Danny Mahers Notable Career: Summary of Saddle Achievements of American Jockey Who [Illegible] in England Best of All, Daily Racing Form, 1914-03-29

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DANNY MAHERS NOTABLE CAREER. In lo of Summary of Saddle Achievements of American ot Jockey Who Succeeded in England Best of All. J." the If the cable advises of Wednesday from Loudon arc to be relied upon, Danny Malier will be seen no . lucre in the saddle and the career of one of the best A modern-day jockeys has terminated. Danny Maher j lias achieved greater success and popularity in Eng- nd llian any other rider from America, not even f; I eeptiug Tod Sloan. The performances of Sloan ine years ago were astonishing to Englishmen, but -Man wuhl not endure there, while ilaher has had continued success year after year. This is due in i, cat part lo his adaptability and thrift, and the 1 nierk-an is now a thoroughbred Briton. .Malier lias J" j:nde a great fortune for a jockey and will not need lo worry over his enforced retirement. His income i recent years has been not less than $."0,000 and ; p.ebably considerably in excess of that amount. His a :a.nual retainer lioin Lord Bosebery alone has been , 5.00. Malier, who became a naturalized British subject i: last year, lias bought a country estate near Netting- r, ham, wlu-re he intends to live, breeding prize cattle and indulging iu other rural pursuits. There is f much speculation regarding Mailers wealth. He is believed to have accumulated about 00,000. . Danny Malier was born October 29, 1SS1, and J therefore is 32 vears of age. He was apprenticed 1 to his uncle "rather Bill" Daly when he was seven J years old and rode with marked success in this conn- i irv before increasing weight drove him abroad. He r.de for the lirst time in England in September. 3000, iic mount being a winning one. Arriving from j America so late in the year gave him only a limited time lo prove his ability, but that was soon evident -J to the English experts. In the short time that re- j jniiined he rode twenty-seven winners and finished the season with a ierccutage of 21.00 and only once j net then has it been less. In 110,". Malier was the viilim of a motor car accident, the injuries from v Nieh caused his life to be despaired of and kept 1 ..Sin out of the saddle for many weeks. Still, that vear he rode fifty-six winners and had sin average of 1S.7S. which was the lowest of his arcer on the Enslish turf. He led the jockeys in n ailer of percentage live different years and from liOO to and including 191:;, a period of fourteen m ..sons, he earned a general average of 25.25, a re-i ; rkable record. Malier rode the winners of many if Hie area test lixtures of the English turf, including c meo Dcrbys. Malier is extremely popular with r I rilish turf patrons and his services were always in J . iu:iiiil. An American returning from England a yii.r or two ago said: J About the only American that seems to get along lerfcctly in England is Danny Maher, and it is i iiiettv good betting that Danny is more English now i I nn "they are themselves. lie has got along because j i is shrewd enough to cater to them and to take i I their ways and make Ihem his own. Of course, j Hiy like him because he is capable, too, but it i voiiidn t be easy to call to mind another instance of i U kind." . 1. 1009 he related the following story of ins ng career in a breezy style in the columns of Ins Magazine, published in England: Ms lirst ride in an actual race was iu 3S91 on l a!;ot. a horse belonging lo my uncle. Most people . ii the course were, I believe, under the impression liiai I had just got there, but a man in the box :ud after all be is in 999 eases out of a 1000 the best judge -placed me second, and in any case the t,ie was a most exciting one, heads only separating .u lirst three. However, I was not long before 1 broke my duck, my lirst winning mount being on I xnbiri. at Providence, R. I. 1 lv lirst reallv satisfactory year as a jockey s in 1st IS. and at Brighton Beach I had an ex- J .Lordlnarily good meeting, riding no fewer than tv .vomers in thirtv days. On one day, by the J -,.! 1 was first past the stick in live races, and tui ! M--oud in Hie lasl event on the card. Ine American style of riding had been pretty J . i.. -.. I v adopted here when I got over and races i run from end lo end just as they were in Uieriej. although I have often beard since that Mis slv: of riding was quite a novelty and for sirs and vears Mhe waiting behind and coining vii j a sharp burst at the finish method of racing ,as all liie rage. There is. however. I think, little l dtm it ih.il results work out much truer by coming . ; hl tluoir-h with a horse than in the old-fashioned J tvlo. 1 It is not altogether easy in fact, it is uncom- j nionlv dillieiilt to draw a direct line between English and American form of horses, but 1 think all hi same i hat, generally seaking, the class of the English thoroughbred is lettcr, while mares like J s.-cptr. and Irettv lolly. and extra good horses ike rd ialrick, Spearmint, St. Frusquin and Per- J nunon would be anything from fourteen to twenty- ; one pounds in front of any American horse. ; Mv lirst mount in the Derby was on Mr. Loril- : lards" Tantalus, the next on the late Duke of Devon-slur, s Cheers, and in the following year. 1903. I won ilu Bine Riband of the turf for the lirst time on Si .lames Millers Koek Sand. if l hat ride I shall always entertain most pleas-ail memories, for Bock Sand never caused mis an ime.rsv moment, and, indeed, before we had gone .all "i mile 1 felt that 1 had the race won. and at uo lime had I to call on the son of Sainfoin for a ir.ous olTori. In the St. T.eger. too. Bock Sand iruve me another arm chair ride and at the finish lannied past the iiost I he easiest of winners, so iba although racing experts declare that the three-Mai olds of 1903 were a moderate lot, 1 do not collider l hat the Derby winner can be fairly classed n tl is categorv. as he was a long way in front of 0 his rivals al the same age. But there is a lot of luck about racing and Bock Sand undoubtedly was inhiikv lo run tip against two such horses as