My Racing Days.

A Memory of Druid's Lodge.

At the age of 16 I arrived at Druids Lodge to become an apprentice jockey, signed to the trainer Noel Cannon. I had never sat on a horse, having come from the East End of London, but being only 5st 12lb my aspirations were high. My initial wage was 7 shillings and sixpence ie 37 1/2 pence with all found including clothes. The stable jockey at the time was Jack Purtell an Australian, and if I remember correctly the staff totalled about 20 stable lads and 12 apprentices. I was shown the ropes in how to look after and groom a horse, and during this time I learned to ride on an ex racehorse called Ray. I never did find out it's racing name. At the end of something like a month, I was allocated 2 horses to look after named Golden Nugget and Paul Dougles. The former was a sprinter which pulled so hard, it was forever taking off leaving the rider with no control. For some funny reason only the trainers daughter was able to steady the gelding. On the whole my stay was very pleasant, but there was some bullying from the older stable lads.
Each year all the apprentices were weighed, and during my 4th year at the age of 19 and weighing 7st 3lb it was explained to me I was and would be too heavy to be a flat race jockey. My alternative was to become a stable lad, but as I had set my heart on a career as a jockey, I felt dejected and left. Did I have any regrets in going into racing, no it was a great experience and I can still get great pleasure in riding even today. My only regret if any, is that there was no racing school for apprentices at the time.