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DONOGHUE AND FLYING FOX English Jockey Tells How He Al ¬ most Ruined Great Horse Early Days In Uie John Porter Stable Marked by Disappointment and Borcsomo Rou ¬ tine Finally StoTO Runs Away The story of Stephen Donoghuc as told in his reminiscences now appearing in the Lon ¬ don Sunday Express is replete with incident In a racent article of the series reprinted in these colmns Donoghue told how he finally achieved his ambition of becoming a stable boy for the great trainer John Porter In the following article he tells of his early trials and tribulations in Uiat great thor ¬ oughbred training establishment establishmentOf Of course everything was new and strange to me but I found it all most thrilling and was intensely interested in every little detail connected witli the stables and the race horses I got on fairly well in my new sur ¬ roundings and learned as one must to take the rough with the smooth I went through the usual stable routine which in those days meant having a pretty hard life of it I did my two horses first of all the hacks then in due course two of the race horses two of the spares as they are called calledBut But soon there came a terrible setback to my hopes and ambitions The first thorough ¬ bred I ever sat on there was a horse called Clean Gone and I was clean gone too before I had been on his back many minutes The horses were at exercise out on the downs and had just finished the work and I was put up on this horse to ride him quietly back home homeHORSE HORSE UNSEATS YOUNG RIDER RIDEROf Of course my heart was in my mouth I had only been at Kingsclere for a few weeks and when suddenly the horse gave a buck and a kick away I went over his head There was also a lad leading the horse and he must have been almost a bigger fool than I was as he let it get loose looseThe The whole thing might have been desper ¬ ately serious am have led to fearful con ¬ sequences little did I realize at the time the ghastly danger that there was of ir ¬ reparable damage happening to almost price ¬ less bloodstock This horse by breaking loose startled and upset the whole string of thoroughbreds the last horse in the line being as luck would have it no other than the peerless Flying Fox FoxHe He had retired into winter quarters the favorite twoyeaiod he had already proved himself the best threeyearold colt of the season by winning the Two Thousand Guin ¬ eas and was at that time May 1890 hot favorite for the Derby In less time than it takes to tell Flying Fox bucking and kick ¬ ing also threw his lad and away lie went galloping down the valley after my bold Clean Gone GoneTo To add to the general horror the next horse then got loose This was worse luck than all as he was a big colt called Want ¬ age a badtempered vicious brute of over seventeen hands with the evil reputation of being a savager Away he went too in the direction taken by Flying Fox Imag ¬ ine the feelings of poor John Porter there on his hack seeing the prospect of a prob ¬ able fight to the death between two colts which was bound to take place if Wantage caught up with Flying Fox the latter horse the best in his stable practically beyond price and the favorite for the Derby DerbyWith With marvelous quickness and presence of mind John shouted to the lad who was rid ¬ ing a little filly that was slightly amiss Dick gallop off on that filly and take her straight up to Wantage draw his altenticn to her and lead him away from Flying Fox FoxThe The lad was fortunately quickwitted lie grasped at once what was wanted and rapidly galloped away caught up with the big horse and took the filly straight across him so that he at once diverted his atten ¬ tion to her Meantime John Porter himself had gone to the rescue of Flying Fox which as soon as he was no longer menaced by the big colt allowed himself quite quietly to be caught caughtHe He was thus saved to win the Derby starting at the extraordinary price of 5 to 2 on indeed he won all the classics that year and every race for which he started includ ¬ ing the tinPC te i thousand poinulors He was afterward sold for the colossal figure for those days of 187500 to that date the record price paid for any thoroughbred thoroughbredrUNISlCIIENT rUNISlCIIENT CO3IES QUICKLY QUICKLYClean Clean Gone had by this time nad the best of his way home and I after him Kotriitution of course soon overtook me the small tin ¬ ner responsible for the beginirm of ail the trouble First I got the inevitable hiding for falling off and next was snt nc to stay in and sweep the yards etc again No more riding for me if I couldnt stick on onIt It was hard for ne with my unconquer ¬ able desire to be a jockey to ee the other bojs riding off on the horses each morning to exercise and to be left behind day after day with no further opportunity given me to learn how to ride This was not at all the realization of my ambition ambitionI I also began to grow homesick and was longing to see my mother again I was even then not fifteen years old So I blush to relate one day I wrote to my mother and asked her to send me trie fare home los 3d about 4 By return of post it arrived I concluded that father must have backed a winner While the horses were out at exer ¬ cise the next day I packed my few belong ¬ ings in a small parcel slipped away to the station and took the next train to Warring ton I arrived home snoiting a large jockeys cap breeches large check pattern gaiters and boots giving myself as many airs as though I had returned a fullbIiAvi TIM Sloan instead of a very muchiii disgrace young runaway
