CHAPTER XX 



JOCKEYS AND JOCKEYSHIP 



Johnny Reiff 's Start — Sam and Tom Loates — Thrifty Jockeys 



I HAVE often been asked who in my opinion were the 

 best jockeys I ever saw and I have no hesitation what- 

 ever in saying that of the old school Harry Griffin, the 

 American jockey (I have explained I took a tip from 

 him when inventing my own style), was never ap- 

 proached. He was the division between the old order 

 of things and the new. It isn't that I was more easily 

 impressed then, but going back years I am confident 

 that he was far and away the greatest. 



The next to Griffin and of the present school was 

 Lester Reiff, and his was really an extraordinary 

 career. In California he was actually put aside for 

 incompetency, and with many others I could only 

 agree with the action of the Stewards for he couldn't 

 do anything right. He was a good stableman, and 

 Wishard believed in him so much that he brought him 

 over to England with his younger brother, Johnny. 

 Lester was quite a failure on English courses to begin 

 with, but then suddenly he began to develop an 

 entirely new style, and when he adopted this the 

 difference was astounding. He was the best rider of 

 his time I ever rode against ; in fact he was simply 

 wonderful, as his record in England shoAvs so unmis- 

 takably. He had no trouble in topping the list in 

 1900, and deserved every bit of his success. He made 

 fewer mistakes than any of us, and was alert, would 



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