page_title: Fred Archer (jockey)
section_title: 1870s
hierarchical_section_title: Fred Archer (jockey) / Career / 1870s
caption_attribution_description: English: Boscawen, Evelyn (Viscount Falmouth) (1819-1889) "Never Bets".
context_page_description: Frederick James Archer, also known by the nickname The Tin Man, was an English flat race jockey of the Victorian era, described as "the best all-round jockey that the turf has ever seen".
  He was Champion Jockey for 13 consecutive years until 1886, riding 2,748 winners from 8,084 starts, in so doing setting records for the number of Champion Jockey titles, number of wins in a season and number of race wins which remained unthreatened until the arrival of Steve Donoghue and Sir Gordon Richards well into the 20th century.
  Delirious from wasting and the loss of his wife during childbirth, he committed suicide at the age of 29.
context_section_description: Archer's first important win was on Salvanos in the 1872 Cesarewitch, for which he weighed out at 5st 7 lb. It is said he "rode Salvanos with the coolness and steadiness of a veteran and thus made his mark as one of the rising lightweights." When Jem Snowden rode against him for the first time, however, he commented, "Tha cassn't ride for nuts". His apprenticeship ended that year, and Dawson presented him with a gold watch inscribed for "good conduct". Archer in return commented, "I value this more than anything I have and shall keep it as long as I live."
  In 1873, with leading stable jockey Tom French sick, Archer had more opportunity to succeed. He rode 107 winners and came second in the championship to Harry Constable. French, who was an influence on the young Archer, died later that year from consumption, brought on by excessive wasting.
  The first of Archer's Classic wins followed the next season on Atlantic in the 1874 2,000 Guineas. This made him a "veritable mascotte" for his stable. After this, he became retained jockey for Lord Falmouth, for whom he won over half of his Classics. Falmouth was Dawson's principal owner between 1870 and 1883. Archer's retainer for him was a nominal £100. He finished 1874 with 147 wins from 530 rides. By now, he was riding at 6st, but weight was becoming a problem. For the Cesarewitch Handicap, he failed to make a riding weight of 6st 1 lb, putting up 3 lbs overweight and losing by a neck. Archer blamed wasting for taking his strength away.
  Spinaway was the star filly of the following season, winning the 1,000 Guineas and Oaks double.
  In 1877, he won his first Derby, on Lord Falmouth's Silvio, and followed up in the St. Leger.
  1879 was the championship year of Wheel of Fortune, one of Archer's favourite horses, that he thought was "wonderfully good". She was small, at 15.1 hands (61 inches, 155 cm), leading the Duke of Portland to say she "looked like a polo pony" with Archer's long legs round her. Like Spinaway four years earlier, Wheel of Fortune won both the 1,000 Guineas and Oaks. She won the Yorkshire Oaks in August as well but was prevented an attempt at the Triple Crown when she broke down going for a second race at York two days later.
  One of Archer's most notable victories came in the 1880 Derby. He came from behind on Bend Or with an "extraordinary rush", to beat Robert the Devil by a head. He took the inside of the turn at Tattenham Corner, along the rails, with a "nerve of iron".
  By the end of the 1870s, he was struggling to make 8st 7 lb.
caption: Viscount Falmouth, Archer's patron, in a caricature by Leslie Ward.
exif: {"Image SubfileType": "Full-resolution Image", "Image ImageWidth": "2182", "Image ImageLength": "3707", "Image BitsPerSample": "[16, 16, 16]", "Image Compression": "Uncompressed", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Model": "", "Image StripOffsets": "238859", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image RowsPerStrip": "3707", "Image StripByteCounts": "48532044", "Image PlanarConfiguration": "1", "Image Software": "UMAX MagicScan", "Image DateTime": "1999: 8:25 19:59: 6", "Image Predictor": "None", "Image Tag 0x9252": "[187, 1]", "Image Tag 0x9253": "[143, 234]", "Image Tag 0x9254": "[99, 211]", "Image Tag 0x9255": "[55, 188]"}