CLIVE GRAHAM CONTINUES HIS INQUIRY INTO BRITISH RACING'S TROUBLES
THE CHINA MAIL FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 1980.
Pay A win hockey title
men
The forgotten
who
go astray
The top owners and the top jockeys—even if these have to share their financial earnings with the Chancellor of the Exchequer derive the greatest rewards from horse- racing, leaving apart the betting angle. What of the
the scale? at the other end of
At next month's Newmarket yearling sales the average price for a horse will be around £1,400-with the top as high, perhaps, as £20,000.
men
These semi-wild animals will be placed, for the purposes of breaking-in, grooming, and riding, in the care of "stable lads" (aged from 17 to 70) whose weekly pay-packet is between £8 and £9.
In the big Newmarket stables, "no harm at all and cannot even
a few selected "lads," who are be detected."
bo racecourse
used for riding in important On the horse's journey from trint-gallops, receive special training stable bonuses-bringing their wages there is another poorly paid and hard-worked character who up to the £13 mark.
can also have ready access to the creature. The horse, box driver.
These men all came into their racing employman with the object of becoming jockeys. -
They have falled, for sundry reasons; they lacked the neces- sary ability or, maybe, the trainer to whom they were apprenticed failed to find for them the right tuition opportunities,
They could too
and
have dis- qualified themselves from their
career through accident
and 27-
of in-
injury or, simply, by the answerable problems creased weight.
They look after and ride two same times three-horses. They work a divided eight-hour day, unless they go away with their meetings, when horse to race they may be on duty for 14 hours or more,
Hard work
Many of them are required to altend their charges for the full seven days each week. The horses must, obviously, be fed, watered, and exercised daily.
Winter and summer, these men have to be active at 0.30 or earlier in the morning. If their horse runs at one of the eventity race meetings, they are rarely back for bed-time until after midnight.
Most of these men love their work, love their life, and love the horses in their charge. "This is a man's life," they say, almost with one voice. "Much better than hanging around Bome stuffy office."
They realise 100 in some de- the problems of their gree
trainers, who employers, the also receive a thin slice from racing's general pay-out scheme.
It would be ridiculous to pretend, though, that these men-after the bright hopes envinged during their early years in racing stables--do not become diallitsioned and a prey to templation.
A member of them drift off to "cushler" jobs, with better pay, pension schemes, and a five-day week. In the Berkshire train- ing area, for instance, there his been a steady draining-off of these stable assistants for less- skilled work at Harwell and Aldermaston
of the
A high percentage others bet or find "punters" who are willing to stake bets for them in return for so-called exclusive Information.
3
Motives
posi
Around midday at the office in Newmarket it would be little surprising not to find a
man in jodhpurs or a trusty agent waiting for service at the telegram counter. (I have looked
some shoulders
over
bere, I must admit, and seen Bome messages which have sut- *prised me.)
An intelligent ""out"
132),
after all, fairly easily outguèss the motives and intentions of his trainer-employer.
He'll see, for instance, that a partiodar horse is being treated with special preparations, in the way of food and exercke. And it will be common gossip in the is more yard that the "boss" concerned with the condition and feeding of one horse than his is with its mates.
નિર
If, Efter all this, the horse Solds Wizil then? This lad finds himself in danger of losing the precious supplement to his sidder inicocé
He has reached the
sobe
ible stire where hó la pe
pared to accept from - somLE Intermediary, drill then, tông. horse in innocuous looking
He wil de usured, of course, that this pill will do the horse
ta
It would be contrary, not only to established practice but the law, if the driver of this slow-moving vehicle did not! stop for rest and refreshment at
time some
during a long Journey.
Suggestion
It has been suggested that horses are "go at" outside driver certain cafes, while the and the stable lads are inside and a taking a cup of coffee smack.
driver,
A retired horse-box
a letter the hard- liming in ships connected with his job, makes this suggestion:—
"Perhaps better pay and con- ditions for the lads in charge of these very often fantastically valuable animals, and more the drivers after long journeys, may be the answer to all this tale of doing else, it costs Like everything
consideration
to
money to take proper cafe ong's properly.
of
The third motion of racing's under-privileged cast are the farriers, the men whose task It is to fit the light aluminium- compound racing plates on to a horse's hooves to replace
Pay "A" won the Victoria Barracks six-n-side hockey knackout competition yesterday when they beat Headquarters Land Forces "A" in the final by four goals to three.
