264 THE ENGLISH TURF 



come instead of having them picked for him ! " (In the 

 series of five successes mentioned he had got home such 

 hopeless things as Landrail, Libra, and Galashiels, on whom 

 no one else could win before or afterwards.) Well, he came 

 in 1899, and this was his record : Three hundred and forty- 

 five races, one hundred and eight firsts, sixty-three seconds, 

 and forty thirds — two hundred and eleven times placed to 

 one hundred and thirty-four times unplaced. Huggins' 

 stable was in great form, but much of the success achieved 

 may fairly be attributed to Sloan. 



Had Sloan been the sole representative of the best 

 American jockeys to come to England (indifferent ones we 

 had seen before), his appearance would have been regarded 

 much as that of a comet, occurring at the rarest intervals. 

 He would not have been associated with a system or school ; 

 and had any circumstance arisen to prevent his coming for 

 a fourth season, Turf history would have dealt with him as 

 a remarkable incident in racing, and he would have been 

 alluded to as in the world of cricket is a mighty batsman 

 or all-conquering bowler of past days. But other American 

 jockeys came to learn of the Tom Tiddler's ground that was 

 awaiting capable riders; and during 1899 J. H. Martin and 

 the brothers L. and J. Reifif materially helped Sloan in main- 

 taining a comparison between English and American methods 

 of race-riding which, as the truth must be told, was by no 

 means to the advantage of the English. Save amongst the 

 hardest of the hard-headed, the fact was admitted that, 

 unorthodox according to English ideas though the American 

 system undoubtedly is, there is very much to commend in 

 it. We have not yet unreservedly adopted the forward 

 position of the saddle, the shortened stirrup-leather, and the 

 crouching attitude, but we are on the way to do so, boys 

 being taught to ride that way, whilst several matured jockeys 

 have adapted themselves more or less to American notions. 

 Nothing was more remarkable in the racing season of 1900 

 than the unequivocal way in which Kempton Cannon placed 

 himself in the front rank of jockeys, and if this was not in 

 a measure due to his adoption of the American seat the 

 coincidence is very remarkable. 



