266 THE ENGLISH TURF 



But the crouching attitude alone will not account for the 

 extraordinary success of American jockeys, who must be 

 accorded the possession of brains and of a simple desire 

 to get their mount near the front at the finish of every 

 race. This has by no means been accomplished by a system 

 of making every post a winning-post without regard to 

 circumstances, when they are favourable (as in the Chester 

 Cup of 1900, in which Sloan rode Roughside, the winner), 

 but we see the Americans ride quite as many winning wait- 

 ing races as anyone. They possess more active brains than 

 the average English riding-boy bred in the stable, and, with 

 everything else equal, this is a sufficient advantage. But 

 other things are not equal, and for the present the American 

 jockey possesses an immense advantage. It is not surprising 

 that owners and trainers who have grasped the situation 

 should prefer so safe a pilot for their carefully prepared good 

 things to those on whom so little dependence can be placed. 

 The arrival of the Americans is one of the best things that 

 could have occurred for the English Turf; and as the steady 

 stream of new arrivals from across the Atlantic shows that 

 the stay is to be a permanent one, English jockeys must try 

 to realise what is the only way in which they can hope to 

 hold their own. 



The close of the season for 1900 found an American 

 jockey, Lester Reiff, at the head of the winning list, and his 

 position was the more meritorious because his 143 wins were 

 the result of 553 mounts, whereas S. Loates' 137 successes 

 were the outcome of 809 rides. 



