ROUGH RIDING

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 116, 20 May 1925, Page 12

ROUGH RIDING

F. DEMPSEY'S REMARKS

CRITICISED.

Before he left ■ for England the Australian Jockey, F. Dempsey> had a good deal to say. about rough and careless riding in Victoria. These comments were seized, upon by the English sporting writers^ and caused no little discussion.

Concerning this matter "Pilot" now writes as follows in the Sydney "Referee" :—

"In Australia Dempsey's condemnation of Victorian jockeys caused surprise. It was sweeping, .nnd it is not improb- v abk-p that the reprinting in England of the interview was responsible for a letter from Dempsey to a Melbourne sporting pressman expressing regret at the possibility of his remarks being taken as a reflection oil the Victorian senior jockeys, whose riijng ho thoroughly appfociatecL .He^did: they' were intended to apply to thej'youngar lads, and no doubt that was his. idea. -However, tho younger lads must ■learn,; and. it can be recalled that early,in ■Dempsey'& own apprenticeship his riding permit was withdrawn oh the score of alleged incompetence. "To some extent I am disposed to excuse tho rough riding of inexperienced lads; .In Sydney and Melbourne—with the exception oi^the 'few events' run down the straight at Fieinihgtoli— all the racing is done on round courses. Boys are aware that if they d 6 not take a certain amount faf risk their riding opportunities are likely to be limited. No matter what many owners and trainers say say to the contrary, few have little time for tho youngster who studies "safety first" methods in respect of himself or his opponents, ahd^ being quite aware of this, the inexperienced rider, will afteh attefnpt soniething avoided by. those of greater experience. . : ' "In England, where there are several courses.at whith all races up.to a mile are run down-the* straight—and perhaps only one of a longer, distance during'the day—there is: naturally less rough or careless riding than in Australia. There is no crowding to Ret the rails, and that so many : of the older Australian riders continue to show first-ciiss form in England is, in a great measure, due to the fact that little in the way of interference is probable, arid experience compensates for the loss of dash of-youth." Then from the other side of the World comes the following concerning Dempr sey's own- exploits during his first month iii'Englarid i-r^-: ■';-'"■

"At the moment of writing Frank Dempsey has had twelve mounts in England and three of them have been first past the post. But after his first success a lot of ink was sliing at him through the "sporting newspapers. Left twenty lengths.at the post, he caught the field, tried to get lip on the inside, pulled to the outside^ shot over to the inside again,- and interfered with the third horse. They don't like those. Rafferfcy rules" here,' so the 1 youth rode with a little more decorum in his following races. Now he h?3 worked his way into the luckiest stable -in England, the Aga Khan's. All going well, he. is sure to have a good mount in the £>erby and to uphold the worthy traditions of the Wootton. brothers, Bullock, ami Carslake," ■ . , ■