1 62 The Life of Fred Archer 
another? I doubt it. Look at the list of jockeys when he 
was riding and compare his winning mounts with those of 
the jockeys of to-day. He got the cream of the riding, 
but not all of it, for in his day there were such past 
masters of the art as Tom Cannon, George Fordham, John 
Osborne, Charles Wood and others against him. The year I 
left for Sydney — 1884 — he rode 241 winners ; in 1885, 246 ; 
in 1876, 1877, and 1878 he rode over 200 winners each season. 
From 1876 to 1885 he was only twice under the 200. He had 
a tremendous number of mounts in a year, and if ever a man 
deserved them, he did. 
" One of his best races, in my opinion, was when he won 
the City and Suburban on Master Kildare. He rode Melton, 
Master Kildare's son, when he won the Derby. Master Kildare 
was a good horse. When Leoville, who was receiving 2 stone 
from Master Kildare, came down the hill it looked odds on 
Archer being beaten. He handled Master Kildare with con- 
summate skill and won on the post by a head ; it was a mag- 
nificent piece of horsemanship and he was cheered to the echo. 
" This race was a foretaste of what he was to do later on in 
the Derbj^ and when he went out on Bend Or no doubt hundreds 
of people recollected how he got Master Kildare home a couple 
of months before. 
Only a short time previously Archer had been savaged by 
Muley Edris, and bitten in the arm so badly that he could only 
ride with one arm in the Derby. 
" This was a Derby to be remembered. Robert the Devil, 
on whom Rossiter had the mount, was leading, and it looked a 
pound to a hayseed on him winning. Archer, however, came 
creeping up on Bend Or and stride by stride gained on the 
leader. 
" It was a glorious struggle, but the jockeys were unequal. 
Rossiter was no match for Fred Archer. WTien Archer drew 
level Rossiter seemed paralysed ; he sat still, then moved, but 
did not help his mount at all. 
