The Education of a Jockey

Earlier this month in the Kentucky Derby, Jockey Ron Turcotte tried to drive his mount, Tom Rolfe, through a hole on the rail. Suddenly there was no hole. Another jockey abruptly cut over in front of him, and Turcotte had to rein in to keep from bumping into the horse ahead. Shut off with no place to go, he finished third behind Lucky Debonair. Ordinarily, he might have screamed foul. But in the Derby, by tradition, there is no such thing as a foul. Turcotte, 23, stalked into the Jockeys' room and snarled: "O.K. O.K. I learned a lesson out there today."

Sentimental Second. He had that lesson in mind when the horses paraded to the post for the start of the Preakness at Pimlico last week. Lucky Debonair naturally was the favorite at 8-5--despite a bruised ankle that almost caused Trainer Frank Catrone to scratch him from the race. Tom Rolfe, the smallest horse in the field (at 15.2 hands and less than 1,000 lbs.), was the sentimental second choice, mostly because three of his four 1965 victories had come on Maryland's deep, sandy tracks. His breeding probably had something to do with it too. Sired by Ribot, two-time winner of the Prix de 1'Arc de Triomphe, Tom Rolfe was foaled by the stakes-winning mare Pocahontas. Owner Raymond Guest, the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, named him after the son of the real Pocahontas, who grew tobacco in the days when smoking was still a social sort of vice.

After the first five furlongs of the 1 3/10-mi. Preakness, Tom Rolfe was nine lengths back. Isador Bieber's Flag Raiser (odds: 5-1) was straining for the lead, with Lucky Debonair and a longshot named Swift Ruler (42-1). Lucky Debonair's jockey, Willie Shoemaker, knew he was in trouble: "I was getting into him pretty good, but he wasn't giving me anything." Rounding the turn for home. Flag Raiser was in front--but there was Tom Rolfe ranging up to take the lead.

Purposeful Maneuver. Along the rail. Ogden Phipps's Dapper Dan, another son of Ribot and runner-up to Lucky Debonair in the Derby, began to make his move. Jockey Turcotte remembered. Whipping righthanded, he drove Tom Rolfe straight toward the rail as if he intended to run right into Dapper Dan. At the last second before a collision. Turcotte turned his colt away. The maneuver served its purpose: for the barest instant. Dapper Dan flinched and broke stride--and in that instant Tom Rolfe won the race. Milo Valenzuela, who rode Dapper Dan, claimed foul. The stewards did their duty: they thought about it for 15 min. before they disallowed the claim. Richer by $12,810, his 10% cut of the winner's purse, Jockey Turcotte cheerfully admitted: "I really closed the gate on that other horse."

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