BRITISH STABLES AND FOREIGN METHODS. 537 



of three, and went back to waste down to 8st. 6lb. for St. Mirin in the Cambridge- 

 shire, the only important race he had never won. " If I cannot win it to-morrow," 

 he said to Mr. Corlett, " I will never try again." He had got down to 8st. ;lb. 

 by great privations, going three days without food, with medicine and Turkish 

 baths all the time, and it was "the back-end of the year." He looked ghastly, 

 but he rode in the big handicap, and he went down to the Lewes Meeting 

 afterwards, where he had his last mount (November 4, 1886) on Tommy Tittlemouse 

 in the Castle Plate. He felt ill on his return. Typhoid symptoms made their 

 appearance. He became delirious, and shot himself before he could be prevented, 

 while his sister was watching in his bedroom. The world of Racing has rarely 

 felt so deep a shock. 



After heading the list of winning stallions for several seasons in the Argentine, 

 St. Mirin died in June, 1903. By Hermit out of Lady Paramoiint, he was foaled 

 in the remarkable year which produced Ormonde, Minting, and The Bard. After 

 finishing third in the Derby and second in the Leger, he only lost the Cambridge- 

 shire of 1886 in the last stride to Sailor Prince, with Car/ton behind him, and 

 Melton fourth. All four went abroad later on, but before that the Duke of 

 Westminster bought St. Mirin from "Mr. Manton " for 4,500 guineas, and won 

 the Liverpool Cup with him ; but his name is chiefly connected with that of the 

 Duchess of Montrose, one of the most sportsmanlike ladies on the English Turf, 

 who bought him for 2,100 guineas from the Yardley Stud, little imagining that 

 he was to prove an indirect cause of Archer's death. 



Whether it be true or not that Archer's life would have been saved if the " lowest 

 weight " had been 6st. 7lb., it is certain that wasting can never be avoided however 

 much the weights are raised. I am inclined to believe that a better reform would be, 

 in Lord Durham's words, "an increase of English boys," in order that when a light- 

 weight was wanted he could be got in a natural state without the necessity for 

 calling upon a heavier man to waste. This " increase " could be produced if only 

 trainers had more time, or more inclination, to look for future jockeys among the 

 likely stable-lads, and to instruct those who, from want of tuition, never get a chance 

 of rising from their " keep, and a sovereign a week." A continuous grind of nothing 

 but stable work will never make a jockey, though both Archer and Fordham were 

 glad enough to do it for a start. If a good boy who has shown nerve, ability, and 

 pluck were only given a fair chance, and not wholly discouraged after a few defeats 

 owing to his inexperience, he would very soon improve. A little work with the 



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