8o THE BLUE RIBBON OF THE TURF. 



thanks to the patient training of his father. In ' tho 

 land of the Tykes,' Sam pursued his victorious career, 

 and told his brother that he could beat every jockey 

 in Yorkshire. 



It would serve no good purpose to chronicle all 

 Chifney's victories. It may be mentioned, however, 

 that he won the Derby on two occasions, and also rode 

 five of the Oaks winners to victory, beating the record 

 of his father, who only once rode a Derby winner, but 

 Avho was more fortunate in ' the Garter of the Turf, 

 winnirtg, as he did, the Oaks on four occasions. The 

 ' rush ' of Chifney was his speciality as a jockey ; but 

 although this feature of his riding was obvious enough, 

 it was not always so obvious that previous to the 

 'rush' taking place he had taken care to obtain a coign 

 of vantage from which to effect it. Every jockey has 

 some speciality in his mode of riding. It was com- 

 plained of one of the most eminent of the brotherhood 

 that he had ' a nasty way of stealing the race ;' but 

 that is the essence of jockeyship. The word means 

 that, and perhaps a little more ; it signifies that the 

 race is being stolen, and that you know the fact. From 

 ■jockey' has arisen the phrase of being 'jockeyed out' of 

 anything. Some jockeys draw their races too tine. It 

 has been the boast of more than one of the fraternity 

 that he was always annoyed at himself when he won 

 by a greater distance than a head from his opponent. 

 But that, in the opinion of most owners who have big 

 sums depending in bets on the event, is much too close 

 to be pleasant ; to obtain such a sum of money as the 

 Derby or St. Leger produces at the risk of a 'head' can- 

 not be pleasant. It will be a relief, at any rate, when 



