Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 118, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 May 1920 — JOHNNY LOFTUS, BEST RIDER IN COUNTRY, DENIED JOCKEY’S LICENSE BY STEWARDS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

JOHNNY LOFTUS, BEST RIDER IN COUNTRY, DENIED JOCKEY’S LICENSE BY STEWARDS

• “At a special meeting of the stewards of the Jockey club the application Of Johnny Loftus for a jockey license was denied.”

. In this short and concise statement Algernon Daingerfield, assistant secretary of the Jockey club, announced that the best rider in the country was under the ban for the present, at Jeast No reason was given. The Jockey club rarely, if ever, gives reasons for refusing licenses to jockeys or trainers. It follows, of course, that Loftus has violated one of the rules of racing and is being punished. This Is not the first time that Loftus has been In hot water. His license was withheld for more than a month last year and he went before the stewards in person to plead his case before he received his papers. Then, near the close of the Empire city meeting last summer, he was suspended for what the stewards considered an unsatisfactory ride on Willis Sharpe Kilmer’s Sun Briar in the Mount Vernon handicap which was won by Lucullite. He was cleared, however, after an investigation. Loftus carried off the riding honors in the East last year. He bad the leg up on the winner of practically every big stake, including Sir Barton in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. He also rode Man o’ Mar to his

nine victories, which Included The Hopeful Stakes and The Futurity. His ride on Man o’ War In the Sanford Memorial at Saratoga the only time the great two-year-old was beaten, aroused much unfavorable comment at the time In that so experienced a rider, who knew his mount so well, should get away so badly and then run into pockets twice in so small a field If he had got clear a moment sooner he would have beaten H P. Wbit uey’s Upset. Golden Broom, from the stable of Mrs. W. M. Jeffords which stopped P to nothing in the last furlong after leading all the: way, was third. the stewards of the Jockey club will reconsider their action, as ♦hev have many times in the past, it is hard to say. h \t any rate the racing season will open without Loftus in the saddle, and good riders are mighty scarce.

Johnny Loftus.