Old Man Longden

Johnny Longden, an old man in his trade, may not be the best jockey in the U.S., but he has won more races in 1947 than anyone else. At 37, when many successful jockeys are wealthy enough to sleep late, he is out at San Mateo's Bay Meadows track at 6 a.m., before the morning mists clear off. He wears tailor-made leather jackets with tassels, talks out of the side of his thin-lipped mouth, sports a $2,000 diamond ring on one hand. Jockey Longden is proud that he isn't slowing down.

Two weeks ago, at Bay Meadows, he rode six winners in one day. Next morning, he hopped into his private plane and flew down to Mexico's Agua Caliente to ride three more winners. When Bay Meadows closes, he intends to ride for two weeks at a small-time, mile track at Phoenix. He wanted to be dead sure of keeping ahead of Steve Brooks, who was so close on his heels that Johnny Longden could only express his feelings on the matter with a connoisseur's choice of obscenities.

In 20 years, Johnny has ridden more winners--over 3,000--than any other U.S. jockey. But Britain's famous Gordon Richards (TIME, June 2) has ridden 3,480. Richards was the man that Johnny (also born in England) wanted to catch.

Out Front First. Back at Bay Meadows last week, the wrinkled-faced little jockey won eight races, then went down south of the border to win three more on Sunday. That made his score for the season 293, nine more than Steve Brooks. Longden did not have the power of an Eddie Arcaro (who sometimes looks as if he gets off and lifts a horse across the finish) or Earl Sande's rare judgment of pace. But people liked to bet on his horses because they got a run for their money. Besides a high reputation for honesty, he has a knack of getting a horse off fast--then dares anybody to catch him. A good percentage of his wins were scored on obscure tracks long before he made the big time. His most heart-warming victory: the one aboard Count Fleet in the 1943 Kentucky Derby. At heart, Johnny Longden is a "gyp" (race-trackese for a small-time pro).

A onetime British Columbia cattlehand who rode his first race in 1927, he served apprenticeship on dusty Western tracks and went to Mexico and Cuba to ride the "gyp" circuit in the winter. Unlike most get-rich-quick jockeys, he saved his money after graduating to bigger tracks, lived for a while in a trailer.

But he kept riding five or six races a day at fees of $10 for a losing mount and $25 for a win (now the rate is often $25 and $50), plus bonuses, plus his contract salary. His income was higher than many bank presidents'. Johnny now breeds horses and cattle on his own ranch, averages close to $100,000 a year by riding. What is his technique for winning a race? Says Johnny, with the air of a man who has made it all clear: "I just keep bitin' and chewin', bitin' and chewin'."

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