The Life of Fred Archer 95 
had every horse his duty done by him, that in the Derby they 
went past the winning-post almost in a straight Hne. . 
" It is no doubt owing to the moral training he has received 
at Heath House that Archer, the best lightweight of the day, 
has been able to avoid those shoals and quicksands on which so 
many fashionable lightweights have been wrecked. . . . We 
doubt whether the Calendar furnished another instance of such 
races as the Two Thousand, One Thousand and Oaks having 
been won by so young a jockey. It is not our intention to 
weary our readers by following Archer through all his mounts. 
Nor do we mean to exalt him into a demi-god. Though he has 
won so many races, we cannot yet report him as being a really 
great horseman in the sense that Fordham is. He is often 
inclined to be in a hurry, and, though he is not so fond of taking 
up his whip as he used to be, he is still rather handy with it. 
" A great recommendation to him is punctuality. When 
an owner has engaged him to ride, he has not to hunt all over 
the place at the last moment to find him. He is the first to 
present himself to the Clerk of the Scales, and he is never 
behindhand in taking up his place at the post. Nor is there 
that flashness about him that we see in so many of the light- 
weights. His position in a great measure he owes to the 
schooling he has received. Even when he was a fashionable 
jockey he had to attend with the other boys at the evening 
classes presided over by Mrs. Dawson. He has not forgotten 
his early training, and as he is a nice weight we see no reason 
why he should not be at the head of the winning jockeys for 
many a year to come." * 
* Archer was premier jockey from this year, 1874, until his death 
in 1886. 
