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GOOD RIDER A VALUABLE ACQUISITION S Polk Says If He Had Hildreths Horses 25000 Would Not Buy Fator NEW YORK N Y July 16 After S Polk had sold tlie contract on the services of jockey L Fator to S O Hildfreth he said saidIf If I had a string of horses like Mr Hildreths I wouldnt have sold my contract with the boy for 25000 He is going to be the greatest jockey in the country and he wont have long to wait for he is improving every day and is pretty near a match for any of them now He was raised on a cattle ranch near Twin Falls Idaho and will not be eighteen years old until August 21 lie has been around horses all his life is afraid of nothing has a cool quick brain and best of all his habits are correct Bad habits have ruined more promising young jockeys than you can shake a stick at but they wont ruin this one oneLaverne Laverne can ride at ninetyeight pounds and he can make a hundred pounds and cat three meals a day continued the Montana horseman A lightweight of his ability arid weight is worth a lot of money in these days on New York tracks because owners are putting 5000 horses in claiming races or selling races at a valuation of 1000 to get the weight off then betting enough to Win 20000 or 30000 and claiming their own horses after the race on a bid enough to protect themselves Its another way of paying a stiff price for tlie privilege of running a highclass horse in a race supposed to be for cheap ones Arid mark my word you are going to see the western crowd play the game until the Jockey Club and the New York tracks are forced tp change the rules to some ¬ thing like they have in Kentucky There an owner cannot claim his ownhorse and if he fries to beat the rule by having a friend claim him he will find himself tripped up when he tries to start him I have six Jiorses here ready fo start but they are not good enough to beat the kind you see in selling races on eastern tracks and so they are idle And because I cant race them I have sold my contract wltli my jockey jockeyFator Fator is the second crack jockey Mr Polk has brought out and sold for a long price Albert Johnson was the other The contract with him was sold to J H Rosscter a prominent California turf ¬ man for 15000 Tlie contract with Fator for which Mr Jlildreth paid a like sum has a little more than three years to run
