INTRODUCTION 



licence, but unfortunately it came to nothing. One head- 

 ing I remember began " There should be no such thing as 

 a life sentence.^'' In those words is the gist of the whole 

 matter. If has always seemed incredible that after years 

 of punishment Sloan should not be reinstated. It is 

 not so much a qu£stion whether he would be able or would 

 want to ride again. It is rather that a stigma is attached 

 to a great artist in riding when an intimation is given to 

 him that he must not apply for a licence for it would be 

 refused. Two wrongs don^t make a right, and it is no 

 use comparing Sloan'' s alleged offences with those of other 

 riders who have been put on foot and then given their 

 ticket in less than three years. Fifteen years is indeed 

 a terrible time for any intelligent man to be living in 

 hopes and to find those hopes cast down as year follows 

 year. 



It is a common mistake to think that Sloan was ever 

 warned off. The number of times I have been asked 

 " What was Sloan warned off for 9''^ I cannot reckon; 

 all that happened to him was that he was told that 

 he had better not put in his application. He has been 

 allowed to ride at exercise, and he has received direct 

 information that there was no objection at all to his going 

 on English racecourses. Indeed racegoers can testify 

 to the many meetings he has been to ever since the time 

 he had perforce to retire from the saddle. Now a jockey 

 who is warned off, or even suspended, is not allowed to 

 frequent any enclosure on a racecourse. However, that 

 is only a little point which this book will make clear. 



It is an interesting coincidence that Tod Sloan first 

 made the acquaintance of racehorses in 1886, the year 

 in which poor Fred Archer made his exit. Opinions 

 will always be expressed and will always differ about 

 the comparative merits of Archer and Sloan as jockeys. 

 The comparison is unnecessary : the former was the 



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