Ard at rick and Sceptre, which finished in front of him n tl e Eclipse Stakes. V. curious trait in Bock Sand s disposition was his strong objection lo the use of the whip, but the little horse was so game and always did his best that reallv I never had serious cause to resort to the : . Hail, though in the Jockey Club Stakes, won by Sceptre, when that brilliant mare shot out I gave . i mi one. but his effort was of no avail and. after . ill failure to tackle such a mare successfully was n disgrace. No, Bock Sand was a real game little horse and he could boast of one quality of inestimable . . value in a thoroughbred he never shirked his work. Since that initial success in the greatest prize Hie turf has to offer it has been my good fortune to have been successful twice more iu 1905 on Lord 1 iiosebervs Cicero, a son of Cyllene, and in the following Vear on Spearmint, a on of Carbine and a ; 1 stable companion of Iretty Polly. I have rarely, if C ever, thrown a leg across a better or gamer horse - ii.in Spearmint, whose sire, Carbine, too, must have bein a rare good plucked mi. niong the maiiv good horses I have been fortunate " enough lo steer past the post first, Bachelors Button comes near the top. and, to my mind, S. B. .locis horse was bang up in the first class, though in fairness to Major Eustace Loders smashing mare. : Irettv Boll v. It must be said that the latter was s not quite herself when beaten by Bachelors Button i in the Mold Cup." , , . Last vear the London Sportsman s - turf expert f t wrote of Maher as follows: "Malier supplies an even more striking case than Frank Wool ton of the well-doing in England of a jockey frdhi overseas. Ilis skill was noticed from the moment of his lirst mount here, and there is not a horseman todav who can concede him an ounce. Year after vear he has ridden brilliantly, and, though like every other professional, lie lias made mistakes, thev represent a small percentage in the srmmarv of his achievements. He has been in the service of the leading sportsmen of the land, and can claim success at one time or another in the majority or races in which jockeys are ambitious to shine. He came to tills country from America in the autumn of 1900, and the record lie lias made is remarkable. Though but twice being first among the winning jockevs of the year in IMS and 1913 he has only on two occasions missed the first three, and his winning percentage has always ruled high. The data 1902, third: 1903. unplaced ire a follows: 3901. second: 1904, third: 190."., unplaced: 1900, third; 107 second: 390S, first: 1909. second; 1910, second; 1011 third; 1912, second: 1913, first. lie has never come into conflict with the ruling turf authorities rinring his sojourn here, and stands out. as prominently for liis clean slate as lie docs for his jockey- S,lSvce" wrote of him in the London Tattler, another" sporting authority, last fall as follows: "That finest of jockeys and best of good fellows, Dannv Maher, completed his thirty-second year in October. Danny is a great power on the turf today and the more acquaintance you have with the inner circles of racing the more reason you have for believing this to be so. There is not a stable in existence that is not anxious to secure his services k when a fancied horse has to meet an important en- gagement. , , . "He lias won three Derbys. on Bock Sand. Cicero and Spearmint: lie has won the St. Leger on Bock Sand and Bavardo, and he has ridden winners of the field Cup at Ascot. He is the hero of that epigrammatic definition for foul riding and pulling. One, he told Mr. Justice Darling and the jury. Ms robbery with violence. I chanced to be in court when that evidence was given and after the epieram had been launched the iudge, who himself excites so much laughter in others, swung round in his seat, his humorous face bathed in smiles, and promptly ad-lusted ills glasses the better to take stock of a jockey who could spontaneously deliver himself of a remark so smart and witty. Justice Darling and Maher became great friends from that moment. "He has never been in trouble with the stewards of the Jockev Club for any offense, however trivial. 1 think this is a wonderful thing to be able to say of a jockey who has been riding so long and so In lo of ot J." the . j f; i, 1 J" ; a , i: r, f . J 1 i J j -J j j 1 brilliantly as Maher. You have to remember that lots of causes can help to get a jockey iu trouble, which he may be quite innocent the jealousy of others, a hanging-bad-mouthed horse, and a scrimmage, for instance. Once the Leicester stewards reported Danny to the stewards of the Jockey Club for alleged pulling of a horse called Sallust, property of Lord Rosehery. What a grotesque ami ludicrous blunder they made. The horse in question was one that had never won a race of any kind and that was known to be the worst rogue in training. This was the creature, if you please, that caused the local stewards to act in a dreadfully unfair way toward one with such a line and honest record as Maher. "The accused one was greatly perturbed and he will never forget or forgive, even though the Jockey Club stewards promptly vindicated the jockey, while Lord Bosebery showed his indignation with he local accusers and his warm appreciations of Maher in a way peculiarly characteristic of him. Mailers record is without a stain. I think it is great thing in a career so long and interesting." in addition to the notable races mentioned above, Malier won the 0,000 Eclipse Stakes at Sandown in 1002 with Cheers, in 1901 with Darley Dale, and in 1909 with Bayardo; the Jockey Club Stakes iu 1910 with Leinberg, and a lengthy list of other famous races. The record of his career iu England, year bv vear, is as follows: Per-Year. Mounts. Winners. centage. 1900 12S 27 21.01 1901 418 91 22.4S 1902, ir.i io; 23.50 wo:: 29S oo is.s 1004 402 115 24.S9 HlOr. , 411 Bit 24.57 1900 353 b.w 29.17 1007 424 114 20.SS 190S 491 KK 2J5.30 1009 424 110 27.S3 1010 ; 400 127 27.00 1911 430 99 22.70 1012 443 109 2l.t:0 1013 427 llo 20.93 Totals ".,020 1,421 25.25


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Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800