The Life of Fred Archer 175 
" The people in the crowd used to say things to Archer 
sometimes at race-meetings. But he always had an answer 
ready — he was very good at repartee. I remember once he 
came to me very indignant after losing a race at Epsom. A 
man who had backed his mount shouted to him as he came off 
the course : ' You old yard of gelatine — you never tried a 
yard ! ' There were appropriate adjectives, too, of course. 
" Archer married a very pretty httie girl, Miss Dawson. 
I got up a subscription amongst Fred's racing friends and we 
gave him a silver dinner-service. He was very pleased with 
it, of course, and made a speech about three words long, 
saying that he thanked us all, and me especially. About a 
month after his wedding they were staying at the Albion Hotel, 
Brighton, and he wanted to give a dinner to several of his racing 
friends. He asked me to order it. I did, and the bill was over 
j(^ioo. I ordered a nice dinner and wines and suchlike. Fred 
came to me with the bill in his hand and he said : ' You have 
been pretty extravagant, but it was a good dinner.' 
" No, I don't think Archer could possibly have won the 
Derby on Galliard. Could you put a heart into a horse to win 
a race if he hadn't got one ? 
" The last week at Brighton, just before Archer's death, we 
were all down there together at the Albion Hotel — Fred» 
Captain Pringle, Captain Bowhng, Mr. F. Tudor, and J. D. 
Fred seemed down on his luck because he hadn't been winning, 
and I said : ' Look here — I'll take you £100 to i that you win 
all the races you ride in to-day.' He replied : ' That's a bet ! 
and he won three races — all he rode in — and the fourth he 
couldn't ride the weight, so Fordham had the mount and won. 
The name of the last horse Archer ever rode was Tommy 
Tittlemouse. Fred was getting ill down there and said he felt 
bad. 
" But we all thought he was just depressed because he hadn't 
won up till then for about a fortnight. I have always regretted 
very much that I didn't go home with him. Captain Bowhng, 
