| Family Tree: | New World - Part 109 | |
| Daughter of: | George Herbert Bostwick (1908) and Dolly F. (1924) | NY Times |
| Born: | c. 1954 | NY Times |
| Died: | |
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| "Dolly Bostwick would like to make one thing perfectly clear: she is a jockey not a debutante. Debutante, What's that?" said Miss Bostwick, feigning ignorance. "I've never played any kind of social role. I'm not interested in that." While other 19 year old women from the wealthy enclaves of Old Westbury, Long Island, and Aiken, SC spend the season racing from one social event to another, Miss Bostwick runs thoroughbreds at Belmont Park and Florida Downs. And what's more, she is quick to add, she's carving out a career on her own, without any help from her family. "I've worked my butt off to get where I am" she said, with an angry toss of her shoulder-length blond hair "and everything I've done I've done by myself. Being a Bostwick is no help - people think you are riding for the fun of it." But, for the Bostwick family, riding is a serious business. Dolly's father George H. (Pete) Bostwick is a former steeplechase jockey and celebrated polo player. Her mother is an accomplished equestrienne who is granddaughter of the late Frederick H. Von Strade, Vice-President of the Saratoga Association for the Improvement of the Breed of Horses. When asked her family's reaction to her career Miss Bostwick said "They were all for it, especially her father who was thrilled to have someone in the family taking after him." After 10 years on the horse-show circuit, Miss Bostwick began her track career at 17 by breaking yearlings for Doug. Small, a trainer in Unionville, Pa. She then went on to a nine-month stint as an exercise girl for Calumet Farm. This past spring she got her first shot as a jockey when she rode at Belmont for Woody Stevens. "Trainers love to use girls in the morning to exercise the horses" she said stubbing out a cigarette "but in the afternoon, when it comes to a race they always choose men." As a triple bug apprentice she rides with a 10 pound weight allowance. Although none of the 50 mounts she has ridden has reached the winner's circle she believes her experience on the long shots will prepare her for the time when she's riding favourites. "I never thought I could really make it as a jockey because of my size and weight" said the 5 foot 5 inch 102 lb apprentice who shed 28 lbs on a strict high protein diet. "But if you want something bad enough you just don't give up." Ambitious, determined, and with a discipline that would be a credit to Robyn Smith, another woman jockey. Dolly refuses to quit before she becomes one of the best apprentice jockeys in the business. Miss Bostwick described herself as a "private person" who doesn't like to discuss her own personal life. When pressed, however, she said she was an indifferent student who briefly toyed with the idea of becoming an anthropologist. She has no special boy-friend ("I wouldn't be able to concentrate on racing"), would never consider a 9-to-5 job ("I'd have a nervous breakdown"), and admits to being supersticious (she once had her mother make her a good luck medal before a race). |
NY Times 16/12/1973 | |