DEATH OF JOCKEY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21118, 27 February 1932, Page 12

DEATH OF JOCKEY.

FATALITY AT ELLERSLIE.

NO ONE HELD BLAMEWORTHY.

THE QUESTION OF CROWDING. CORONER'S RECOMMENDATION. 'An inquiry concerning the death of an Soprentice jockey, Henry Edwin Stockley, aged 17, who received fatal injuries when he was thrown from his mount, Exaggeration, during the running of the Fergusson Handicap at the Ellorslie racecourse on December 29 last, was held before Mr. E. C. Cutten, S.M., coroner, yesterday. Deceased was a' son of Mr. and Mrs. J. Stocklev. of lluiroa, Taranaki, and was regarded as a promising horseman. v Constable McKenzie said he examined the track after the accident, but could find nothing which would cause a horse to fall. Temperament o! Deceased. Owen Mclnally, jockey, who was riding Bronze Tray about three lengths behind deceased when Exaggeration fell, said Exaggeration was sandwiched between Beacon Fire, ridden by Boy Beed, and Nea/Lap, ridden by Hector Gray. Gray was on the outside and Beed on the rails. "The horses were abreast, and so close Ihat a sheet of paper could not havo been put between them," added witness. "I consider the cause of the accident was foul riding by the jockey on the outside."

Ci oss-cxamined by counsel for deceased's relatives, said deceased was very calm in temperament, and did mot easily become excite'd. "Stockley istarted yelling at the seventh furlong post, and continued until the sixth furilong post, when Exaggeration fell," said •witness. "Something must have occurred to make him call out. I think the yelling •was the result of fear. When Stockley •called out the outside horse did not give way, but continued to crowd him. Gray could easily have pulled over to the left, as there was nothing behind him. Counsel: Would you swear you heard deceased fav, "Leave me alone —leave mo filono" 1 Witness: No. but some words were used. Witness did not think Reed could be held to blame, as he was beside the rails, and consequently could not move away fj-om Exaggeration. "Hard Against the Rails." In the opinion of Hoy Reed, the next witness, foul r.iding did not cause the accident. Deceased did not appear to have proper control of his horse. Witness did not hear him call out. Under examination, witness said he ■thought his horse, which was hard against the rails, had been crowded by Exaggeration, but lie was not prepared to say that Nea Lap had crowded Exaggeration. When witness found he was being pressed on to the rails lie railed out, but deceased did not say anything. It was possible that the outside horse was forcing Exaggeration on to •witness' mount. It would be Gray's object to get two lengths ahead of the other horses and then take the rails. "I would not say there was any foul riding, and I did not see any interference," said Leonard Morris, rider of Jalldy Karo. "Deceased was always inclined to take undue risks, and I have v/arned him about it on two occasions." Witness said he was behind Exaggeration when it fell, nnd he was lucky to .miss striking the boy. Nea Lap had crowding and. appeared to roll on to Exaggeration, which was losing its position. The latter horse seemed to get on the heels of Nea Lap and fall. "A Bit of a Squeeze." "It looks to me now as if Nea Lap crossed in front of Exaggeration too soon and did not wait until he was two clear lengths ahead, according to the rules of racing," said witness. /Witness did not remember his brother saying to him after the race, "That was the hottest riding I have seen." He was not willing to swear the remark was not passed. Thomas Green. Juniper's jockey, expressed the opinion that there was no foul or careless riding, although there was a bit of a squeeze among the leading horses. "Nea Lap was crowding Exaggeration and had I been in Stockley's position I would have been concerned," said witness in reply to counsel Witness did not hear Stockley call out, but thought it would not have been unreasonable for him to have done so. Similar accidents occurred from time to time without anyone being to blame. Bertram Morris, rider of L'Allegro, said he saw no foul riding. He might have .remarked to his brother that the riding was "hot," but he did not remember. Hector Gray's Evidence. "I did not see the accident and knew nothing of it until after it. occurred." paid Hector Edward Gray. Witness said he was right on the outside at the start of the race and was next to Exaggeration. Witness commenced to improve his position as soon as he could and came up on the outside of Exaggeration and Beacon Fire, which were running abreast. Witness was not in the habit of crowding and did not do so on this occasion. "If a jockey does not call out the next jockey does not always know he is crowding, unless he is acting wilfully," said witness. "When I was making the lead my animal was not touching Exaggeration and another horse could have passed Let ween us." _ ''Witness said deceased had his reins loose and did not seem to have full control of his mount. Witness was on the best of terms with deceased and regarded him as a promising young rider. Witness had no money on the race. When he bet it was always on the totalisator, and as far as he was concerned there were no

such people as bookmakers. Gray said there was no truth in the suggestion that he had "cut" immediately in front of deceased's horse. The Coroner's Finding. / A steward of the Auckland Racing Club, Leonard Charles Rathbone, said there was nothing to justify anyone taking exception to the running of the field at the time of the accident. In witness' opinion Exaggeration slipped and fell. During the race there had been a little too much "cutting" and had deceased not been killed he might have been "on the carpet" for "cutting" across the field too early. Witness thought no one was to blame for deceased's death. A taxi-driver, Gordon Hassell, said that from what he saw of thb accident Exaggeration was not tripped by Nea Lap. The accident was Exaggeration's own fault. Frederick Smith, trainer of Exaggeration, said it looked to him as if Nea Lap cut across deceased's horse and passed right under its neck. The coroner returned a verdict that deceased died from cerebral injuries received when he was thrown from his Wse It appeared from the evidence that crowding was the cause of the horse's fall find also that crowding was not an infrequent occurrence. If crowding was usual during races no blame could be attached to any of the jockeys. Mr. C'utten added a rider in which he suggested that racing authorities should have stricter rules to deal with the crowding of horses and that these rules should be rigidly enforced.