THE LIGHTEST JOCKEY ON RECORD.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2581, 16 April 1877, Page 3

THE LIGHTEST JOCKEY ON RECORD.

In answer to a query, " What was the weight of the lightest jockey who ever rode a race ? " the editor of the Field says : —" The lightest jockey we ever heard of was Kitchener, and as the lowest weight at which he rode is a frequent subject of discussion, we will give the particulars somewhat fully. It is thought by many persons that Kitchener's! lowest weight was when lie won the Chester Cup on Red Deer, in 1844. Such, however, is not the fact. On that occasion his boHily weight was 2st. 121b., and the saddle, bridle, &c, weighing Ist; 21b,, made up the weight to 4st.,.at which the horse was handicapped. But Kitchener had ridden at Ascot under the nickname of Tiny four years previously, and his bodily weight was then only 2st. 111b., so that Ist. 111b. dead weight was required <o bring him up to the 3st. 121b. at which he rode. The race was the Wokingham Stakes, run on Friday, June 9th, 1840, and the horse was Colonel Wyndham's chestnut fitly by. Nonsense s out of Shrimp. As this occurred more than a dozen years before the Field came into existence,, we cannot quote any report of the race from our own pages, but we find the following remarks in the Sporting Magazine of July, 1840 :—« Captain Beecher aiWed some amusement by entering frbra fiis establishment little Tiny, who rejoiced in going io scale at 2st '71bs, with a 61b saddle. He is a goodhumored lad, and bore the yokels' grins very stoically. It was like perching on high one of the large dolls seen in the toyshops in Holborn, save that liere there wasiife.jhe, howev-er, rode well, and bids fair to walk up the sleeve of some of the big 'uns.' And Bells-Lift, of June 21st, 1840, contained the following on the same subject :~r' The most amusing feature of this race (Wokingham. Stakes) was the first appearance of a mite from Capt. Beecher's stable, who rejoices in the cognomen of Tiny, and justifies it by being able to go to scale at"2st 7lbs, with a 61bs saddle. He rode the Nonsense filly, and although the unprecedentedly low weight of'3st 121bs, instead of a feather, was "put on her, she actually carried nearly 2stof dead weight! This beats Little Bell and ( Johnny Rowle.tt into fits.'"