DANNY MAHER.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 871, 24 November 1916, Page 2

DANNY MAHER.

HIS LIFE HISTORY. Though he was an American by birth the late Danny Maher became so closely identified with racing in Croat Britain as to make his decease keenly felt, throughout the English world of sport. His was indeed a brilliant vareer, even more so, in fact, than that of : is Australian-born rival, Frank "Wootton, and for several seasons the pair stood out in a class by themselves amongst horsemen. The story of Maher's life was recently told by himself to an interviewer on behalf of "Fry's Magazine." Here are some of the features from it: — Early Ambition. I can't say that I remember very much about if, but 1 was born at Hartford on October 21), As a youngster I. was just crazy about horses; and indeed,' as soon as I really began to understand anything about careers in life, I remember' full Well that I was fired •with a most lively ambition to become a jockey. At the age of seven I was apprenticed to my uncle, Mr J. Daly, to be educated as a jockey. No better tutor «ould one possibly wish for; and under Father Bill's care, as we used to call him, 1 learnt a lot of things about the art of riding that 1 have since found uncommonly useful. Which reminds me that Father Bill has been very successful in manufacturing jockeys, for among )ils pupils, in addition to your humble servant, have been Snapper, Carrison, and McLachlan. My first ride in an actual race was in 1894 on Fagot, a horse belonging to my uncle. Most people on the course were, I believe, under the impression that. I had just got there, but the man 'in the box —and, after all, he is in 999 cases out of 1000, the best judge—placed me second; ami, in any case, the race was a most, exciting one, heads only separating the first three. However, 1 was not, long before I broke my duck, my first winning mount being on Phoebus, at Providence, Rhode Island. This time I made no mistake, hut won easily, much to my uncle's delight, for he always took the greatest personal interest in my progress in the saddle, and nothing was too much trouble for him to do which, in his opinion, would be likely to tend to make mo a proficient jockey. 60 Winners in 30 Days. My first really satisfactory year as a jockey was in 1898, and at Brighton Beach I had an extraordinarily good meeting, riding no fewer than 60 winners in .10 days. On one day, by the way, I was first past the stick iu five races, and finished second in the last event on the card. On tho whole, I think there is no doubt that stakes in England have been of greater value than in America, but I am inclined to think that way over the way the public can see the races better, and, may be, in some slight degree, tho train arrangements for conveying racegoers to the course are better, but we never have had such tremendous crowds on a track as gather on Epsom Downs on Derby or Oaks Day. The American style of riding had been pretty generally adopted here when I got over, and races were run from end to end just as they were in America, altho»gh I have often since heard ■ that, this style of riding was quite a novelty, and for years and years the waiting behind and coming with a sharp burst at the finish method of raceriding was all the rage. There is, however, I think, little "doubt that results work out much truer by coming right through with a horse than in the oldfashioned style. I It is not altogether easy—in fact, it is uncommonly difficult—to draw a direct, line between English and American forms of horses, but I think all. the same that, generally speaking, the class of the English thoroughbred is better, while mares like Sceptre and Pretty Polly, and extra good horses like Ard Patrick, Spearmint, St. Frusquin, and Persimmon, would be anything from 141b to 2.11b in front of any American horse. For various reasons I much prefer riding in England to America, chiefly, perhaps, because the English courses are far superior to American, which are with one or two exceptions, at Saratoga and Sheep's Head Bay, for example, dirt courses. Winning the Derby. My first mount in the Derby was on Mr Lorillard's Tantalus, the next on the late Duke of Devonshire's Cheers, and in the following year, 1903, I won the Blue Riband of the Turf for the first time on Sir James Miller's Bock Sand. Of that ride I shall always entertain most pleasant memories, for Rock Sand never caused me an uneasy moment, and, indeed, before we had gone half a mile I felt that I had the race won, and at no time had I to call on the son of Sainfoin for a serious effort. In the St. Leger, too, Rock Sand gave me another arm-chair ride, and at the finish cantered past the post the easiest of winners, so that, although racing experts declare that the three-year-olds of 1913 were a. moderate lot, I do not consider that, the Derby winner can be fairly classed in this category, as he was a long way in front of all his rivals of the same age. But. there is a lot of luck about racing, and Rock Sand undoubtedly was unlucky to run up against two such horses as Ard Patrick and Sceptre, who finished in front of him in, the Eclipse Stakes. A curious trait in Rock Sand's disposition was his strong objection to the use of the whip, but the little horse was so game, and always did his best, that really T never had serious cause to resort to the flail, though, in the Jockey Club Stakes, won by Sceptre, when that brilliant mare shot out, I gave him one, but his effort was of no avail, and after all, failure to tackle such a mare successfully was no disgrace. No, Rock Sand was a real game little horse, and he could boast of one quality of inestimable value in a thoroughbred—he never shirked his work. Carbine's Son's Gameness.. Since that initial success in the greatest prize the Turf has to offer, ft has been my good fortune to have been successful twice more, in |t)0o on Lord Rosebery's Cicero, a son of Cyllcne, and in the following year on Spearmint, a son of Carbine, and a stable companion of Pretty Polly. I have rarely if ever thrown a leg across a better 'or gamer horse than Spearmint, whose sire, Carbine, too, must have been a rare good plucked 'un. Among the many good horses I have been fortunate enough to steer first past the post, Bachelor's Button comes vary

near the top, and, to my mind, Mr S. B. Joel's horse was bang in the first, class, though, in fairness to Major Eustace Loder's smashing mare, Pretty Polly, it must be said that the latter was not quite herself when beaten by the Button in the Gold Cup. There is just one more point of interest on which 1 might touch, and that is a question 1 have been asked to answer on innumerable occasions. Do I believe in the American 'forward seat." Most certainly I do, for I. think it is altogether more effective than the old-fashioned English style, and, indeed, this fact is clearly proved, and throughly well recognised, by English jockeys themselves, who have almost without exception adopted it. In addition to decreasing the wind pressure, the crouching attitude boasts of still another merit of great importance—it enables a horse to take a longer stride,