"MONKEY-CROUCH" JOCKEYS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10870, 10 September 1913, Page 1

"MONKEY-CROUCH" JOCKEYS.

EXPERIMENT THAT WAS NOT A SUCCESS. ( ,; London Daily News.") Following on tho jury's rider to their verdict in the Wootton-Siovier case, and the strong comments of Mr Justice Darling, some of the riders iu tho race won by Shogun at Liverpool experimented with longer stirrup leathers. They did not seem to appreciate it, especially when pulling up after tho race. Wo all prefer tho "new style" best. 1". think it was done so that many queries as to the two seats could bo answered. Tho chief jockeys riding here were canvassed unofficially as to the merits of the " old" and the " new," and all agreed that a reversion to tho old seat was impossible in these days. Only recently, at a meeting of the Jockey Club, Mr F. W. Lambtou pointed to tho increase of objections and disqualifications, but ho had>the candour to admit that if any member of the Jockey Club chose to have his horse ridden in the old stylo he (Mr Lamb-ton) did not suppose the member would be able to win many races, but ho might be able to keep his horse straight. There you have the key to tho whole situation. If the remedy were as simple as it appeared to the admittedly lay racing mind of the judge and the jury, is it not feasible to assume that some such remedy would have been found long ago? Owners want to win races, and it has been proved up to the hilt that the present short stiri\rp leather system is the best for race riding, just as the old method was, theoretically, undoubtedly best for jockeyship. CRUX OF THE . QUESTION.

Anybody riding in the old .style now, however good a jockey he might be and however artistic his pose and -methods, would not prevail over the crouchers. Of course, crouching can be overdone, especially in, the ca«o of little boys, whose natural slight control over tho mounts is reduced by it. It is admitted, too, that the now style lias increased the risks of bumping and failing to keep a straight line. But it wins races, my masters, and there's -.he crux of the whole argument. Tho ' Jockey Club realise this, and the good ''intentions'of tho lay brigade would be appreciated by "the powers that 'ho", if only they were possible • under modern conditions.

. There is plenty of evidence os to the cause of bumping, but owners, trainers, stewards and knowledgable people do not suggest a reversal to old-time out-of-date race riding. Tho comparison made between hunting and.iace riding on a. billiard-table, smoothness has no connection, whatever, and anybody with experience should' know that. Even some of the ultra-modern cross-country riders adopt the crouch, notably George Parfrement, who -won the Grand National -over the. ; stiff Airitree .country oh.the French, horse Lutteur 111., despito the 'old-croakers!. J , assertion that "a ritan would;never got round'with such a ; seat.

I haye said that ."the monkey crouch "can bp overdone, and I understand that:his .Majesty docs not allow Herbert. Jones to adopt too exaggerated a stylo. But that does not mean'that Jones is' not permitted to ride in keeping with the times. The chief trouble nowadays is just as much that the great percentage of race riding is.bacl as that the modern method makes it look'worse. You; cannot manufacture good riders if •they, do not exist; all you can hope for is a betterment in the near, future.