RIDING WITHOUT A WHIP.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2263, 11 January 1887, Page 2

RIDING WITHOUT A WHIP.

(Melbourne Sportsman.) Concerning Fred Archer (since deceased) Badmingtoti says:—"Since the withdrawal of Fordham from the pig-skin the name of Fred Archer has taken greater hold upon the public fancy than that of any otVr jockey known from the days of Tregonwell Tranipton to the present hour. In many respects, and especially upon the Epsom course, where two Derby winners, Bend Or and Melton, owe their victories mainly, if not entirely, to his superior judgment and horsemanship. Archer is undoubtedly deservins of his pre-eminent frame. No jockey ever lost fewer races he ought to nave won, aud if, as in the case of Paradox for the Two Thousand of ISBS, he lccasionaily fails to make the most of his mount. no one is more ready to confess iiis mistake, and to amend it—as Happened last year in the Grand Prix da r'at-is, when he rides the same horse i.sain. In attention to business, in beiDg ilvvays at the post to secure the best ' lerfch, and in resolute riding when the :ice wcessitates it he h:-s never had an

-ipial upon the British Turf. The place -viiiuli he hits now occupied for many years at the head—and Lot only at the lead but facile priucips—of his rivals attests his extraordinary industry and merits ; >-n I although his length of limb •ud increase ot weight forbid the opposition that he will be able to go 'o scale for as many races as Frank Buckle, Tommy Lye, Nat, Sim Tempieman, Bill Scoit, John Osborne, George Fordham and James Goates, he ia.s already inscribed his name so deeply ipon the annals of Turf history in his ime that in all probability the epoch nrougli which we are now passing will hereafter be known as the Archer era. Of all the jockeys now in possession of a icense Archer would have been most certain to win commendation from that most censorious and difficile of judges, the ate Squire Thornhil', of Riddlesworth. On this same subject the following pertinent remarks appear in the Sporting Times :— "When Edwin Martin mounted Don Juan iu the Cesarewitch two years Fordham said to him— 11 On a long course like this you will want both your hauds to hold your horse together. You will not be able to do it with one hand. Give me your whip.' The result was that Martin rode the horse with his hands, and won the race. If, on Tuesday, there had been a George Fordham to give tho same advice to Wall, and had taken his whip away, The Cob, in aU probability, would have won the Cesarewitch. The Duke of Beaufort, we believe, stood to win more money on the three-year-old than he ever had on a horse in his life. Though his Grace has been on the turf so many years, and has been connected with so many good horses, he has never, at any one time, won so much as £10,000 on one race, except when Lecturer won the Cesarewitch, when his winnings were £13,000. According to the jockey who rode last Tuesday, the Cesarewitch was run at the fastest pace in their experience, and this we can believe, as the rider of Winter Cherry had orders to force the pace a3 fast as the mure could lay her feet to the ground, and he obeyed orders with 3, vengeance. It was never meant, how? ever, that The Cob should race with her as he did, and in fact he was the first to lead her, and coming across the Flat up to the bushes he held such a long lead that it appeared any odds 011 him. It was here that Wall blundered so terribly and all the way home a pitiable display of horsemanship was witnessed. At the bushes he had everything well beaten, with the exception of Stoueclink, aud if he had sat down aud taken well hold of his horse, instead of forcing him, he could not have lost.

" Stoueclink is q, that has no speed, while, on the other haud, The Cob has, and, if his strength had been husbanded, he would have beaten her for the last run. As it was, he played into her hands, giving her the encouragement she needs, and at the finish she fairly wore him down. and, to make matters worse, Wall left off rMing in the belief that he had passed the post. The < !ob. beiug a beaten horse, suddenly stopped, and thus it "was 't'haiL to the Miprige of all wjio believe tlut .-ho had not heen beaten hy mpre thipian 'eft, the vprdjet; recorded against him was it length. Here again we must oito George Ford ham. who once told us that in a close race he invariably rode his horse two clear lengths past the post, so as to make eertaiu that in passing the judge he was rtnini! his best. We heard the late Tom trench say the same thing. Distance across water is very deceptive, and so ; fc also is on the broad plain of Newmarket! low may seem to be neat tfie 'winning post, biit'you arts tb firid how long it takks'to get ther<y " ' 1 ' '