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DANNY MAKERS SUPERIOR HORSEMANSHIP HORSEMANSHIPNever Never in his life did Danny Maher ride with greater dash and allaround skill thau iu the course of the recent Newmarket lloughton meeting and fol ¬ lowing displays of extreme brilliancy on Lagos in the Jockey Club Cup and Phryxus in the Dewhurst Sportsman SportsmanNot Not the least conspicuous feature of the lloughton meeting Just concluded was the tine riding of Danny Maher who stands out by himsolf the best jockey of the day but is fortunate in so far that his contemporaries are weak by comparison with the days wneu not one but a dozen horsemen of his weight were available It is not pleasant to contemplate that he is not homemade but the fact of his having comp from America detracts nothing from his undoubted skill and ability and by the same rule Colonial origin is no setback against Frank Wootton who is far in front of the other riders in spite of his youth Of course it would be ipore satisractory could one attribute their profi ¬ ciency in the art of race riding to English teaching and great is the regret that the homebred article Is so degenerate The Reiffs and Tod Sloan were undoubtedly jockeys of high class and may b6 said to have been responsible the last named especially so for the introduction of a new style of riding which lias so to speak revolutionized racing Imi ¬ tation we have been taught to believe is the sinccrest form of flattery but while admiring the original as represented by the genuine article In such artists as Maher and Martin I cannot admit the same appre ¬ ciation for their imitators who carry their methods to excess while on the other hand I have noticed that the original crouched seat arid short leg have been materially modified by the visiting exponents As for Maher his scat at no time is ungainly or cramped and in a measure may be compared to that with which we were made familiar long years ago by such famous riders as George Fqrdham and John Osborne one gone over to the great majority but the other happily still remaining hale and hearty and in spite of having passed his three score and ten a regular rider at exercise exerciseIt It is human to err and jockeys like everyone else are liable to errors of judgment Maher is riot immune and makes mistakes in his turn but they are exceptional and when adversely criticised only go to confirm his individual superiority by compari ¬ son No greater acknowlcdgriient of his ability could be imagined than the patronage he commands and it is no mean honor that he claims Lord Rose bery as his first employer at a large salary in spite of what may be considered a limited racing sfud I am not one of those who consider that ther jockey is the first consideration as earn what he may it has ever been my contention that the trainer should at least be treated on an equality for whereas his anxiety is constant night and day as witness the experience for example of Percy Peck with Neil Gow that of the rider lasts but a few minutes though it must not be overlooked that he chances greater risks and on occasions must of necessity be carrying his life In his bands Equally on occasion jockeyshlp makes all the difference between winning and losing and again Neil Gow may be quoted as a particular case in point for I Challenge contradiction iu stating that no jockey but Maher could have got hini home in front of Leinberg for1 the Two Thousand Guineas or could have dead heated with the same1 horse for the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park Of themselves those two brilliant expositions of race riding may be said to have repaid Lord Rosebery for his outlay and in less important degree the jockey has earned his retainer from Mr Leopold de Roth sclilld and Mr Falrie respectively respectivelyAs As regards the Americans riding this week his handling of Admiral Togo III in the Rutland Handi ¬ cap on Tuesday was only excelled by the superb skill which landed Sandwich a clever winner of the Criterion Stakes from Borrow Simply perfect was the effort which placed Levanger in front by a head for a selling plate and almost magical was the man ner in which he kidded Lagos to win the Jockey Club Cup after it had looked inexpressible odds on Royal Realm As for the dead heat for the Dew hurst Plate there were good judges among the spec ¬ tators who thought he should have wonon Phryxus but there I am at issue with them for it struck me that instead of winning easily as at one time seemed likely from his riding he was in fact nurs ing a beaten horse for a last effort and this he oc cpmplished so effectually that he reached the post just In time to avert actual defcatl To fny thinking that was a fine performance on the part of Maher but whatever may be said to his credit redounds also to that of AVootton who probably never roile betterjudged race in his life than he did on King William It was a case of an old head tin young shoulders for Lord Derbys colt having lost a lot of ground at starting would have been beaten easily had he been bustled to begin with arid only the patience and skill of his rider enabled him in ihc circumstances to reach Phryxus in the last stride That the son of William the Third and Glasalt is the better horse I have no doubt but the conditions were against him owing to a slovenly beginning and I shall bo surprised if ever Mr Fairles colt gets as near to him again especially as the one strikes me as more likely to Improve than the other
