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TEST OF A JOCKEYS SKILL. Why Danny Mahcr Was to Get a Fee of 5 000 for I Winning the Derby. When the cables brought the intelligence not long I ago that Lord Roeebery had promised Danny Malier. I the transplanted American jockey, the enormous bonus of 123.090 in case he won the Epsom Derby Of this rear on Neil Qow, many were incredulous, but winning the blue ribbon of the turf on previous occasions had whetted the appetite of the British peer for the highest honors to which racing men can aspire, and there is no doubt that the Connecticut boy was really under contract to receive the generous fee mentioned above. Turf records contain no parallel to this. Neil Gows Derby failure is a mat ter of history. The reason for the size of the fee was found in the fact that Malier was the only jockey in England who seemed able to make the ugly-tempered colt run. Not only is Neil Bow ■ notoriously bad actor at the starting gate, but ho is a siilker in the bargain and wont try his best except on rare occasions. Contrary to general belief Maher had a peppery temper when he was riding in this country, and lie must have acq aired self control to a marked degree since going abroad. It is olther that or he is the one man who can dominate Neil Gow, and the horse either fears or is in sympathy with him. When the late Pierre Lorlllard bought David Gar-rick from John E. Madden and prepared to ship him abroad he was toW by a well-known racing Official not to ride Maher on the son of Hanover and Peg WooBagton, as the colt would not race kindly for iiim and fought whenever the lad was put in the saddle. Mr. Lorlllard thought this was idle fancy and rode Maher in an important stake in which David Oarrick made his English debut. He bet his money, too, and was disgusted when his colors trailed home far In the ruck. Carrick was a splendid stayer and. taking the benefit of his experience. Mr. Lorlllard engaged "Skeets" Martin to ride the colt In the famous Chester "up. He got a good price about the handsome bay and Martin brought him home in triumph. Domino hated Taral. who rode him in all his two-year old fairs, so Ardently that he would lay his cars Hat on his neck when he heard the .jockeys voice, and Fred had to approach him from behind whenever he came to mount. Domino wore a hood and could not see his enemy. The numerous terrific whippings and spurrings Taral had administered to the black fellow were responsible for the hatred Domino bore his rider. He was so thoroughly game however, that when the race was on he had no desire apparently for anything but a display of the speed and courage which made him the idol of the racing public and afterwards in the stud helped to make him the founder of a great family of thoroughbreds. "T «1 Sloan was among the best jockeys that ever lived." said a veteran racing man recently when discussing the quostion of jockeys bunds. "He could do more with an ugly or sour-tempered borne than anybody I ever saw. You remember the cases of Our Johnny. Semper Ego. Kriss Kringle and others in this country that nobody could do a thing with. "Tod would sit up on them with a long rein and finger their months as delicately as a violin virtuoso would fondle the strings of his instrument. There was a magic in his touch, and wedded to this was a caressing, soothing manner, a touch of tile hand n the neck, a soft s| oken word, and1 the truculent, hot blooded stallion of a moment before would he as clay in his hands. "The English have not yet ceased talking alsmt Sloans handling of Knight of the Thistle iu one of the big fixtures. John Huggiius had picked up • the horse for a small sum for his friend Luclen A. Appleby of ibis city, and as Sloan was doing the riding for Mr. LoriUard, who was Huggiiis employer, it naturally came about that Sloan got the mount on the new purchase. Kiught of the Thistle Would leave the course, wheel and go the reverse way of the track and have his own sweet way as a rule. The first time Sloan rode him he had Mane trouble, but the devil in the horse was not thoroughly aroused until the day of the big race referred to a Ih vc. "The drilling he had received for the race to make him stay had made him BOW irritable than ever, and when the horses started for the |Mist Knight of the Thistle bo Med in among the drags with their many luncheon, parties atop of them. He kicked .