66 The Life of Fred Archer 
Edward used sometimes to come down when he was Prince 
of Wales and visit Bob Chapman at the Oaklands. Bob ran 
away with the daughter of a Colonel Hogg and married her. 
He was employed to pilot her out hunting. When remon- 
strated with. Bob replied : " Well, I took her out of a pig-stye 
into a stable." 
In these holidays Fred hunted whenever he had the chance. 
Sometimes he borrowed Cecil Raleigh's pony, but oftener he 
rode Chow, the famous racing pony that old Billy Archer had 
won in a raffle, and that young Billy Archer generally rode,. 
Chow was by Hazard, dam by Olic, and stood about 13 
hands, a perfect little wonder and the winner of three silver 
cups and several stakes and matches in various parts of the 
country. 
Mr. Dawson was one of the kindest and most thoughtful 
of masters. He was likewise a good and observant judge of 
the riding of his apprentices, and had been a brilliant horseman 
himself in his young days. He soon began to notice the promise 
shown by Fred Archer, and used to say that it did not take him 
long to find out that he had discovered one of the greatest 
jockeys of all time. 
The late Mr. John Corlett wrote : 
" Our recollections of Archer go back beyond those of any 
sporting writer, and our first knowledge of him was stamped in 
a most peculiar manner on our memory. We were one morning 
on Newmarket Heath, when Mr. Mathew Dawson, pointing 
to a small boy on a bay horse, said : ' There is a little fellow I 
shall be able to make a jockey of. He wants " hands " at 
present, but he is the pluckiest lad I ever had ; he will do 
anything.' CaUing Archer out of the string, he said : ' My 
little man, dare you jump your horse into that field ? Your 
father used to ride over fences, and I don't see why you 
shouldn't.' ' Yes, sir,' said the boy, touching his cap. He 
at once jumped his horse from the heath into the adjoining 
field and back again, and then took his place as before, a smile 
