By TONY TAGLAVORE, Journal Sports
It’s a question asked often of models or celebrities, as they walk the red carpet.
“What are you wearing?”
The answer may be “Gucci,” “Prada,” or “Armani.”
Ask that question to a jockey as he or she walks from the winner’s circle, and their answer might be “Betty Matthews.”
In a 25-foot-square building in the front yard of her Haughton home, for 36 years Matthews has made jockey silks. Those are the colorful tops a jockey wears while racing. Each silk represents the colors and design of a horse’s owner. Surrounded by 11 machines and a 6’ x 10’ cutting table, Matthews — owner of Betty Matthews Racing Silks — sews outfits for riders around the country, and beyond.
“I have some on the board to send to New York,” Matthews said. “I do quite a few for the East Coast. I do some for the West Coast. I do some for out of the country sometimes.”
Like the silk Matthews recently made for an owner in Puerto Rico.
“His colors are red, white, and blue,” Matthews said. “The front left-hand side, and the back left-hand side of his silks are tiny stars the size of a quarter. You know how many stars that is? Then he has stars on one sleeve. The rest of it is red and white stripes. So, it’s really the flag that he’s doing.”
Not all the silks Matthews makes are that intricate. The simple ones, she can have ready in two or three hours. On average, a silk — depending on design and material — costs from $100 to $250.
“I had been sewing my whole life,” Matthews said, remembering 1986, when she was working as a secretary in the racing office at Louisiana Downs. “Two friends kept telling me I could do this, and I didn’t think I could. Finally, I did one. I did it for (local owner) John Franks. He was so happy, he ordered four more the next day.”
Back then, when Franks — who won four Eclipse awards as the nation’s outstanding owner, and is in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame — liked something you did, you were “in.”
“I was a very, very fortunate person,” Matthews said. “By the time the news traveled around — the next day — I had 80-something orders. I had to find somebody to work for me. The next year, I quit the track and went into business.”
Business has been good ever since. Matthews has “no idea” how many clients she has, but knows there have been right at 5,000 customers. They have bought everything from silks, to blinkers, to saddle towels.
“One time, I opened the mailbox and there was a package from a lady who had her sweater in the box,” Matthews said. “She wanted her silks to look like the sweater.”
Sometimes, the owner knows exactly what colors he or she wants on their silks. But what they want is not always what’s best.
“The owner says, ‘We want blue and pink’ or ‘We want green and yellow,’” said trainer Joey Foster. “Miss Betty will say, ‘Those two colors aren’t going to show up. You don’t want to put a white with a pink.’ She will tell you right up front, you don’t want to mix two colors together if you can help it, because they’re not going to turn out the way you want them. She’s done it so long — she’s the best of the best.”
Another reason “Miss Betty” is “the best of the best” is because she does something a lot of people don’t do. She listens.
“You can tell her something and she remembers it,” said Cheryl Foster, Joey’s wife. “She has a vision. There have been many times when I’ve called her and thrown around ideas for silks. She listened, then the next thing I know she’s sending me a picture or a proof. She’s just one of a kind.”
Early on, Matthews listened to the jocks who wore her work.
“At the time, Ronald Ardoin was riding. Donnie Simington was riding — that group of jockeys,” Matthews said. “(The wife of a trainer) told Ronald in front of me, ‘If you want to ride our horses, you’re going to have to help her.’”
Before long, Ardoin and Simington were Matthews’ guinea pigs.
“Those poor guys had to try on silks out in the parking lot when I would make them, until they said I had the right size,” Matthews remembered. “They would say, ‘The tail end that tucks into your pants needs to be longer. We have longer torsos. When we bend over to ride, our shirttails come out.’ They hated that. So, I made it much longer than I ever thought it needed to be. They were happy. Then they said, ‘The sleeves are too short. When we bend our elbows, the sleeves ride up.’ So I made them longer. Much longer.”
When Matthews started, she used one fabric — nylon. But then came aerodynamic material, designed to reduce drag. In a sport where a tenth of a second can be the difference between first and second-place money, every second counts.
“Now, out of 100, I’m going to say maybe nine or 10 (silks) are nylon,” Matthews said. “The rest of them are aerodynamic.”
NFL great Deion Sanders once said, “If you look good, you feel good, and if you feel good, you play good.”
A jockey wearing a Betty Matthews-made silk is going to look good, feel good, and hopefully, ride good.
Louisiana Downs races Saturday through Tuesday. Post time is 3:05.
Contact Tony at SJBTonyT@gmail.com.
Submitted photo
