Lester Berchart Reiff (1877–1948) was an American

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

who achieved racing acclaim in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in the first decade of the twentieth century. In 1900, he was the number one jockey racing in Britain based on earnings, beating other prominent American jockeys such as Tod Sloan,

Danny Maher Daniel Aloysius Maher (October 29, 1881 – November 9, 1916) was an American Hall of Fame jockey who also became a Champion jockey in Great Britain. U.S. riding career Danny Maher commenced his career at the age of 14, weighing 65 pounds. He ...

Skeets Martin John Henry Martin (1875–1944), commonly referred to as "Skeets" Martin, was an American jockey who achieved many racing wins in the United States and the United Kingdom during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. His most notable ...

and his younger brother,

John Reiff John "Knickerbocker" Reiff (1885–1974) was an American flat racing jockey, whose greatest successes came in Great Britain where he won three Classics. Reiff came to England with his older brother Lester to ride for the American trainer Eno ...

, that were also racing in Britain at the time.''New York Times.'
"Lester Reiff's Record."
November 25, 1900. The Reiff brothers were implicated in a

horse doping Equine drug testing is a form of drug testing applied to performance horses in regulated competition. Most common in racehorses, drug tests are also performed on horses in endurance riding and in international competition such as the Olympics ...

scandal in late 1901, which led to the revocation of Lester Reiff's license and the end of his racing career.''New York Times.'
"Reiff's license revoked."
October 2, 1901.''New York Times.'
"Turfmen still agitated."
October 29, 1900.

Early life and U.S. racing career

Lester B. Reiff was born on April 26, 1877, in

Americus, Missouri Americus is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, in the U.S. state of Missouri. History A post office called Americus was established in 1867, and remained in operation until 1959. The community was named after Amerigo Vespucci, an e ...

, to John Wesley Reiff and Elizabeth Jane (''née'' Wandel) Reiff.Ancestry Library.

U.S. Passport United States passports are passports issued to citizens and nationals of the United States of America. They are issued exclusively by the U.S. Department of State. Besides passports (in booklet form), limited-use passport cards are issued by ...

application for his brother Delbert Reiff with signed affidavit from his mother, also signed by Lester Reiff's father-in-law Harry Rowell, 1916. His brothers, John (1885–1974) and Delbert (1879–1976), were also employed in the

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racing industry. John Reiff is a US Racing Hall of Fame inductee and Delbert Reiff was a horse trainer that ran a horse importing business from

Maisons-Laffitte Maisons-Laffitte () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the northern Île-de-France Regions of France, region of France. It is a part of the affluent outer suburbs of northwestern Paris, from its ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The Reiff family moved to

Findlay, Ohio Findlay ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Ohio, United States. The second-largest city in Northwest Ohio, Findlay lies about 40 miles (64 km) south of Toledo, Ohio, Toledo. The population was 40,313 at the 2020 United St ...

, in the 1880s, and Lester became a jockey apprentice as a teenager. He raced for horse trainer Enoch Wishard in 1894 but was suspended numerous times for

throwing Throwing is an action which consists in accelerating a projectile and then releasing it so that it follows a ballistic trajectory, usually with the aim of impacting a remote target. This action is best characterized for animals with prehensile l ...

races and was barred from horse racing in late 1894 and the early months of 1895.

U.K. racing career

Reiff traveled to the

with Wishard in 1896 to race for the stable of

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...

boss

Richard Croker Richard Welstead Croker (November 24, 1843 – April 29, 1922), known as "Boss Croker," was an Irish American political boss who was a leader of New York City's Tammany Hall. His control over the city was cemented with the 1897 election of ...

. Reiff was again suspended by the

Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs and both the Rowley Mile and July Course in Newmarket, amo ...

in July 1896 for interfering with another horse while running the

Goodwood Cup The Goodwood Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 2 miles (3,219 ...

and he returned to the United States to race in a few minor stakes races. In 1900 his UK license was reinstated and he was contracted for $15,000 to race for Croker. Lester Reiff won 143 races out of 549 mounts in 1900, heading the list of winning jockeys in Britain, and he was the first non-British jockey to accomplish this feat. In 1901, Reiff won The Derby aboard

Volodyovski Volodyovski (1898–1917) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career which lasted from 1900 to 1902, he ran twenty-six times and won seven races. After being one of the leading two-year-olds of 1900, he went on to win The Derby i ...

for American trainer

John Huggins John Jerome Huggins Jr. (February 11, 1945 – January 17, 1969) was an American activist. He was the leader in the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Panther Party who was killed by black nationalist US Organization members at the University o ...

Scandal

In October 1901, Lester Reiff and his younger brother John were reprimanded by the

for alleged race fixing by "pulling" or slowing the horse so it will not win. This followed an incident at Manchester Racecourse on 27 September in which Lester's horse had finished second by a head to a horse ridden by his brother. The local stewards (racecourse officials) were unsatisfied by the brothers' explanations and so referred the matter to the Jockey Club.

Lord Durham Earl of Durham is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1833 for the Whig politician and colonial official John Lambton, 1st Baron Durham. Known as "Radical Jack", he played a leading role in the passing of the Gre ...

also accused the brothers of involvement in a horse doping ring along with Enoch Wishard and other American gamblers. While "doping" with performance enhancing stimulants was illegal at the time in the United States, it was still permissible in the UK in 1901 and was not outlawed until 1904. Lester Reiff's license was revoked for the 1902 season due to these incidents and he was barred or "warned off" from racing in other countries. His license was reinstated in 1904 but unlike his brother who resumed his career with success, Lester did not pursue horse racing again.

Retirement from racing and personal life

Lester Reiff, Tod Sloan and Morny Cannon at 1900 Produce Stakes

Reiff married Frances Rowell, the daughter of California physician and horseman Harry E. Rowell, in December 1901. Reiff retired from racing in 1902 and moved to

Alameda An alameda is a Avenue (landscape), street or path lined with trees () and may refer to: Places Canada *Alameda, Saskatchewan, town in Saskatchewan **Grant Devine Dam, formerly ''Alameda Dam'', a dam and reservoir in southern Saskatchewan Chile ...

with his wife. Lester Reiff became a real-estate broker and venture capitalist, managing the property of his family and several friends until his death on October 10, 1948, in Alameda. Lester Reiff is buried in a family plot at

Oak Hill Memorial Park Oak Hill Memorial Park is a cemetery in San Jose, California. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest secular cemetery in California. Oak Hill is the northernmost hill in the San Juan Bautista Hills of South San Jose. History The cemete ...

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reiff, Lester 1877 births 1948 deaths People from Montgomery County, Missouri American jockeys British Champion flat jockeys Burials at Oak Hill Memorial Park