538 



A HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH TURF. 





watch would give him some knowledge of pace to begin with. Pricle in his own 

 stable's successes would do the rest. Between 3,000 and 4,000 horses race every 

 year on the English Turf. Almost every animal has his own boy to ride him at 

 exercise, groom him, and attend to his stable. These boys must all be able to sit a 

 thoroughbred, and nearly every one has now and again to ride a trial, and thus learn 

 a little of what racing means even before he is allowed to appear at all upon a 

 racecourse. If he were only allowed to ride for the one stable from which he 

 accepted a retainer, both sides would be benefited. There are plenty of boys who 

 can ride, and they never get an opportunity because owners and trainers prefer to 

 give all their best to half-a-dozen fashionable jockeys. The importance in many 



other ways of each stable 

 having its own jockeys 

 I cannot emphasise here ; 

 but I believe owners 

 would soon see that a 

 very powerful motive 

 had been added to the 

 jockey's wish for success, 

 and I am sure that many 

 a rising lad would be 



O 



only too glad of the 

 chance of entering the 

 only profession in the 

 world which will enable 

 him to claim his retainer 



before the season begins, and to get his riding fee from Messrs. Weatherby as 

 soon as every race is over. 



Fred Archer's proportion of wins to mounts has, in big figures, never been 

 equalled. In 1884 he rode 577 races ; he won 241, he was second in 120, and third 

 in 94 ; he was unplaced on only 122 occasions. He won 246 out of 667 in 1886, the 

 last year of his life. In 1901 L. Reiffs victories were 23 per cent, of his mounts. 

 In 1900 Sloan had 26 per cent. The lower percentage of the two years quoted 

 from Archer's record is 36, and in 1884 it was 41. I cannot believe that, had 

 he been alive in 1900, he would have fallen below his average. The best jockey 

 in the United States in 1902 was Redfern, who scored 120 wins in 634 mounts, 



" Saunter er" by " Birdcatcher" (1854). 



