262 The Life of Fred Archer 
Lord Arthur Grosvenor writes : "I happened to see the 
gallop of Ormonde with ' owner ' up at Kingsclere. The 
distance was six furlongs, and when they started I thought I 
should never see ' owner ' again that day and supposed that 
the horse would go as far as Highclere, two or three miles 
further. Ormonde, however, knew where to pull up. I 
asked ' owner ' how he enjoyed it, and he said he had little 
command over the horse. Ormonde had no shoulders, but a 
big bull-neck." 
The day before Minting beat St. Mirin in the Middle 
Park Plate, Ormonde made his first appearance in a Post 
Sweepstakes over the Bretby Course, and, ridden by Archer, 
sailed through the mud and won easily. Little did the public 
think of this, and none realised that the following season 
Ormonde would be hailed as the " horse of the century," and 
that St. Mirin would be the cause of Archer's tragic death. 
The Post Sweepstakes took place on October 14, and on 
October 26 Ormonde won the Criterion Stakes at Newmarket, 
and followed this two days later with the Dewhurst Plate, 
thus ending his two-year-old career. 
During the winter the Derby provided plenty of dis- 
cussion, but was this surprising when there were such horses 
as Minting, The Bard, an unbeaten winner of sixteen races, 
Saraband, and St. Mirin, to say nothing of Ormonde ? 
For Ormonde's three-year-old career we are indebted to 
John Porter's book, in which he states the son of Bend Or 
wintered well, growing more muscular, especially about the 
quarters, which developed a tremendously powerful appear- 
ance. When the spring came round he did not think it 
necessary to subject him to a formal trial. They knew he was 
well, and that was all they wanted to know. 
The Saturday before the Two Thousand Guineas saw 
Porter again at Newmarket. On the Sunday morning he 
took his horses on to the Bury Hill gallops by the side of the 
plantation, and there met Mat. Dawson with his string. They 
