DEATH OF A JOCKEY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21580, 27 February 1932, Page 7

DEATH OF A JOCKEY

PROCEEDINGS AT INQUEST CHARGES OF FOUL RIDING (Per United Press Association.) AUCKLAND, February 26. An inquest was opened before Mr E. C. Cutten, S.M., concerning the death of H. E. Stockley, aged 17, the apprentice jockey whoso mount, Exaggeration, fell in the first race at Ellerslie on December 20. Stockley died on the way to the hospital. A six foot model of the course was on the solicitor’s table, as well as a dozen brightly-coloured lead horses. A request by counsel for Stockley s relatives that witnesses should leave the court was opposed by the Racing Club’s counsel, who said that if allegations were to be made against any of the jockeys they should hear them. The request was declined. Owen MTnally, rider of Bronze Tray, said that the leading horses, Beacon Fire, Exaggeration, Nea Lap, with Exaggeration in the middle, were so close together that a sheet of paper could not have been placed between them. The cause of the acciderit, he considered, was foul riding on the part of the rider of the outside horse, Gray. He heard Stockley yelling out to Reed and Gray. He was not sure whether Stockley was calling: “ Leave me . alone.” Stockley’s voice suggested that he was in fear. When Stockley yelled the outside horse did not move out. It was, witness considered, foul riding. Gray could have moved out, but not Reed, who was on the rails. The next thing was that Exiaggeration fell. His own horse was the first to pass over the fallen horse. Witness was questioned at length regarding his account of the position of the horses at the time, which description disagreed with that of others. It is understood that a great deal of evidence will be called in rebuttal of the allegations. , ' Roy Reed, the rider of Beacon Fire, said he did not once hear Stockley call out, nor did he know that the horse on the other side of Stockley’s was ridden by Gray. It was possible for the horse on the outside to force Stockley into witness. After the accident Gray, on Nea Lap, took the lead. Witness would be surprised to hear that Stockley told Gray to leave him alone. Hector Gray, the rider of Nea Lap, said that just before the accident there was a bit of crowding. He pulled out and went straight on. Beacon Fire and Exaggeration were racing neck and neck, and witness came up on the outside. He did not crowd in this race. He never heard Stockley call out. \He had no money on the race. He got on quite well with Stockley. In the course of a long examination Gray said he had drawn No. 13, the outside position. He had gone straight out practically from the word “Go.” He thought he had a good chance of winning the race. Beacon Fire and Exaggeration were racing neck and neck, and witness had come up on the outside. *He was not in the habit of crowding, and had not done so in that race. Nea Lap was a “ handful,” a hard animal to ride, moody and wayward. If a jockey who was being crowded called out he usually got a “ fair go.” Unless a jockey called out the other riders would not know that he was being crowded. Witness’s horse was not touching Exaggeration, and another horse could have passed between them. Stockley’s reins were quite loose. He heard Reed call out, but he never heard Stockley. Witness did not know that Exaggeration had fallen until after the race. He had no money on the race, and did not bet much. Asked if he put his money on the totalisator or with the bookmakers Gray said that in his opinion there were no such people as bookmakers. When he did bet his wife put the money on the totalisator. During the last 12 months he had not had a bet with any outsider. Counsel for Stockley’s parents said that witness’s previous statement about bookmakers would suggest that he was not telling all he knew. Gray was the man who, some of the other jockeys said, was responsible for Exaggeration falling. If he could show that Gray was not being candid the coroner might see fit to disregard his evidence. Mr Cutten directed counsel to confine his examination to the race. Further cross-examined, Gray said he had got on quite well with Stockley. The deceased had definitely not called out, and in his opinion there was no crowding. Witness and other two leading horses were close, but were not locked. His previous statement about there being room for another horse to pass between referred to an earlier period in the race. Another jockey, Leonard Morris, said that the deceased was always a rider to take undue risks, and he had warned him on several occasions. Asked for his opinion as to the cause of the accident, witness said there had been a bit of crowding. Nea Lap appeared to roll in to Exaggeration, and the lastnamed horse seemed to get on Nea Lap’s heels. Jockeys were sometimes inclined to take a risk to get on to the rails. Witness did not remember his brother saying in the birdcage that “it was the-hottest bit of riding he had ever seen.” It was possible he had said it. Thomas Green, who also rode in the race, said that at no time had he remarked that Gray was responsible for the accident. Witness admitted that he thought Gray had been guilty of unduly crowding Stockley. , It was the type of accident for which no one was blameworthy, ■ 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’s opinion, Exaggeration slipped and- fell. During the race there had been a little too much cutting, and had the deceased not been killed he might have been on the carpet for cutting across the field too early. Witness thought that no one was to blame for the deceased’s death. A taxi driver, Gordon Hassell, said that from what he saw of the 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 the deceased’s horse and passed right under «its neck. The coroner returned a verdict that the deceased died from cerebral injuries received when he was thrown from his horse. It appeared from the evidence that crowding was the cause of the horse’s fall, and 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 Cutten added a rider in which lie suggested that the racing authorities should have stricter rules to deal with the crowding of horses, and that these rules should be rigidly enforced. The Ferguson Handicap, in which the accident occurred, resulted as follows: — Hit the Deck 1, Beacon Fire 2, Nea Lap