Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 October 1886 — The Salary of a Jockey. [ARTICLE]

The Salary of a Jockey.

If any one believes that horse-racing is not an expensive business when one’s win, he has only to look about him to be satisfied. A stable of say twelve horses, or even eight, is not kept up short of from S4O to $75 a day, exclusive of jockey fees and railway transportation. There is a trainer at a salary of from $150„to S2OO a month, a I foreman at from $75 to SIOO, and there are generally two darky grooms for each horse. Then there is the feed--stable outfit to be kept up, and an endless array of little things to be bought. Then there are the entry fees and forfeits, that in the course of the season amount to a great deal of money. The jockeys take a great deal out of the profits, too, when there are any. Ike Murphy, the colored jockey, who enjoys the distinction of being called the Archer of America, receives $6,000 a year from Baldwin for the first call on his services, and $2,000 a year from Corrigan for the second call. That is, when Baldwin has a horse in a race Murphy must mount for him. When Baldwin has no entry, or it is withdrawn, then Corrigan can call on the jockey. When neither has a horse on, then Murphy can ride for the owner that pays him best. What with salaries, fees, gratuities, and a turn now and then at the pool box, Murphy is said to have an income of $15,000 a year. When hq wins a big and unexpected stake the lucky owner usually gives him from SSOO to SI,OOO as a present. The next best paid of the jockeys is Duffy, rider for the Haggin stable. He receives $5,000 a year straight, and can ride for anybody else when Haggin has no horse in the race. These are the two best riders on the turf. Many may think it absurd that jockeys should be enabled to earn such large sums, but, when the hazardous nature of the business is taken into account and the skill and judgment required considered, the boys do not seem overpaid. It is the most dangerous occupation in the world. The liability of horses to bolt, stumble, to shy, or to do any of the dozen things that horses under excitement are likely to do, is almost sure to result in disaster if indulged in at the frightful speed with which they go. Again, some horses—indeed, most race-horses of high blood and mettle — are inclined to be vicious and headstrong. They frequently run away in their exercising and training gallops and become uncontrollable. Such brutes are a constant menace to grooms and jockeys, and accidents are far more numerous -than the public hears of.— Chicago Herald.