view raw text
1 . ; j , J , . , i CHANGED RIDING METHODS Veteran Jockey Fred Taral Surprised to Find Practice of Waiting with a Horse Lost , Art in This Country, BY C. J. FITZ GERALD. There have been few riders to possess the confidence of the public in the same degree as Fred Taral, who has rcently returned to the United 1 States, to take up a permanent residence, after i many years of absence in Germany, and none is better qualified than the "Honest Dutchman" to comment on the change in the quality of the horsemanship on our courses since the period when he was one of a galaxy of riders that were conspicuous for their excellence. Tliat was tiie day of Sloan, Maher, ONeill, OLeary, Simms, Shaw, Dog-gett, McCue, Odom, Martin, Spencer, Clayton, Perkins, Redfern, Turner, Burns, Lamley, OConnor, Bullman, and a score of lesser lights, but each of them capable of handling a horse with skill and judgment. r The veteran was surprised to find that the o practice of waiting with n horse appeared to have n become a lost art in so far as the present day jockey A Is concerned. After watching a days sport at Ja- h maica, during which oath rider in the six races a as was engaged in an effort to drive his mount at top tl speed from the moment the barrier was relsased, V no matter what distance was to be covered, he re- s marked to some friends: " "I cant see why a oy shouldnt wait in second b or third place when he lias his horse in hand and 1 is going easy. Making the pace is a handicap in J any instance. Every jockey should study his fields the night before a race, and he ought to know some- h thing of the characteristics of the horses opposed 1 to him and their riders as well. He could thus B map out a plan of action for the following day. This was my custom, and I know that it was done e by many other lads as well." r When asked how he would solve the present day j jockey problem, Taral said that the. system in j vogue abroad ought to be. helpful. .iflaiflry,;p.rograroi j onerace a day for apprentices." Their: there dve " races also for boys that have ridden only one will- j ner, and also at times races are carded for those j that have never ridden a certain number of win- j ners. All apprentices receive an allowance of j seven pounds till they have ridden thirty winners, and then three pounds till the term of their appren- j ticeship has expired. The term of apprenticeship, s however, is five years, so that there is an ample reward for the pains in teaching a lad the rudi- ments of the profession of jockeyship. rJThe best j rider in Germany is O. Smith, whom I tc; from a foundling asylum and developed in the Weinberg establishment. Under such a plan boys are more f dependable, and do not in their tender years get hold of too much money. They are under discipline at a time when they need it most, and when they arc full-fledged riders they are all the better for it." j TWENTY-NINE YEARS IN SADDLE. Taral began riding at the age of twelve years, ; when lie had the mount in a number of matches between "quarter" horses, in what was then called Indian Territory, but which is now the State of j Oklahoma. He has a record of twenty-nine years in the saddle, riding his last race at the age of . forty-one, and lias won the great prizes of the turf here and abroad. Ho also has the unique distinction of having trnined and ridden a winner of the German Derby, this feat being accomplished with MacDonald,, a son of Bona Vista. In the , United States, ho established a record of having won all three of the then classic handicaps the Metropolitan, Brooklyn and Suburban in the same year, taking the first named and the Suburban with Ramapo, while the Gravesend feature was carried off with Dr. Rice. He also won the Brooklyn with Diablo and Sir Walter. Taral had a great admiration for the latter, which he said was as game a horse as he ever rode. It was Taral who rode Domino in his match race with Dobbins, and while he was cordially hated by the flying son of Himynr, which tried tc harm him whenever ho approached to mount, once in the saddle Domino would give him the last ounce of the great speed he possessed. It will be of interest to the generation of race-goers who were active at the time, when the American turf boasted of some of its best horses, to know that Taral with all his experience declares that Domino was the fastest horse, Hamburg the best and Henry of Navarre the greatest stayer. Of the riders who were -his contemporaries Taral has much praise. He contends that Sloan owed hi:? great success to the masterfulness of his hands. He nursed and coaxed a horse in a race as no other rider of his day could do. Willie Shaw is another jockey which conies in for a measure of prais; from Taral, who rode him on a number of occasions in important races abroad. He also has Frank ONeill, the American jockey now under contract to the Macomber stable in France, on a pedestal, and holds him up as an example to the growing generation of riders of what may be accomplished by a combination of honesty, skill and sobriety. Before leaving Germany a month ago Taral said the average Sunday attendance at the Grunewald races was 100,000, and that the last Sunday he went to the races the sum of eight million marks passed through the mutuels. Germany, which had an extensive stud for the production of war horses, is now short of animals of that type. The govern -! ments experimental work in horse breeding is still active, however, with such stallions as Slieve Gal-lion, Ard Patrick and Nuage in the service.
