THRIFTY JOCKEYS 



A jockey should not be overloaded with in- 

 structions. Honest horses ridden by honest 

 boys are sometimes beaten by honest trainers. 

 Instructions are given to the riders which mean 

 sure defeat, intended for the best though they 

 are. 



" Pittsburg Phil " must have had Lester Reiff and 

 one or two others I have named in his mind when he 

 said that " jockeys make a great difference in the 

 running of horses. An intelligent jockey has a great 

 value, for he profits by the mistakes of others." He 

 used to add that " seventy-five per cent, of the in- 

 consistency in horse racing, which is generally put 

 down to criminality, is nothing more or less than lack 

 of intelligence on the part of the jockey." 



Just a little more about jockeys riding in my time. 

 There are rich men to-day and there are men of very 

 moderate means for all their hard work and savings. 

 I should say that George Stern is the richest pro- 

 fessional I ever rode against, and all the time he has 

 lived well so there is all the more credit for making the 

 fortune. It was easy for some of them to get money 

 together when they had plenty of riding. You can 

 believe the story of a well-off jockey who retired from 

 the saddle some years ago and recently died. He used 

 to set out from Newmarket with £3 and always make 

 up his mind that he would come back with at least £7 

 after having paid his expenses and not drawing any- 

 thing for his rides. 



In 1899 I was building up a fine fortune myself, for 

 I had £37,000 in one bank, besides some good invest- 

 ments in New York and California. I should say that 

 for the length of his career Frank Wootton made as 

 much or more than anyone. He retired earlier than 



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