Mexborough & Swinton Times – Saturday 21 May 1921

Pit Pony Racing

Dearne Valley colliery ponies shone in the Pitman Saint Leger race meeting at Doncaster on Tuesday, three will be recorded out of four ponies entered.

The successes were as follows:

Pitman Saint Leger “Doctor,” first;

Dataller Handicap, “Tinker,” second

Checkweigh handicap “Jerry,” third.

The successes are all the more remarkable when one remembers that the four entered was selected from a stable of only 28 ponies, where the majority of other animals entered was the choice of stables numbering 200 or thereabouts.

Perhaps in some degree this distinction may be due to the fact that owing to the particular conditions obtaining at the Dearne Valley colliery, the ponies are brought to the surface at the end of each shift, and thus obtain more fresh air and recreation than the average pit pony.