FOLLOWING THE JOCKEYS

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 97, 15 July 1927, Page 6

FOLLOWING THE JOCKEYS

UNCERTAIN BUSINESS ENRICHES VERY FEW PEOPLE

Earlier in the season the system of following a successful jockey was disdussed in a Melbourne newspaper, and it was shown that anybody following W. Duncan, Victories most successful rider, would be losing on the transactions. Sveral months have passed, and the position has not improved. Duncan has ridden 41 winners in the metropolitan area, and anybody investing £ 1 on each of these mounts would have won £152 10s. But this amount is not sufficient to offset the losses on his other mounts. Altogether, Duncan has had 248 mounts for the season, and thick and thin followers investing £1 every time he rode would have lost £54 Bs. STILL A DEBIT The winnings are based on starting prices. Backers on the racecoure, in some instances, might have obtained better prices about winners and thus the debit balance would be less than that stated. It still, however, would be a debit. Duncan has had many more mounts than any other rider. If anyone knew just exactly when to leave his mounts alone, mounts that have little chance of success, the business might bo more profitable; but when one sets out to follow a system he must stick to it, and then nothing is missed if the unexpected happens. Turf speculation is a very uncertain business, and following any one rider will not help a person much. NEW ZEALAND JOCKEY Ashley Reed has had a very successful run this season, has had fewer mounts than Duncan, and yet his followers would not show a profit, backing his every mount. Winnings total £129 15s (on the basis on £1 on each mount) and losses £l7O. Little Fullarton has not won a sufficient number of races to show his followers a profit, and the same can be said of H. Jones and J. Daniels, two riders whose services are in much demand. In rare instances one finds the operations successful. Cairns and Scanlon are two riders who have managed to keep their backers “ahead of it." Scanlon has had a very good season, and seems to have had more luck than other riders in getting home longpriced winners, with the result that his followers are showing a handsome profit. He has ridden 22 winners with 196 mounts, and winning investments on the £1 basis run up to £l9O. Subtracting from this total £134 for losing wagers there is a profit of £56. WON ON OUTSIDERS Scanlon started off the season by winning on some “long shots," as the following record of his winning mounts will show: Two at 25—1, one at 20—1, two at 12—1, four at 10—1, one at B—l, two at 7 —l, and ten at prices ranging from 6—4 to 6 —l. Scanlon has ridden a number of winners outside the metropolis, but only metropolitan mounts are being considered. During the spring carnival, H. Cairns was singled out as the one rider able to show his followers a good return for their investments and he has continued to oblige them. Ninety-nine mounts in Melbourne have produced 19 winners, and £ 1 investors are showing a winning margin of £9 12s. BETTER OVER THE BOBS Better results are shown by the following of jumping riders than those who confine their efforts to the flat only. Frank Leonard, A. Wise and A. Blenkinsop have all done well this season, and anyone who has followed them has profited by their successes. Leonard’s 12 winners have been worth £56 10s to £1 backers, and there is a margin between winners and losers of £l9 10s —a credit margin. Wise is just keeping his followers ahead, the profit on the operations being £2 ss, but Blenkinsop, thanks to one 12—1 winner and another at 10—1, shows a credit balance of £l6 5s for four winning mounts. All the same, it is an uncertain business following jockeys, and few people will be enriched by it. GOOD HORSE DESTROYED TANADEES’ CAREER ENDED (.Special to THE SUN.) TRENTHAM, Thurslay. It was learned at Trentham to-day that Tanadees had to be destroyed. The Roseworthy gelding had been ailing for some considerable time, and more than once his life had been despaired of. He was in such a bad way this week that the death sentence had to be inflicted, and it was duly carried out. Tanadees was purchased at the Sydney sales as a yearling by the Wellington sportsman, Mr. W. J. Jorgenson who did not have to bid more than 249gns. for the horse. Tanadees has done good service for his owner, his most important victory being that gained in the Auckland Cup last Boxing Day, when he gave Henderson his winning ride in that event. Tanadees won several handicaps after he commenced his winning career, at the Marton spring meeting, at the outset of his three-year-old career, prior to which he was showing much promise. Another good effort on the part of Tanadees was when he finished third to Count Cavour and Inferno in the New Zealand Derby. Recently Tanadees was submitted at auction, but failed to change hands. Later Mrs. Jorgenson purchased the gelding from her husband, but her luck was out, for she never got a race out of the horse. Tanadees was a bay gelding by Roseworthy, from a mare named Burletta, and was rising five years old.