104 The Life of Fred Archer 
knew that the wall got narrower and narrower, and that eventu- 
ally there wouldn't be foothold for the horse. I think I called 
to him — anyhow, I thought there was bound to be an accident. 
But Archer just rode quietly on, and when there was no longer 
any room for the horse he jumped down into the quarry. I 
held my breath and I thought, ' Well, this is the end of it all.' 
But he had managed his horse so splendidly that he came down 
all right. He did it so quietly, too, as he did everything. 
There was no brag or showing off. 
" I often say to people now, when they are talking about 
this method of riding with the jockeys' legs crouched up on 
their mounts' withers : ' Well, and did Tod Sloan and the rest 
ever show more ability than Archer did ? ' And Fred had such 
a good seat on a horse ; he rode so gracefully. Of course, 
other people know more about Archer's character and riding 
than I do, but those were my impressions of him." 
Fred Archer paid his first visit to France, " accompanied 
by another Gloucestershire jockey, Tommy Glover ; and an 
old Cheltonian, then residing in Newmarket, also visited 
the French capital with them." From this time up to his 
death Archer was frequently seen on French racecourses and 
won many victories there — as his nephew Willie Pratt has 
done since. 
" The Hotel de Nice," said Mr. Brooks, " a modest though 
thoroughly comfortable hostelry in the Place de la Bourse, 
Paris, lays claim to have extended its hospitality to the great 
jockey on his first visit to the Metropolis of France. It was 
during this stay that Archer rode his first French winner, on 
the day previous to the Grand Prix, on the two-year-old 
Argues, and it will show that the great luminary had not then 
shone in all its brilliancy when we state that, in spite of the 
small number of runners, Archer's mount was allowed to start 
at 6 to I. The race was won in a canter, thanks to the ad- 
vantage which Archer secured at the start over the other 
jockeys." 
