Jockey of the Year

As he came into the stretch last week at Rockingham Park Race Track (near Salem, N. H.) the urchin who was riding Quick Step scarcely heard the crowd at the rail yelling, "Come on, Westrope." Jockey Westrope paid more attention to the pounding of hoofs coming up closer and closer behind him, made by Bun D, with Jockey Porter up. He drew his whip, leaned forward in his stirrup, almost lifted Quick Step across the finish line--still ahead by barely a nose. It was the second race that Jockey Westrope had won that afternoon. It brought his record for the year to 226 winners out of 890 mounts, far ahead of the 212 winners that made Jockey John Gilbert the leading U. S. rider last year.

Most jockeys are light little men who look like children except for their prematurely old faces, drawn into bitter lines by the strain of making weight. Jockey Westrope's face, snub-nosed and babyish, belies the age of 16 which he gave a year ago to get his apprentice's license. Riders who know him well suspect that he is really two years younger. Like his brother William, who died of injuries after a fall at Agua Caliente last year, Jack Westrope could ride as soon as he could walk. He went to Florida last winter as contract rider for a Texan named Oscar Foster. By the time Foster, who lives wherever he happens to be racing his string of horses, moved to Chicago for the Hawthorne meeting in August, Westrope had ridden more than 150 winners, established himself as No. 1 jockey of the season. Jockey Westrope rides with high stirrups, leaning far in at the turns, wheedling his mount in a squeaky, nervous treble. He uses whip and spurs less than most young jockeys who are less canny with their hands, but he can ride a "strong" finish when he needs to. Only 4 1/2 ft. tall, not much heavier than 92 to 95 Ib. on a jockey-room scales, pee-wee Jack Westrope may well satisfy his remaining ambition--to win the Kentucky Derby-- before he needs to face a jockey's greatest problem, weight.

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