20 JOHN PORTER OF KINGSCLERE 



always regarded Virago as a wonderful mare, 

 possessing remarkable speed and great powers 

 of endurance. Moreover, she was thoroughly 

 honest and endowed with a delightful tempera- 

 ment. 



I have from time to time been asked whether 

 I approve of the low weights carried in handicaps 

 when I was a boy. My opinions on that subject 

 were stated in a letter I wrote to The Times in 

 1900 concerning the rule, just passed by the 

 Jockey Club, permitting apprentices to claim a 



5 lb. allowance in handicaps and selling races, 

 provided the weight carried was not less than 



6 St. 



" I would go further than this," I wrote, " and 

 reduce the minimum weight in handicaps from 6 st. to 

 4 St 7 lb. If this were done, lads would have gained 

 years of experience in riding before they reached the 

 weight we now start at. To say these little lads cannot 

 ride is all nonsense. Look at litde ReiflF and the boy 

 Wilde, the latter not more than 4 st. ; they can ride ! 

 Forty-seven years ago, when I first started racing, you 

 could have found twenty jockeys under 6 st. who 

 could ride. The minimum then was 4 st. We have gone 

 on raising the weights for the benefit of a few jockeys, 

 until we find ourselves stranded at last, with very little 

 native talent left. Hence the invasion of the Americans. 

 If the Jockey Club would only be persuaded to go back 

 to the 4 St. 7 lb. minimum you would soon have an increase 

 of jockeys without having to go out of the country to 

 seek for them." 



