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Yankee Doodle Dandy: The Life and Times of Tod Sloan
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • A Real Winner, A True Thoroughbred
  • Revolutionizing Riding
 Yankee Doodle Dandy: The Life and Times of Tod Sloan
John Dizikes
Manufacturer: Bison Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

GeneralGeneral | Biographies | Sports | Subjects | Books
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GeneralGeneral | Sports | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0803266413

Amazon.com

It might seem like a long way from the elite ambiance of the opera house to the gritty atmosphere of the track, but in his biography of one of racing's most famous early jockeys, John Dizikes displays the same shrewd understanding of how culture operates in society that distinguished his Opera in America (winner of the 1993 National Book Critics Circle Award).

Tod Sloan (1874-1933) launched his career in California, became a favorite with fans, and emerged as the sport's dominant rider on the East Coast. Dandified clothes and a reputation as a ladies' man were part of his appeal, but Sloan's main claim to fame was technical: he popularized the forward seat, in which a jockey crouched on the neck of the horse, an innovation that revolutionized racing and within a few years obliterated the old upright style. It was derisively called the "monkey seat" in England, where Sloan triumphed in 1899 but made enemies with his Yankee brashness and flamboyance. The English were also apprehensive about American gamblers corrupting their races. Sloan, like many riders in the more freewheeling tracks back home, was inappropriately intimate with gamblers and may well have thrown races. In any case, he certainly wagered on them. In late 1900, England's all-powerful Jockey Club informed Sloan "he need not apply for a license to ride" in 1901. His days as a jockey were over. Dizikes uses Sloan's short but meteoric career to explore horse racing's evolution from aristocratic pastime to popular entertainment, casting Sloan as the forerunner of such 20th-century sports celebrities as Babe Ruth and Michael Jordan. --Wendy Smith

Book Description

In the 1890s the world of racing was turned on its ear by a young American who rode horses as no professional jockey had ever ridden: Tod Sloan hitched up his stirrups and thrust his weight far forward. Traditionalists laughed at first and dismissed him as a novelty, but as he came to dominate racing on both sides of the Atlantic, his style of riding became widely imitated, and his famous “forward seat” remains universally practiced to this day. Sloan’s place in racing lore and popular culture was cemented in 1904 when George M. Cohan wrote and starred in Little Johnny Jones, a Broadway musical based on Sloan’s rise and fall in England.



John Dizikes’s portrait of Sloan (1874–1933) shows a small-town, hard-luck, midwestern boy who became an overnight sensation and an international celebrity in a world of breeders, bookmakers, gamblers, hustlers, bluebloods, and princes. As the King of Jockeys in the sport of kings, Sloan lived in high style, until he was banned from British racing and forced to eke out a living on the margins of the sport for thirty years.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars A Real Winner, A True Thoroughbred.......2001-02-17

A marvelous miniature, Yankee Doodle Dandy tells what at first blush is the story of Tod Sloan, an American jockey, who revolutionized horse racing by changing the way a jockey sat on the horse. (Prior to Sloan, riders sat comfortably on the horses back, ramrod straight. Sloan leaned forward over the horses withers, leaned over the horses neck.) His innovation initially met with jeers and scoffing from the traditional race crowd, but within less than 5 years, nearly every jockey had adopted the technique. There was no arguing with Sloan's success. Winning two, three, four and even five races at tracks featuring an average of seven races daily, Sloan's new technique, coupled with his remarkable sense of pace and often brilliant strategies, was unstoppable.

By following Tod Sloan's career we are given a vivid tour of the U.S. and England in the latter 19th century, from the life of the lowliest stableboy, to glimpses of the English royalty. We also witness the last gasp of British "imperialism" in its Jockey Club barring Sloan from ever applying for his license again. His infraction, suspected gambling, had never been cause for such a stringent punishment before. But, as Dizikes points out, there had never been anyone quite like Sloan before either. A brash American sportsman, spendthrift, ladies man, vaudevillian (briefly), he was the first sports superstar.

A short, masterful evocation of a uniquely American life, Yankee Doodle Dandy is a great ride!

5 out of 5 stars Revolutionizing Riding.......2000-11-25

You may not know who Tod Sloan was, but after reading _Yankee Doodle Dandy: The Life and Times of Tod Sloan_ (Yale University Press) by John Dizikes, you will understand that Sloan was as important to his sport as Babe Ruth was to his. You don't have to be a racing fan to enjoy this book; it is full of racing, but it is full of history and many Gilded Age politicos and capitalists wander through its pages. It covers the rise and fall of Sloan, who introduced the way we all have seen jockeys riding their mounts, forward on the saddles, almost hugging their necks. Before Sloan invented this position, all rode back in the saddle and upright. Sloan introduced the "forward seat," and he won with it, causing a revolution in racing. Many didn't like the new style, but took to it when it won. Many didn't like Sloan. He became a crowd pleaser, and his dandified dress in miniature, his constantly smoking a cigar "as big as a policeman's club," his inability to let others take the tab, and his eagerness with women made him a star of the sport.

Sloan's success was not just due to his gimmick. He was a skilled jockey. He was known for quick starts and blazing finishes. His judgement of pace was unequalled. Horses that had not performed well would succeed under his control. They knew his voice; a trainer said, "When Sloan enters the paddock, horses that he has ridden recognize his voice and turn to look at him."

But Sloan made such a spectacle of himself that he was resented by some members of the British racing establishment, even though he had occasionally been tapped by the Prince of Wales to ride royal mounts. A minor betting incident, not a big deal at the time, led to his being exiled from the sport he had revolutionized. Sadly, his drinking and gambling ruined his two marriages and any business prospects, and he would up as a ticket taker at a race track in Tijuana.

Dizikes's readable book is a beguiling history of racing as it used to be, illuminating a good deal about the history of racing, and the attempts to regulate it, and make it fair. It also is a little parable about what can happen to revolutionaries.

YANKEE DOODLE DANDY: The Life and Times of Tod Sloan
Average customer rating: Not rated
    		YANKEE DOODLE DANDY: The Life and Times of Tod Sloan
    John (Like-new) Dizikes
    Manufacturer: Yale University Press
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback
    ASIN: B000ORYG6S
    Yankee Doodle Dandy, The Life and Times of Tod Sloan
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      		Yankee Doodle Dandy, The Life and Times of Tod Sloan
      John DIZIKES
      Manufacturer: Yale University Press
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Hardcover
      ASIN: B000OPBVOU
      Yankee Doodle Dandy : The Life and Times of Tod Sloan
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        		Yankee Doodle Dandy : The Life and Times of Tod Sloan
        John Dizikes
        Manufacturer: NY
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Hardcover
        ASIN: B000MUGXN6

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