THE "BAD" OLD DAYS.

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 52, 29 August 1925, Page 20

THE "BAD" OLD DAYS.

The following from the pen of the Special Commissioner (Mr. William Allison) was written just a few days prior to his death: —

" The return of Steve Donoghue, with, we may hope, only a short period of convalescence to restore him to working order, has recalled comparisons between him and Fred Archer, most made —and not altogether fairly—in favour of the latter. That Archer was a wonderful jockey no one who ever jsaw much of his riding will deny, but people nowadays are apt to forget—or have, in iact, forgotten—how very much Archer was favoured by the conditions under which he rode, as compared with the presentday custom: "When Archer rode there was no starting gate, no draw for places, and Archer himself had such a dominating influence that he used almost always to get saddled and weighed out first, then lose no time in cantering down to tbe post, and thero he took the place on the rails, as if it were his due. " Small jockeys and apprentices had but a poor chance against him, and there would certainly be no start unless he was getting well away. That was the custom of the time, and Archer was not to blame for it, but it certainly gave him an enormous advantage over Donoghue or any latter-day jockey. It also accounted for the persistent opposition of professional backers to the introduction of the starting ga-te, which in a large measure gave the younger jockeys their chance. "In those old days—l won't call them ' bad ' old days, for they were, to say the least, interesting—Archer and Fred Webb had matters very much their own way, and there is a well-remembered story how Archer, at one of the North Country meetings, persuaded Tom Green (oi Beverley), to let him take a certain horse to Windsor to run, saying that he would himseff ride and put Green on a substantial stake. " This was agreed to, and Tom Green, ■who was at Redcar, awaited the result, which showed that his horse had been ridden by Webb and finished unplaced. This, was rather a nasty jar, but the next day's result showed Tom Green's horse the winner and ridden by Archer, but as the owner's money was on the first day that was small consolation. However, they had pub him enough on on the second day to make good all expenses. " Green's boy who (did the horse told him that Archer and Webb came round to the stables after the first day's racing and Archer said—referring to Green's horse —' I didn't like the look of this old beast to-day, Fred, but he lool»s better now, and I think I'll ride him myself to-morrow. You can ride the other one.' . That the horse won at the next time of asking I have already stated, and he was then sent back to his owner, who was glad to find he had avoided a loss by the transaction " This serves to show how rough and ready were the manners and customs of those days, a repetition of which would be impossible in these. " I cannot call to mind that Fred Archer ever had so bad a fall as this latest one of Donoghue's, and Donoghua himself has told us that his fall with Abbot's Trace was his next worst, lfat that fail —bad B3 it looked—did not really prove serious, for the jockey rolled like a shot rabbit to get under the rails, and the horse alone appeared to have suffered. " It was a very fast run Derby, Rnd Abbot's Trace ran till he dropped in hi* tracks. Some said he was knocked over Ijy Sarcb.edon, but this was not so, or he would have got up again quickly. As it.was, he lay as if dead—in fact. I thought he was dead, but he recovered in three or four minutes and walked away all right."