AND TIMES OF JOHN OSBORNE 207 



CHAPTER XIII 



"The turf hath bubbles like the Stock Exchange, 

 And these are of them." 



BEGINNING in 1846, John Osborne in 1869, now in 

 his thirty-sixth year, had already been a professional 

 horseman quarter of a century. As the subsequent and 

 meteoric career of Fred Archer proved, it did not appear 

 a great performance on the part of " Our Johnnie," for 

 such was the term of endearment applied to him in the 

 North, to achieve in two decades and a half a win in 

 the One Thousand, three in the Two Thousand, two in 

 the St. Leger, and one in the Derby, Pretender being 

 the only Derby winner he ever rode, notwithstanding 

 that during his prolonged career he figured in no less 

 than thirty-eight races for what D'Israeli dubbed the 

 " blue riband " of the Turf. But in extenuation of this 

 apparent bald performance, so far as regards the classic 

 races, it must be borne in mind that, unlike Archer, 

 George Fordham, Fred Webb, Wells, Doyle, Jim 

 Snowden, Tom Cannon, or others of his distinguished 

 contemporaries in the pigskin, he had not the choice 

 of mounts which assisted these undoubtedly great 

 jockeys in paving their way to the altitudes of fame. 

 His time and energies were much occupied by his duties 

 in looking after the horses at Ashgill duties in which 



