JOCKEYS AND JOCKEYSHIP 109 



the papers make a fuss of you at some times, they 

 are down on you at others, and it is extraordinary 

 how soon a jockey who has been praised to the 

 skies loses his reputation, and is told that he " can't 

 ride for nuts " when he has had a run of bad luck. 

 Very likely the failures have not been the least his 

 fault. I mean the stable for which he rides chiefly 

 has been out of form, horses coughing, perhaps, or, 

 as happened last year, the going so bad that it has 

 been impossible to get horses fit ; but the jockey 

 has not been winning, and of course it must be his 

 fault. Some of the papers add up his losing 

 mounts, and seem quite pleased when the figures 

 get big. That does not do you good next time, for 

 confidence is a great thing, if only because it helps 

 you to make up your mind what to do quickly and 

 resolutely when you are in a fix. 



I suppose it never occurs to anyone that jockeys 

 are ever ill ? Day after day all through the season 

 you see the same jockeys riding, hardly ever missing 

 a meeting, never doing so, you might almost say ; 

 and yet, you know, they aren't always fit and well. 

 Other people feel out of sorts and think they won't 

 go to business — a bit of a change will do them good ; 

 and so they take a little holiday and come back and 

 say they are all the better for it, as very likely they 

 may be. The jockey never thinks he will have a 



