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rtrfrfnflllnl"~~" STEVE BROOKS Jockey Steve Brooks Has Passedl 1,000 Mark in Number of Wins Compiling Record as Most 4 Active Rider in Country; Rode 200 Winners in 1946 HAWTHORNE, Cicero, 111., May 16.— Affable jockey Steve Brooks, although never reaching the distinction of the leading rider of America for any one year, has compiled the enviable record of being the most active jockey in the past few seasons, during which time he has won purse money amounting to over ,000,000. The exact amount won by Brooks through the 1946 season was ,990,290, having ridden in 15,346 races. Although Brooks often takes time out during the year for an extended vacation, the 26-year-old McCook, Neb., rider still is one of the busiest riders on the turf, being always ready to ride eight a day. Last season Brooks finished fourteenth among the leading riders of the country, having ridden 1,095 mounts, winning 201 races for a percentage of .18, and placing in the money with nearly half of his mounts, a record seldom equaled, garnering 21,880. In 1945, Brooks also brought nearly 50 per cent of his charges in the money, winning 112 of his total 878 trips around the ovals for a percentage of .14. His total in 45 was 51,480. During the preceding years, from 1942, Brooks records were comparable, riding more than 1,000 races a year, with nearly half of his mounts finishing in the money each season. Brooks began life in real American fashion, traveling since childhood in a "top-wagon," which resembled the old "covered wagon" of pioneer days. His father traveled the northwest from Nebraska to the Rocky Mountains, horse trading, with a little cattle swapping on the side. Steve, from childhood, was in the saddle, and assisted in many a round-up at the ranches they visited. At the age of 17, his uncle, Ed Orin, took the lad under his wing and started him as a rider around the smaller tracks. This was 1938, during which year Brooks rode nine horses on recognized tracks, winning one race and purse money of 90. Steve rode his maiden victory at the old Shreveport, La., track, November 17, astride a plater named Coventry Cap. Rode for Withers and Dunn in 1941 Brooks met with immediate success the next year, but did not reach big-time proportions until 1941, when he was riding for the Withers and Dunn Stable. Since then he had ridden for many of the largest stables on the turf, including the Louisiana Farm, Longchamps Stable and Charles T. Fishers Dixiana, and has won 1,007 races through 1946. When asked the biggest thrill he ever experienced in the saddle, Brooks replied: "When I rode Spy Song to victory in the 1945 Arlington Futurity with my whole family watching. My second biggest thrill came two weeks ago, when I rode Dixianas Star Reward in the Kentucky Derby. Star Reward came through on the rail rounding the final turn, and moved into second position. I had been holding him hard until then, and thought victory was certain, but when I asked him to take command, he flattened out, and that was without a doubt the biggest disappointment I ever had." Brooks recalls the fastest horse he ever rode was Spy Song, but the racer he rated as best was Louisiana Farms Riverland. Brooks has thrown a leg up on some of the best horses in the country, including Devil Diver, Princequillo, Bolingbroke, Boy Knight and Tiger Rebel. Extremely happy in his present working relations with Dixiana and trainer Jack Hodgins, their contract is verbal, their word being their bond. Brooks has been riding steadily for Dixiana for the last two years, and will ride for the Detroit automobile magnates stable in Chicago this season. Brooks credits a great deal of his success to his agent, diminutive Harry Howard, whom Brooks rates as the best agent in the business. Howard is an ex-rider himself. The family life of Brooks is idyllic, with his wife and four-year-old daughter, Cathy, whom he keeps with him during his travels, making his home in a 34-foot trailer, which is equipped with all modern conveniences. When asked about when he thought he would hang up his tack, Brooks replied, "Not until I feel that I cannot do my best, which I hope will be a long time. I love to ride and it is my recreation as well as my profession." When he finally does reach the end of his saddle career, Brooks plans to have a business already started near Dallas, Texas, which is his wifes birthplace and his adopted home.