Photo shows Cpl Cross scoring Pay "A's" fourth goal to give the cham- plons a commanding 4-2 lead in the first half.-China Mail photo.
ANCIENT WHEELER
Walter
Homer
has
three
kim more solid day-to-day | "loves" - cycling bowls and working, gear.
Complex
hardkulture, and be follows them assiduously. Walter, who is President of the Birmingham Bowls Association, cycles severel A nall misplaced in a hoot by miles to his allotment, plays his end goes for a fraction of an inch can injure bowls regularly. the fleshy substance and
weekend jaunts on his bicycle.
Walter: "Televi- Comments the horse to be hopelessly lame. And incompetent, haphazard sion armchairs will kill people use of the sails may "honey-more than anything else. They comb" the hoot, thereby pre- should get out into the open and judicing the horse's whole racing
Mr Homer is 93 years young! -Banews Service.
career.
Cause
The carthorse is almost obsolete in England now and dying with hiri is the farrier's art.
These men-stable lads, horse- farriers-are box drivers and the forgotten people of racing and they are among the many complex problems et plaguing our racing chiefs.
solid
exercise.
Sports Diary
Eastern
9 pm. present
A be
foundation must provided for them
and their pay and working conditions should surely be investigated.
-(London Express Service).
Four D. Jones YOU TO FOUR D.JONES.
BY MADDOCKS
LET ME INTRODUCE
YOU WILL FIND HIM A LKEABLE FELLOW,
VINCENT
FERDINAND
NANCY
I AM SURE I WILL, MON AMI COME IN,
COME IN
TO-DAY
Water Polo
EYMCA. Victoria Park,
Hol Tv CYMCA, Victoria Park. 9.30 p.m.
CRC '1
บ
Tennis Men's ""Division:
Meeting TGCA HKCC, 5.30 pm. Hangicong Chinese Football Asso- ciation Interport Committee meeting, South China Stadium, pm.
LET ME LIGHT THE ROOM AND STUDY YOUR NEW-FOUND FRIEND
REMEMBER YOUR DIET
OH,
YOU'RE GETTING FAT
BOY
BRICK BRADFORD...
SINCE HARRIS IS
ILL, I'LL WORKAS A WELDER PR.EASTLAND CAN YOU HANDLE EVERY THING IN THE TOP!
SURE/ILL MAKE OUT!
LET'S GET STARTED. THEN! FIRST RELEASE.
"THE BALLOON,
EST. EASTLAND
BUSHMILLER
WHAT A GREAT PITY!
There's no place for stateless athletes in the Olympics
· By JOHN. COTTRELL
He is one of the finest milers in the world, a mem
ber of the growing sub-four-minute menage.. Recently he won the British AAA Champion- ship mile in 4 mins 1 sec and followed this with another excellent White City performance running the 5,000 metres in 13 mins 52.6 secs.
Yet 29-year-old Laszlo Taboră, committee to submit his name the Hungarian born master for the Olympics. miler, has not the faintest hone of wieming even a bronze medal at the Olympics in Rome this month. He will not even get on the stadium's maning track.
All poppycock
The Olympic Charler echoes such high-spounding sentiments as: "No discrimitiation is allowed against my country or person on grounds of colour, religion ir politics."
But we all know that is so The reason is that Tabort is much poppycock, as realistic as #self-exiled Hungarian who those words of the immortal has lived in America since, bis Baron Pierre de Coubertin who country's uprising in 1986. founded the Gemes:
The im And that menna he is a state- {portant thing is not winning but less athlete with no national taking part, not conquering but
lighting well."
in reality, as far as the Olymn- pics are concerned, Tabori is taboo.
