THE GREAT ENGLISH JOCKEY.

Evening Post, Volume XXII, Issue 143, 17 December 1881, Page 4

THE GREAT ENGLISH JOCKEY.

» Archer's average of win 3 and mounts during the last few years makes it hard for his detractors to explain his success. Many race-goers protest tbat Archer wins so often because he is so often on tho favourite, bnt frequently the favourite holds the position simply because Aroher rides. The figures remain. In 1875 Archer won 172 races ; in 1876 he won 207; next year he won 218; the next 229; in 1879 he was credited with 197; and in 1830 he won 120. This year, up to 16th September, out of 372 mounts he has won 149 races, an average surely altogether unexceptional. His successes this year are the more surprising, because h« is debarred from riding in many races owing to tho fact that he cannot go to scale under Bat 61b or 71b, a weight whioh he often has muoh difficulty in xeaohing. Aroher'a ]en»th of leg is a great assistance to him. and gives him remarkable power in the saddlo. Ho seems somctimea, as it were, to sit back and drive hid horse before him. It ia a curious, and under certain conditions an extremely agreeable sight to watck iho popnlar jockey coming up towards the judge's box, level, perhaps, with the leading horses, or it may be a little behind them. At that precise moment when the effort should bo made Archer's mount seems gradually to forge ahead and steal to the front -, a glance over his shoulder, which he can give without distuibing his seat in tho suddie as shorter ridors appear to do, shows him the state of the case as regard* the other horses, and he oithar rides hid animal with vigorous severity, or, if thia bo not necessity, maintains— if possible —a sufficient advantage to tho end. Another requisite of jookeyßhip is conrago, and this Archer poa8088GB in abundance, as hi 3 dashes on the rails round Tattenham Corner and such like dangerous places amply demonstrate. In Bend Or's Derby, for example, it ia said that his left foot actually shaved a post, and when one thinks of the horrible effect of smashing a leg against a massive piece of wood when racing at this terrific pace, the darintr which runs the risk so fine becomes apparent. "Getting the rails" ia usually an advantage, as being the shortest way round the turning, but the jockey must know when to seek this advantage, and to avoid being shut in, as Bometimes happens. — Standard.