IN THE ARGENTINE.

NZ Truth, Issue 309, 27 May 1911, Page 8

IN THE ARGENTINE.

Daggers, Dagoes and Dollars. ;

A Jockey ' Abroad. I

Tales of his Travels.

Victor Sadler, formerly a wellknown Victorian jockey, and brother \ to Harry Sadler, the well known • comedian at present on the Fuller vaudeville circuit, writes interestingly from Biienos Ayres, Argentine, where he is now located, on turf matters m that country. His letter comes at a period when some of our leading horsemen are thinking of quitting these shores to ride m South America, and his remarks will no doubt be. read with much interest. After giving a description of the town and its inhabitants the writer proceeds to say that not one m a- hundred can speak even broken English, and to get on one must learn the Spanish language. There have been the very finest horsemen come here, writes Sadler, but they have all returned disappointed after having saved enough money to sneak out of the country. Here they use a single rein bridle with a patent. bit. that is known amongst the profession as "Deadwood Dick," because a child of tender years would be able to stop a Dreadnought with it. It is a marvel of marvels, and goodness help the Australasian public if ever it becomes known out there. It is the Queerest article ever used, for if you let go the horse's head he will stop, while if you take hold of him he will also stop. It takes a long time to learn how to use it, and all horses are worked and raced with it. Really it is a great innovation, for no horse can play up m it nor can it pull, and at the starting gate every horse is as quiet as a lamb. A peculiar thing about the methods of riding and training m the Argentine is that horses at exercise are never ridden m saddles. The black boys just vault on their backs and give them a gallop, some with hoods and some with quarter sheets, but after working or racing a horse is never dried, but is walked about till he is cool. The boys can. spring on to the horse's back much more gracefully than do the Australian lads. "It is funny," says Victor, "to see them riding work with their knives and revolvers stuck m thenbelts. At the present time I am out on a ranch learning the way» of the mysterious bit, and also how to spring on the horses' hacks. J have secured a good engagement, after I had undergone a sutistactoiy trial before my employer. My seat and hands were satisfactory, bin j would not be signed on unless adapted the native style, and tnai 'is why I am here. The money is wonderful, and my contract runs as, follows : 200 dollars a month i,oi the first six months; 800 dollars a month for the next six months ; x<- ! dollars per race day for expenses, and 10 per cent, of (.he wuuvnas. A... there are four days' ™°* J n^: Iviz;, Tuesday, Wednesday, I „r^ jand Sunday, eight races each daj land as the smallest prize is *oi th £400 m Knglish money, if * °JJ£ .win tho smallest race out ol i-ne | thirty two weeks' racing my income

should be close upon £2000 per annum to be added on to my retainer." Proceeding, Sadler says: "There, are thirty odd horses m the stables that I am going to ride for, and as the cheapest cost 500 guineas, my employer thinks that' with just ordinary luck I should knock out £5000 a year. The racecourses here are very pretty, and would take a lot of beating m any part of the world. There are two working gal : lops besides .the ploughed track. The course proper is very fast, as you will judge when I tell you, that they run 1000 metres (5 furlongs) m S^sec, six m lmin 12sec, seven m lmin 24sec, , and* a mile m lmin 38sec, and ten furlongs m 2min ssec. The appointments here are superb. They have three grandstands m the paddock, and three m the St. Leger, and they run three-and-a-half furlongs m length. The paddock .ones have hydraulic lifts at each end to convey ladies to the top floor." The betting is all done through the totalisator, and there are seven machines m the paddock and five m tho St. Leger. "How they do bet!" says the writer. "Why on no race day does less than a million dollars go through the machines. Here they do not .call the distances so many furlongs but metres, and there are 200 of them to t'lie furi.oiuj;. Neither do they weigh yon by stones and pounds but by kilos. (2}lb to the ilo). There is also a large amount of unregistered racing going on f,or good stakes, but some very hot things are done there. The other day a boy was told to 'hook-up' a horse, but he came to light. As he approached the bir ( d-cage to weigh m \the owner went forward to meet him, and before anyone could stop him he had stabbed the poor unfortunate to death ■ with a poinard. The training methods here are very dissimilar to ours. Before a trainer works a horse here he gives him two iumps ■off and two preliminaries. They argue that it makes them properly quiet, and as daggers are glittering m their belts when they explain this' it would be foolish to laugh at their fads."