Leading Man

Most policemen have flat feet, most jockeys small ones. Ted Atkinson's are size 4.

Last week Jockey Atkinson's custom-made, unrationed boots were in the stirrups of seven winners at Tropical Park. Florida's racing was only three weeks old, Phalean would not be open until late this week, but already he was the season's No. 1 jockey.

In a year when U.S. flat racing soared to a betting record of 710 million inflated dollars, hard-working Theodore Frederic Atkinson had cleaned up, too. He had ridden 200 winners in 1943, had been hailed at a "Ted Atkinson Day" at Rockingham, and was the all around standout rider of New York tracks' fall meetings.

Exit Bug. Most jockeys grow up on horseback; Ted traveled on foot until eight years ago. He was through high school--so rare an accomplishment among jockeys that pressagents call him "College-bred"--and loading trucks in a chemical plant when the boss noticed Ted's wiry, small frame, and wangled him a job as exercise boy at the Greentree Stable. Within three years he had won more than 40 races and got rid of his "bug" (the * after an apprentice jockey's name).

Ted scrambled for mounts until he rode War Relic to victory over Whirlaway in the 1941 Narragansett Special. Big stables took note: J. M. Roebling and C. V. Whitney put him under contract. Atkinson's dual contracts call for around $1,000 a month plus 10% of purses he wins. His income in 1943 was close to $60,000. Unlike most riders, he never gambles.

Neither Roebling nor Whitney races in Florida. So Ted now free-lances at rates from $10 to $35 a race, depending on the purse and finish. He also gets the standard 10% of winnings. Most jockeys ride twelve times a week. He averages 32. His explanation: "The more I ride, the better I ride." In six years, he has ridden 5,000 races, won about 700.

Enter Pukka Gin. Like all jockeys, Ted's ambition is to ride in the Kentucky Derby. His dream is to win it. This year he expects to enter on Whitney's Pukka Gin.

Three years at peak earning power is average in Atkinson's business. With quiet living and hard work, he should be among the few who stay at the top for a decade. One reason is his ease at making weights.

Most jockeys are slaves to scales. As riders soar towards the 110 Ib. danger line, out come sweatboxes and rubber suits for roadwork under a broiling sun. Some live on black coffee, cigarets and an occasional graham cracker. At 27, tall by jockey heights (5 ft. 2 1/4 in.), Ted Atkinson needs none of these. His average weight (stripped): 96 Ib.

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