THE CAREER OF ORMONDE 267 



for the purchase I cannot remember what it 

 was. 



Archer was an extremely ** brainy ** jockey, but 

 not so finished a horseman as Fordham. He 

 developed a style of his own. His body was short 

 and his legs long, and he used the latter as if they 

 were a pair of tongs gripping a horse's body. 

 As a rule he rode with a slack rein, and sometimes 

 at the finish of a race was half-way up the horse's 

 neck. His success was largely due to his wonder- 

 ful energy, his determination, and his pluck. 

 His whole heart and soul were in the business he 

 had in hand. He was almost invariably the first 

 to weigh out, the first at the starting-post, the 

 first away when the flag fell, and, as the records 

 show, very often the first to pass the winning- 

 post. I am afraid he was not too scrupulous. 

 Very masterful, he generally had pretty much 

 his own way, especially in minor races. If he 

 did not want a horse to run, he never hesitated to 

 suggest to the owner that he should keep the 

 animal in the stable that day. In short, Fred 

 Archer was a powerful personality as well as a 

 brilliantly successful jockey. 



The satisfaction I derived from Ormonde's 

 performances that year was sadly discounted by 

 a discovery I made on the Kingsclere Downs one 

 misty morning shortly before he won the St. 

 Leger. As Ormonde galloped past me I heard 

 him make a whistling noise. I was dumbfounded. 



