CHAPTER IX. 



My Riding Contemporaries — George Fordham and Fred Archer 

 — Fordham's Race in the Cambridgeshire of 1871 — A Case of 

 Mistaken Identity — Fordham's Single-wicket Match — Archer 

 as a Jockey and Hunting Man — His Reception in Ireland, and 

 Sad Death. 



N speaking of one whom I consider all 

 round to be the finest jockey I ever 

 saw or rode against, it is needless 

 for me to say that I refer to my 

 dear old friend, George Fordham. 

 He was the most unassuming and, perhaps, honest 

 man I ever met. As an instance of the latter I can 

 vouch for the followino- facts: In 1861 I rode a 

 horse named ' Trovatore,' belonging- to the late Mr. 

 Merry (by ' Irish Birdcatcher ' — ' Catherine Hayes '), 

 against a mare named ' Lady Peel ' at Newmarket. 

 The race was reduced to a match, and the odds of 

 4 to 1 were betted on ' Trovatore.' On our way to 

 the post, George said to me : " Yours is thought to 

 be a certainty, isn't it ?" 



