64 THE BLUE RIBBON OF THE TURF. 



equal to that of an Archbishop. The incomes earned 

 by some professional horsemen are known to be large, 

 and the presents every now and then given to them 

 for some distinguished feat have amounted to as much 

 sometimes as £3,000 ; many of the stories told about 

 jockeys and their presents require, however, to be 

 listened to with caution 



Could a complete chronicle of the lives and achieve- 

 ments of the jockeys of England be compiled, it would 

 not be devoid of interest, but in the present work, the 

 records of horsemanship must, of necessity, be rather 

 bald, as in the early days of the turf racing sadly 

 lacked historians. It is wonderful, indeed, that so 

 much information has been preserved as is now avail- 

 able regarding the representative jockeys of last 

 century and the years of racing which preceded 1700, 

 Much of what is extant has been utilized in the follow- 

 ing pages, with the view of showing the changed social 

 conditions which now attend jockey life. Of the deeds 

 of daring accomplished by the professional horsemen 

 of the period the public are kept well informed, their 

 doings being chronicled pretty much in the same 

 fashion as the daily doings of Princes and politicians. 



The earliest public riders about whom there is 

 reliable information are ' Matchem Timms ' and his 

 son. The father appears to have been employed by 

 the Earl of Carlisle ; in 1719 he is set down as having 

 ridden Buckhunterfor that nobleman, in the Gold Cup 

 of the York ]\[eeting. The horse is said to have. been 

 a cood one, and of value as a trial horse. Timms won 

 other important races, and was himself ov/ner of Bald 

 Peg, by Snake, son of the Lister Turk who won his 



