Tod Sloan (jockey)

James Forman Tod Sloan, born on 10 August 1874 in Bunker Hill, Indiana, was an American Thoroughbred jockey who became one of the first international celebrities of the sport. After moving to New York in 1896 he dominated the East Coast circuit, winning 46 percent of his races in 1898, and on 30 September 1898 he rode five consecutive winners at Newmarket. He popularised the forward seat that the British called the monkey crouch, and in Britain won the 1899 1,000 Guineas on Sibola and the 1900 Ascot Gold Cup on Merman. His career ended by 1901 after the British Jockey Club declined to renew his licence over suspicions that he bet on races. He opened Harry's New York Bar in Paris in 1911, died in Los Angeles in 1933 and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1955.