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EDWARD ANSPACH Is a visitor at atWashington Washington Park but expects to leave leaveshortly shortly for the East LYLE PHILLIPS Saddled the sixyear old Mr Dumjohn for his winning effort in the Marthas Vineyard Purse yester ¬ day at Suffolk Downs Brooks Says Only Way to Keep In Demand Is to Ride Winners Has Been Around Horses Practically Entire Life Relates of Latest Feat FeatBy By TEDDY COX COXWASHINGTON WASHINGTON PARK Homewood 111 May 19 Although he rode four winners on yesterdays second day program of the Lincoln Fieldsmeeting here at Washington Park any mention of Steven Leroy Brooks riding achievements inadvertently veers to his outstanding saddle performance at Churchill Downs last Saturday when he booted home the winners of the first six races on the program Brooks eased over to his locker upon his arrival in the jocks room today and went about preparation for just another hard day of work Con ¬ versation soon drifted to his nowfamous sixstraight performance performanceIt It was a funny feeling when I rode out on the track for the seventh race he told Pat Kelly towering former football star who is manager of the Jockeys Guild My horse was oddson and looked like the standout of the day Mr Mel my mount in the last race also looked like a winner and I couldnt help but visualize sweeping the card cardI I dont believe Ive ever had such an empty feeling in my stomach the Mc Cook Neb veteran continued And I guess the pressure got the besf of me for I drove up in a spot where I didnt belong and was shut off and that ended the streak No matter how long a fellow rides or how many winners he gets during a year it seems that theres always something com ¬ ing up that causes you to tighten up and occasionally toss off races you should have won easily easilyDbes Dbes Best Under Pressure I guess thats what makes Eddie Ar caro the greatest jockey in the world It seems that he comes up with his best per ¬ formances when the pressure is the great ¬ est Anyway Ill never forget that feeling when I went out for the seventh race on an oddson favorite with six winners in back of me meWhile While Arcaro is generally regarded as the best of the presentday riders chances are that turf patrons in the Chicago area will put up a whale of a verbal scrap on Brooks behalf The 26yearold reinsman has been the idol of the Prairie State for a number of years and his popularity seems to mount with every race raceAlthough Although occasionally he swaggers and struts in a manner that would befit a young man who started out from scratch to become affluent and prominent in his particular field of endeavor Brooks taxes his success in stride strideWhat What happened yesterday means little in this game he told the writer Hit a bad streak and theyll drop you like a hot potato The only way a jockey can remain in demand is to keep riding winners Ive seen too many of em up there on top one day and at the bottom a few days later laterFirst First of Eleven Children ChildrenAlthough Although he claims McCook as his birth ¬ place Brooks is not certain that the event he was the first of 11 children took place within the confines of the Nebraska town Actually he first saw the light of day un ¬ der a covered wagon in or near McCook His father was a horse and mule trader and the Brooks home was the horse drawn vehicle patterned along the same lines of those of the frontier days daysBrooks Brooks of course cant remember when he wasnt around horses He wasnt many years old before he could hitch a team and treat the horses and mules for ailments At around 10 he was better than a green hand at riding quarter horses At the time he weighed about 50 pounds and often tied himself on with a circingle circingleHe He rode a large number of winners on tracks that were not recognized before of ¬ ficially breaking his maiden at Shreve port La astride a horse named Coventry Cap on November 17 1938 He had been brought out by his uncle Ed Orin ultimate ¬ ly became known as a whoopdedo rider whose only contribution to the art was his ability to get out of there wingin and plying the bat the remainder of the dis ¬ tance tanceI I went along for a number of years be ¬ fore changing my style he says You see I was riding mostly cheap horses and most of them were unsound My uncle told me that the only way to get a sore horse to run at his best clip was to get his rump hotter than his feet By the constant use of the whip I won a lot of races but I guess I lost just as many by punishing horses that preferred different handling handlingUsing Using Whip Too Much MuchIt It was John Withers who finally straightened me out When I worked for him he decided that I was using the whip too much and that if I was ever to become a good rider I must learn to rate horses After all of that quarter horse experience where jockeys went down the paths bent forleather and my early rides on the rec ¬ ognized tracks the change in tactics wasnt easy for me As a matter of fact it has been only in the last two or three years that Ive learned to time my moves until late in the stretch stretchBut But I still use the whip freely on cheap horses especially with the left hand I would say that I won about half of my races last year by whipping left handed Ive just about decided that many of the older and cheaper horses become immune to being whipped on the right side Most of their exercise riders hit em there in the morning and not too many jockeys hit left handed Often Ill hit a horse right handed and there is absolutely no response Then Ill shift to the left hand and they almost jump from under me meBrooks Brooks has ridden many firstclass horses not the least of whom was the cur ¬ rent sensation Citation He rode the bril ¬ liant colt in last seasons rich Washington Park Futurity for the Calumet Farm and managed to get him beat beatBut But I probably could have won that one if I tried a little harder You see Mr Jones was anxious to get Bewitch home in that race She was undefeated at the time and they wanted to keep her record intact In the paddock Mr Jones told me of his plans and instructed me to remain just off the pace and not to make any strong moves unless it appeared that Bewitch couldnt win Citation was a little rank during the early running but he got to moving at the top of the stretch and down near the eighth pole had dead aim on Bewitch The filly was going gamely enough and there didnt seem anything else within reaching dis ¬ tance so I took hold of Citation and had him under wraps at the finish However I might add that he wasnt the great colt that afternoon he has proven to be since sinceLast Last year while Brooks was engaged in a heated struggle with Johnny Longden for the national riding championship he suddenly took a vacation and lost all chance of catching his foe Word spread that Brooks didnt give a hoot whether he beat Longden or not notActually Actually the veteran was quite intent on beating Longden I had the choice of going out to the Coast where Longdens contacts give him a great edge or going to Bowie where I couldnt expect to get enough live mounts The task seemed im ¬ possible Also I had reached a point in the income tax bracket where any addi ¬ tional earnings would mean little so I took a needed vacation vacationBrooks Brooks expects to keep riding so long as weight does not constitute a great problem Presently he can do 112 pounds which is nearing the danger mark He is saving his money and hopes some day to settle down on a ranch in Texas TexasIn In the meantime hes piling up a nice nest eggi He lives conservatively in a trailer near the track and his main concern other than horses is the progress of his young daughter Cathy