FOR THE LOVE OF SPORT
Chris Chataway, Member of Parliament and former Olymple athlete, has written the custom- ary letter of protest to The Times. Doubtless, there will be Correspondence - on
Such hackneyed phrases as "money isn't everything" and "the game's the much more
thing" ring a little hollow in this materialistic age.
more
So it gives all the pleasure to record the story of two sportsmen who believe in these noble sentiments and act accordingly.
Firstly, we have the strange case of Nat Lofthouse,
centre-forward
Eng→ and
land holder of 23 international caps, who relired from soccer last specialist's advice January after breaking his ankle.
on
Cost him £500
un-
and
Now the ankle has expectedly improved football-loving Nat has rushed to sign on for Bolton for the 20th time. His eagerness will cost. hirm the £500 compen- sation he was paid when he retired to become his club's assistant coach.
Lofthouse, 35 next month, cannot have many more years
By Mik
By Ernie Bushmiller
RRRR.
By Paul Norris
A FEW SECONDS LATER A LARGE BALLOONS RELEASE?, AND
[ "INFLATED" FROM THE TIME-TOR.
"THAT BALLOON WILL.
SERVE AS AN ANCHO
DURING THE EARLY
OF BUILDING THE
PLATFORM/;)
Дн
4
left
first-class sOCNT player. But he would always prefer to stay in the game is i a player rather than as an official. As he says: "m playing again, that's the list thing."
I cannot recall a previous case of a player repaying I- jury compensation to get back on the field. But it will hap pen again if Alick Jeffrey gels · hia way.
Remember Jeffrey? Four years ago he was the "wonder boy" of soccer, only 17, 2 ready playing for England Under-23 and well on his way to a full International cap.
Then he broke a leg while playing for Young England against France. It was fac- tured in two places and injury, "experts" said he would never play first-class soccer agais.
But lion-hearted Alick had other ideas. After aine
AWOL
Sheaffer's
Ah! That Food! That Service! That Surissair!
SWISSAIR,
THE AMAN OF STERNE
PEM
Pen For Man
THE BOLD NEW PEX DESIGNED EXCLUSIVELY FOR HEN
Just the weather for Rowntree's JELLIES
As always
ILFORD
BA
months he threw away his crutches, walked with the aid of sticks, went to his football club (Doncaster Rovers) twice a day for exercises.
Still he could not strengthen his leg enough for soccer and finally he was paid £4,000 compensation under the F.A. insurance scherne..
Broke other leg
the matter.
No hope
"Bat don't imagine that may action will follow. For 15 years the International Olym→ plo Committee have been debating the quetion of state- lew athletes, and no decision has ever been reached; Yet Olympic chiefs condenn Journalists who spotlight nationit rather than individual suUCCESS at the Games.
Twelve years ago, we saw tow Janis Stendzenieks, a stateless athlete from Latvia, watched Later Alick was fighting so from the Wembley stands while hard to get back into League the gold medal for the favelin soccer that he broke his other
Yet, was won with a throw far short
But I see
leg when playing. after another long spell in of his own best effort.
no hope of the plaster, he is now back in
Olympic chiefs fighting for practice and hoping to turn justice on this matter
out again for Doncaster.
and
if his amazing come-back following the example of the Wimbledon Championships also efforts succeed, he will forlett strictly for amateurs- where that £4,000.
Alick
players are allowed to compete would gladly pay back every with the label "stateless."
penny.
But
For wintever the cynics - may say, monty can never give you quite the same thrills that come with playing for club and country, cheered on by thousands of fans.
--{London Express Service).
Twin bowlers
The bowling Harris twins of South Wales have caused con- fusion in the recent London Championships.
CHESS
LEOBARD BARDEN
They both skip their rinies et Cardif Athletic BC and Macks BC and until they were included in a combined Glamorganshine team people thought J. Harrin of one club and J. Harris of the other club, covered the identity of one man: Not so; one is Jen and one is Jack and what makes Yugoslaria's leading player, the position Intre obscure is Gligoric, against a Russian that each of them lost an arm grandmaster. White to move in World War One!--Banews and win.
Service.
12870)
Here is a position won by
London Express Service.
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