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OPPORTUNITIES FEW AND FAR BETWEEN Jockey Willie Shaw Gives That as a Reason for Not Riding in This Country By Ed Cole ColeSaratoga Saratoga X Y August 14 Willie Shaw once one of the l est riders in this country and who went to Europe and lived up to his reputation abroad was asked the other day why lie did not get into the saddle again and resume his profession professionThere There are several reasons answered Shaw In the first place there is not work enough here for riders who are considered to hold premier places on the list It would hardly be worth while to reduce and get into condition to ride and only get three or four mounts a week weekSeveral Several flattering offers have been made me to get back into harness but I have held them all off to look over the situation and the iwssibilities and I find they are not encouraging There are too many jockeys these days for even two tracks to make the business worth while whileAt At the present time there arc more than 100 jockeys looking for mounts at Saratoga Among them are many good ones yet it Is rarely that you see their names on the jockey board more than once or twice a day Sometimes not that many Look manyLook at Bobinsons record for instance He is one of the best riders of the day yet at times In only has one mount during an afternoons racing That is not sufficient to keep a rider in condition and give him the natural confidence lie should pos ¬ sess to ride good races all the time Jockeys must have plenty of work and from three to five mounts a day to get the best out of them themAgain Again look at Lyke a mighty good rider when at his best Of course his troubles with his em ¬ ployer may have much to do with his lack of en ¬ gagements but even when he was in the height of his glory he was not getting the number of mounts he was entitled to toENSOR ENSOR AND SANDE ARE BUSY BUSYEnsor Ensor and Sande average perhaps three mounts a day and they are the two most popular jockeys here Consequently there is little encouragement for me to start riding again Then there is the more serious question of whether I could make good after being nearly four years out of the saddle I would not want to make a bloomer of the effort nnd the critics are hard on riders sometimes put ¬ ting a i Iftt of bad luck down to iueompetency If I happened to get mounts on two or three horses which made a poor showing I know just what owners and trainers would say I sayI know myself I can ride as well as I ever did but it is not always the opinion one has of ones self that counts The gentlemen around a race track are all from Missouri If I thought I could get sufficient mounts to give me a fair opportunity I might consider one or two of the offers I have had not for the money tjere is in it as I am com ¬ fortably fixed but just to be doing something But when I look at the jockey list published in the papers and see scores of good riders walking around the scales room looking for mounts it sort of sets me thinking and saying to myself what chance would I have under such conditions conditionsAs As much as I would like to accept mounts to comply witli the wishes of owners who have offered me engagements I hardly think it worth while 35 it is hard work keeping in condition to ride at an acceptable weight and only get possibly a mount every now and then In Europe I can get all the mounts I want so I think I will wait a while until the war is settled rather than take the chance of getting the leg on some bad horses and thereby causing adverse criticism and possibly jeopardizing my future abroad I dont need the money and lots of the other little fellows do need it so Ill ba content to wait waitV7ESTY V7ESTY HOGANS ASTONISHING FEATS FEATSOne One of the most notable incidents in connection witli the racing here is the change of heart of Westy Hogan and his astonishing performances over a track that he was not supposed to like During his career he has done stunts that even his trainers never I clievcd iwssible In the first place those who know the horse well have always believed him a sprinter He disabused them of these ideas in Maryland last autumn when he slipited off from his stable companion Omar Khayyam in a race wherein his job was merely that of pacemaker pacemakerThis This past week Westy Hogan has demonstrated that he is n tt only a good mud runner but an ex ¬ ceptional one llmming two days in succession does not seem to worry him in the least as proved by his victories last Friday and Saturday As for weight carrying he picked up his 127 pounds in the Cham plain Handicap and ran away from a band of good horses covering the first mile over a heavy course in 140 140Westy Westy Hogan does not appear to great advantage over sandy or cuppy going but he surely is a bear when the footing suits him and when he has speed enough to go to tlie front in a race Some folks think he likes to run alone as his most impressive races are those in which he has been aide to take the lead leadSandy Sandy McNaughton cannot understand how Westy met defeat in the Delaware Handicap a week ago in which he finished last The track was fast on that occasion in fact it was the race in which Sun Briar created a new record yet he was beaten off Whether it was the track conditions or the fact that he could not get to the front in the early running McXanghton cannot satisfy himself but he is confident Westy Hogan did not run his race upon that occasion occasionHe He is a funny hcrse said McNanghtori and has had me guessing more than once but now I am getting a line on his likes and dislikes and I lm going to humor him and cater to his disposition whenever possible
