Lester Reiff

Leslie Ward ('Spy') presents the American jockey Lester Berchart Reiff (1877–1948) in full side profile — a composition typical of Vanity Fair's chromolithograph series. Reiff stands in a long tweed overcoat, white breeches, and black riding boots, gripping a thin crop or cane at his side. A pale jockey's cap sits atop an elongated, angular head — Ward's characteristic exaggeration of a lean jaw and sharp nose conveying the wiry discipline of a professional rider. The figure is rendered with understated mockery rather than malice. Reiff was one of several American jockeys who dominated English flat racing around 1900, a transatlantic incursion that fascinated and unsettled the British racing establishment, giving Ward's portrait a quiet topical edge.