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#47: The Case of the
Jilted Jockey
Original Airdate: 11/15/58

Summary Edit

From The Perry Mason TV Show Book
The horse-racing footage is excellent and the music unusually upbeat in this episode about dirty doings at a racetrack.

When racehorse Bright Magic loses a fixed race, jockey Tic Barton gets his walking papers. A little man with big problems, Tic confronts big shot Johnny Starr and they fight over who doped the horse. Johnny knocks Tic down and leaves the room. Two shots later, Tic finds Starr dead. The police have an eyewitness who saw Tic leave the apartment and the little guy is arrested for murder.

To complicate matters, Tic's tall, shapely wife was having an affair with Starr. This sounds like a job only Perry can handle.

Billy Pearson, a real-life jockey, quiz-show winner, and art connoisseur, made his acting debut in this episode.

Credits Edit

Cast

Billy Pearson as Tic Barton
Barbara Lawrence as Gloria Barton
June Vincent as Victoria Bannion
Don Durant as Johnny Starr
Joe di Reda as Eddie Davis
Hugh Sanders as Dion Bannion
Nolan Leary as Bob Allen
Kenneth R. MacDonald as Judge
Roy Engel as Mr. Horty
Joe Forte as Coroner

Trivia Edit

CARS: 1958 DeSoto station wagon, medium color. From The Cars by Greg Cockerill.

+In the horse race, Bright Magic is horse number 1. Tic Barton has the number 1 on his sleeve, and it is easy to see the number 1 on the horse. When the horses cross the finish line, the announcer says Bright Magic came in third. If you pay attention, the number 4 horse won the race, followed by horses numbered 10 - 8 - 7 - 9. Nowhere can you see horse number 1. Submitted by PaulDrake 33.

When jockey Tic Barton (Billy Pearson) stops to see his horse the night before the big race, assistant trainer Eddie Davis (Joe diReda) tells him that his wife left a number where she can be reached if he has decided to throw the race. The number is WEbster 12499. According to the last episode (TCOT Married Moonlighter) calling this number should connect one with Walsh's Appliance store (where Your Credit is Good!). I wonder if this number was some kind of in-joke on the Mason set at the time. Submitted by FredK October 25, 2009.

Comments Edit

+Billy Pearson's acting is painful to watch in this episode. I guess you could say that as an actor he was a wonderful jockey. Small wonder that he had only one other appearance, 14 years later on the screen. Submitted by PaulDrake 33.

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