Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 314, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 January 1920 — CALL LITTLE FATOR ANOTHER TOD SLOAN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

CALL LITTLE FATOR ANOTHER TOD SLOAN

Clever Jockey Cost Samuel Hildreth 315,000. Riders of Today Bo Not Class Wtth Boys of Olden Times—Youngsters Do Not Make Study of Various Tracks. They are touting little Lavernfe Fator, the jockey for whose contract Samuel Hildreth recently paid $15,000, as the “second Tod Sloan." Well, Fator is a good boy. He may be even greater than Tod—some day. But I doubt it very much and I’ll tell you why. • It isn’t that I am blinded by the glamour of memory and the years that have drifted by since Sloan rode. I am not. I amof those who believe implicitly in the improvement of athletics in all branches of sport. But the riding of horses is different from athletic competition. There is no gainsaying the fact that the jockeys of today, with the exception of Johnny Loftus, do not class with the boys of Sloan’s time, writes Jim Sinnott in New York Eventag Mall. There was one year at the old Morris Park when Sloan was practically unbeatable over the course that had a noticeable incline at the far turn. He won races with a regularity that , was uncanny. * It was purely by accident that the reason for Sloan’s great success at Morris Park was discovered. This is the story as Jack Doyle tells it. “A horseman had been out on a late paW," WS Doyie. “He was returning to the stables at Morris Park about 5 o’clock in the morning when he met Tod Sloan walking in from the track. “ ‘Out pretty early Tod, aren’t you?’ he asked. ‘Yes,’ answered Sloan. ‘But, you see, I couldn’t sleep and came out for a breath of air.’ f"

“Several years later Sloan met this horseman on Broadway one night and they got to talking of the old days at Morris Park. ‘Do yon remember that morning you met me walking in from the track at 5 o’clock?* asked Tod. ‘Very well,’ said the horseman. ‘Tell the truth now, Tod, were you just getting in from a party?’ “ ‘No,’ answered Sloan. Til tell yon about that. Morris Park is gone and I’m not riding any more, so I don’t mind giving up some of my secrets. “ ‘lf you will remember there was a steep Incline near the far turn at Morris Park. Then the track sloped down again toward the Btretch, _. _ “T was out that morning finding out just where the incline started and where it ended and the down grade began! After that I could always ease my mounts up as I hit the hill and save them until I got to the top. Then I could make my run on the down grade with a fresh horse under ma If you’ll remember, I won many a race over that Morris Park course after you met me walking that morning.”’ And there you have it Tod Sloan, when he was at the height of his career, would go out at dawn to find out something about a certain spot in a track that might help him win races. Do you think Fator or the other youngsters riding today would think of these things, or, if they thought of them, would take the trouble to find out about them? Well, maybe Fator would. I hope so. But I must say that I doubt it very much.

Tod Sloan.