and deserves attention 'from all who desire to shine as 

 winners of great races. * I have a horror,' the famous north- 

 country jockey would exclaim, in phraseology too impolite for 

 reproduction here, 'of seeing a fellow ride twice as quick as 

 his horse is going.' Bill Scott's theory was that no jockey could 

 do justice to his mount in the Derby the most difficult and 

 dangerous course, in his opinion, that it was possible to con- 

 ceive unless hand and seat kept perfect time with the horse's 

 action. The Derby is generally won, according to Bill Scott, 

 by the horse which strides farthest down hill ; and any failure 

 on the jockey's part to encourage his animal to stretch himself 

 out to the utmost is necessarily fatal to the chance of both. 



Upon only one other jockey of the past have we space to 

 dwell at any length, but it were an injustice to omit to mention 



1 F. Archer should not be excluded from this list of jockeys. ED. 



