view raw text
CHANGE IN OUR JOCKEYS . . No Longer Years of Careful and Painstaking Study Demanded. Indenture of Famous "Fred Archer Shown In Contrast to Princely Contract of Ivan Parke. -: - NEW. YORK. N. Y., March 22. None of the accesories of the turf has undergone a greater change than that relating to jockeys. The clays when .the development of talent in the saddle was considered a matter of long years of careful and painstaking study have departed, and the result of the change is manifest in the decline of horsemanship, that has left its imprint on the quality of American racing. The methods employed in the exploitation of boys like Ivan Parke, who has just graduated from the apprentice class, would not be understood by the trainer of earlier days when the method by which first-class jockeys were developed was modeled on the English plan. Terms of indenture covered a long period of years and one can fancy the amazement of Matthew Dawson or those of his kind in England at the intelligence that the reigning sensation as a rider, even at a winter meeting, would be found in the person of a youth who had no knowledge of race riding a year and a half before he was at the head of the list of winning jockeys. Being in such a position would not necessarily mean supremacy in the art of jockey-ship, for there are several more finished riders in the United States today than Parke, whose premiership was achieved through the superabundance of opportunity he enjoyed. It all, however, serves to illustrate a change that has come about in an important branch of the turf within recent years. Even back to the period when Bill Daly had his justly celebrated school for jockeys, both with and without the use of a bale-stick, it took several seasons to put the finishing touches on a Garrison, Maher or OConnor, and it is only in recent years that continuous racing with its unlimited opportunities for saddle development brought to the fore prodigies like Parke, who has been the reigning sensation of the New Orleans season, just closed, and whose success on the Kentucky track last autumn was so pronounced that he was virtually able to choose his mounts during the sessions in Louisiana. Earl Sande had much the same sort of a meteoric rise as Parke, but his horsemanship has with the passage of time taken on a brilliancy that renders his place secure in the history of American race riders. There I have been few better horsemen than Sande in any era of American racing. To a natural aptitude for the profession this young man, Continued on twelfth page. CHANGE IN OUR JOCKEYS ContinuiMl from first page. who, like Parke, Johnson and the Fators, hails from Idaho, added a greater degree of intelligence than is possessed by the average jockey. His success has not been a matter of luck, for it took merit to put him in a position where he was in demand for tho best mounts. Being at the top of the tree In his chosen avocation, his devotion to duty and honesty of purpose will keep him thero until he becomes too heavy to make tho weight necessary for his engagements. That a youth of his height should bo ablo to Tide at 115 pounds and even lighter on occasions, is remarkable and calls for an amount of self sacrifice that is not appreciated save by these who are familiar with the demands of the occupation. James McLiughlin, Edward II. Garrison and Fred Taral of the old school of American riders were martyrs even in a day when weight-for-age races were far more numerous than they are at present. They weighed as much as 140 pounds during the winter months. The agony of taking off every spring twenty-five pounds and keeping it off throughout the ensuing seven months of saddle activity drove these splendid horsemen one after the other into retirement, just as it has the champions of other days and countries. Perhaps the most striking example of martyrdom on the part of a jockey is illustrated by the career of the renowned English rider Fred Archer, whose record of winning 2,122 races in ten seasons speaks for itself. Archer stood five feet ten inches, and weighed in the off season upward of 145 pounds. Yet with spartan fortitude year after year he camo to the scales at the Lincoln spring meeting prepared to ride at 122. Frank Siltzer, in his engaging book "Newmarket," tells how Archer often dined on a small glass of champagne and a water biscuit. Naturally such methods brought their own punishment, and when attacked by typhoid the great riders siystem lacked powers of resistance and in a delirium he shot and killed himself. Archer, whose record of successes was associated with all the classics, had adevotel following among the American contingent racing in England, when he was at the top of his form. It was Archer who won the Derby and St. Leger on Iroquois for Pierre Lor-iliard, and when he visited this country he was shown every attention. In this period when apprentice riders are enjoying so much popularity with contracts on neophytes in the saddle exchanging hands for from ,000 to 5,00, it is fitting that the indenture binding Archer to Matthew Dawson should be reproduced. It might be read with profit by those who have no knowledge of the turf in an earlier period when race riding called for something more than ability to get away frcm the post and hurry home. Patience, hands, judgment of pace, ability to finish and a general understanding of the profession were a requisite to that success which seldom came before chins felt the need of a razor. . The following is an abridged copy of the indenture of Archer: "This indenture witnesseth that Frederick Archer, now or late of Prestbury near Cheltenham, in the county of Gloucester, at tho age of eleven or thereabouts, with the consent of his father, William Archer of Prestbury aforesaid inn-keeper, doth put himself apprentice to Matthew Dawson of Newmarket, to learn his art, and with him after the manner of an apprentice who served from tho date of the day thereof, unto the full end and term of five years, etc. "And the said Matthew Dawson will pay unto the said Frederick Archer the undermentioned wages during the said term that is to say, 7 guineas for the first year, 9 guineas for the second year, 11 guineas for the third year and 13 guineas for the fourth and fifth years respectively ; and his said apprentice in the art of a jockey and trainer of race horses which he useth for the best means that he can, shall teach and Instruct, or cause to be taught and instructed ; finding unto the said apprentice sufficient meat, drink and also a hat, coat and waistcoat in each year and lodging during the said term." In striking contrast to this is the indenture of Parke, who receives in a month almost double what Archer got in the final years of his term, and in addition has the fees from outside mounts. During the recent meetings in Louisiana these fees averaged about 00 a week. This in addition to allowances for food, clothing and traveling expenses.
