Jockey Griggs Wins Fame In War., Daily Racing Form, 1916-05-14

article


view raw text

JOCKEY GRIGGS WINS FAME IN WAR. At the time when apprentices were still entitled to tafca th" five-pound allowance in important handicaps a certain small boy who, at that period, was able to go to scale at eighty-four pounds, was given the mount on Wabun in the "Jubilee." A wee little mortal be was. and a bashful, who listened carefully to the instructions given him by Sir Edgar Vincent as Lord DAbernon then was before being tossed into the saddle on the elder half-brother to Pistol. A small voice piped, "Yea, sir," to show he understood. The little boy was William Griggs, who had ridden two winners in the previous year, and was then only on the threshold of his saci-ssfiil career as a jockey. Coming to the bend, his turquoise cap was prominent, but hi was shut in at the turn, and Wahun was unplaced to Royal George, Wargr.ive and Revenue. That was in 1902, and five years later Griggs was fifth on the winning list "with sixty -eight successes, while in the following year he was on sixty-two winners. Since then he had on several occasions been prominent among the leading jockeys until he answered his countrys call and entered the army. It was with pride "that lovers of the turf read on Saturday the account of William Griggs distinguished share in the Duke of Westminsters brilliant and successful dash witli armored cars to the rescue in western Egypt of the crew of H. M. S. Tara, who had been taken prisoners by hostile S"imssi tribesmen. It is said that the leading car m the finish of that "Desert Derby" was that of William Griggs. Thereby he 1 as found compensation for his lack of success hitherto in the Epsom "Rlue Ribbon" — a Ian which for many years was also beyond the grasp of so renowned a jockey as George Fordhain, who had been riding for about twenty -eight years before he scored his first and only Derby victory on Sir Revys. It is to be hoped that after the war is over Griggs will add the Epsom Derby and other classic events to his other laurels. — London Sportsman of April 24. I i •


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1916051401/drf1916051401_1_9
Local Identifier: drf1916051401_1_9
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800