•ind lashed out and behaved like a mad horse, and for a quartet of an hour absolutely refused to go the course. "Sloan with infinite patience tried all the arts of his splendid horsemanship, and finally when the signal was about to he given to start the race without him the lug fellow became calm and [to the amazement of the thousands of onlookers cantered to the post and won his race. The provocation would have been strong to use the whip on such a horse, but Sloan wouldnt hit a horse a dozen times in a year. He mastered them by the magic of voice and bands, and we shall probably never see the like of him in that respect in our day ami general i in." "Talking about Sloan." broke in a bystander, "he got a pretty fair fee from the late William C. Whit ney for winning the Futurity with Ballyhoo Bey. and taking that mount was very nearly a costly IhlM for Tod. "The little Indianian was riding in England that year for Mr. Loci Hard and others and carrying things before him. He met Mr. Whitney at one of the big English, meetings and remarked that the newspapers gave him credit for possessing a colt good enough to win the Futurity. Mr. Whitney said that his trainer thought very highly of Ballyhoo Bey, and Sloan, who was never particularly modest, hazarded the opinion that with himself in the saddle the chances would be reduced to a practical certainty. The upshot, of lie talk was that Mr. Whit ney promised Sloan 17.500 win or lose to cross the Atlantic and ride the colt in that one engagement. "Now, Nash Turner was the regular Whitney riihr that year, ami he hadnt lost a race with the colt, and you can fancy how he felt when Sfda:i walked into the stable one morning and handed Rogers, the trainer, a letter from his employer, saying that Sloan would ride Ballyhoo Bey in the Futurity. "You remember how well Sloan rode the colt that day." went on the speaker, "and Mr. Whitney Cabled asking him to remain a week longer and pilot the winner in the Flatbnsh Stakes a week later. The horse that can win both the Futurity and the Flatbnsh is by general consent hailed as the chain pion two year old of the year, and Mr. Whitney was anxious to have the honor go to his stable. "Sloan accordingly stayed on and accepted a few outside mounts. On the day of the Flatbnsh he came to the post before the others and. approaching the starters stand, touched his cap with the butt of his whip in .salute, appealed to that official for protection, remarking that lie thought some mat had been hatched against him. The late John G Heel; seller, one of the governors of the Coney Island Jockey Club and a member of the Jockey Club as well, was at the post and both he and the starter assured the jockey that he would be taken care of at that end of the race. "The track at the seven-furlongs post in the Fu tnrity chute is more than ISO feet Wide, and as the field was small it did not seem possible that anything could happen to him. Sloan had the inside position, and when th" horses left the post they were well separated and running head and head. Before they hail gone a furlong Sloan had taken his mount back and moved toward the middle of the course, running stride for stride with Tommy Atkins, the Keene represent a t i ve. n | h ii which Spencer had the mount. There were three or four horses directly In front, and that constituted the entire field. Farther down the chute and before the bend was reached Sloan took Ballyhoo Bey still farther back and moved to the extreme outside. "The field in front of Tommy Atkins opened out, and when Spencer moved up to go through they pulled in and shut him off. all but knocking the big son of Maselto down. Before Spencer could get him into his stride again Sloan had shot Ballyhoo Bey into the had on the oxtrente outside of the track, and Tommy Atkins just failed to overhaul the leader iu the furious drive to the wire. "Every Jockey made for the stewards stand after Weighing out. but Sloan out-talked the others, maintaining that the gap had been made with the expectation that he would attempt to go through with the Whitney colt and that when they closed iu oh Tommy Atkins they thought they had him instead. The stewards let the race stand as the horses finished and Sloan prepared to ride Lady Masaey in the closing race of the day, a dash of a mile and a platter on the turf. "He had bought the mare only that morning from John E. Madden, giving ..1oo for her. He represented the Australian millionaire miner. Frank Gardner, and they say that he had a commission to bet enough money on her to win her out. They did everything but knock Sloan off in the running of the race, and if the Lady hadnt been much the best in the race she would have been beaten a block. They shin her off going around the first turn, and going Mp the backatretcfa they threw Sloan up against the fence and roughed him so fiercely that he took back UtSt, and when the head of the stretch was reached he was hall a dozen lengths behind the leaden*. "At this point he pulled to the outside away from all danger and set her down, and she finally got her head in front at the wire. When he rode back to dismount his left boot was torn into shreds where it had bet n in contact with the fence, and his usually Dale are was ashen. As he passed Judge McDoweil he pointed to the mutilated boot and said: " No more of this for me. Guess Ill stop before they get me. "He sailed for England a few day* later and we saw the lu--t of the most finished horseman of his day. concluded the speaker. "You dont think those other jocks had it in for aim, do yon?" asked a listener. ••Oh. Bo; those mild-mannered little fellows Wouldnt hurt anybody" was the reply in a voice that was full of sarcasm. "They only wanted to break a lew ribs, his neck or a trtfle like hat us a warning ant to butt in on another riders privilege uuain," — New York Suq,
