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RIDERS OF REAL SKILL SCARCE. By C. J. Fitz Gerald. New York. September li7. The lack of good riding material stood out conspicuously during the past season on the race courses in the east and there have been many opinions expressed as to the solution of a problem which lias vexed the turf solons for a long time. The disappearance of the old-time taskmaster of the type of Father Bill Daly, who brought out more famous jockeys than anybody else, has been deplored, and something must be done in the immediate future if a new supply of desirable material for the saddle is to be forthcoming. Thomas .1. I lea ley. who trains the horses of 15. T. Wilson and who bad the champion two-year-old Campire in his charge the past season, has some ideas on the subject that are sound. "No boy should be entrusted with a mount," said he a few days ago. "until he has had two years experience as an exercise boy, and, when he does get a chance, if he show a performance which is not up to the standard, he should be kept in retirement for a specified time before given another opportunity. There should be two races a week at a mile or over for apprentices exclusively. This would give the boys a chance to learn something about pace, for without that no rider can hope to become a first-class horseman. Short races, which are a mere dash from the moment the barrier is lifted, does not call for the judgment a longer contest would demand. "I would favor the establishment of a rule which would not annul a boys apprentice allowance until he had ridden twenty-five winners, whether it. took him two years to accomplish it or one year, as the rule now calls for. Some of the best apprentices we have had of recent years have not ridden twenty-five winners before their year is up. and a boy in a big stable would have a great advantage over a youngster where there would be some very good mounts available. "While a boy will learn much from contact with the older jockeys," went on Mr. Ilealey, "lie would get more confidence by -the actual winning of races, and this situation will come the more quickly if he is pitted with beginners like himself. "With the minimum age limit at sixteen years we should get results all the more quickly, as lads of greater intelligence will he available. Our boys have it easy in comparison with the exercise lads abroad. An English boy has to help rub as well as ride and walk his charges, while here in the United States a boy is not asked to do up an animal. In some of the larger stables the education of the lads is looked after, and before racing was stopped at Sheepshead Bay the Coney Island Jockey Club maintained a school, at which attendance was compulsory. This was a pet scheme of the late J. II. Bradford, who took a particular interest in the welfare of the boys at the course of which he was the active head. "There is no occupation that brings quicker or larger returns for young men of small station than ; that of a jockey," said Mr. Healey in conclusion, "and I believe if these chances were widely known we would have a higher degree of intelligence in : the saddle and better riders as a natural consequence." . . It might be mentioned that the most promising apprentice seen on the eastern courses this season i is the lad Warscher. popularly known as "Biscuits." who is an inmate of the stable of William II. Kar-. rick. Warscher has been exercising horses for seven years and only rode a few races last fall. During the present season in Maryland ho has won several good races and has displayed enough ability s to warrant the belief that he will be a star lightweight in 1917. The stewards of the Jockey Club will no doubt ! find a means to grapple with the apprentice jockey I problem that will be satisfying to all and produce at the same time the best results. 1 ; ! 1 ! ! 1 1 1 : 1 1 " t : J
