PAY TO JOCKEYS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 122, 25 May 1877, Page 4

PAY TO JOCKEYS.

The 'policy of paying large sums to jockeys has frequently been discussed, and those in the habit of giving valuable gifts in money have been well abused ior inconsiderate liberality. The interests at stake, however, since the horse became tbe instrument of gambling as it now is, are so gigantie as to render it imperative that jockeys be placed beyond temptation. The total value of the stakes which were contested during last year amounted to considerably over three hundred thousand pounds, not to speak of the sums dependent on wagers, probably ten times that amount. Whether, therefore, in the face of such risks, a thousand pounds is too little or too much, or just the right sum to be given with a view to secure the rider's honesty, who shall determine, if not the man who is the proprietor of the animal, and who has very probably backed bis horse to win him a hundred thousand pounds p It may appear to many an exaggeration that such amounts are made to stand the haeard of a race, but it is neverthe less true. Race horses are fre- . quently backed to win sums of one one hundred to one hundred thousand pounds. The horse called Hermit won for his owner one hundred thousand pounds ; and the same sum was "landed n when Lecturer won the CeaarewjUch ia the year 13G6. In important handicaps it is possible to back each of the twenty horses entered to win from twenty to one hundred thousand pounds. The present chief jockey is not. more than eighteen years of age, and yet during the racing season of 1876 be . rode not less than 657 times, and won 207 races — a feat never before accomplished by any horseman on the turf. His five and three guinea fees for riding would amount to more than £2,400. A gentleman who is well versed in tbe £ s. d. of racing has calculated that the chief jockey of 1876 received as much in fees, retainers, and presents as tbe Lord High Chancellor of England—counting fees as £2,400 ; the Roseberry present, £1,000 $ retainers, , say £l } 2oo ; and allowing for presents at the rate of £20 for each of the 207 races he won, £4,l4o— total £8,740. This is not an exaggerated statement. In all probability the chief jockey would net another £1,000 over his Caesarwitch victory, in addition to the -present of that sum which he received from his employer. Many gentlemen will say to the chief jockey, "I have • backed your mount; you stand in a *pony* to nothing with me." A ; "pony," it may be explained, is the Tarf slang for £25. The jockey who played the second fiddle last year rode " seventy-five horses that each won a race, and 232 others, eo that his receipts frpm fees were over £1,000. He also i received £1,000 for winning the Cambridgeshire, besides other presents, and one or two retaining fees. His income t for 1876 would probably be above £3,ooo.— British Mail.