Archer: 1st Melbourne Cup Winner

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Comparing horses from different eras is indeed problematic. Runners from the early days had fewer racing opportunities, breeding and training methods varied, and comparing a Thoroughbred Racehorse from the 1800s with one from the 1900s or the current century prevents true objectivity from being possible.

One case in point concerns the large bay stallion named Archer. On the one hand, he won two Melbourne Cups in a row, the inaugural race in 1861 and again in 1862. Only three others have won twice: Peter Pan, Rain Lover, Think Big with Makybe Diva the only runner to win three cups.

On the other hand, Archer's winning time in these two wins would have been sufficient to win in only 1864. Kingston Town's record, even considering the slightly shorter distance he covered as a result of the switch to the metric system, would have put Archer down by over 30 seconds. That would be an almost inconceivable gap of around 500 metres.

Yet, Archer had a winning strike rate of over 70% due to his 12 wins from 17 starts, compared to 60% from Peter Pan (38 starts/23 wins), one of the other two-time Cup winning Hall of Fame recognized Thoroughbreds. It must also be acknowledged that Archer was good enough to beat 16 Cup starters in 1861 and 19 in 1862.

It could be argued that Peter Pan's 15 major wins far outstrip Archer's 10, but that takes us back to the fewer opportunities to run argument, as Peter Pan had 38 starts to Archer's 17.

Makybe Diva earned entry to the Hall Of Fame with 10 major wins, the same number as Archer, and she had 36 starts. Her 15 wins puts her winning strike rate at only around 42%.

By any standard of fairness, Archer belongs in the Hall Of Fame. His winning strike rate places him far beyond the other two mentioned. His major wins are at least adequate, more so when you consider the low number of starts, and his accomplishment of winning not just two consecutive, but the first two Melbourne Cups consecutively, qualifies him by a historical standard alone.

All debate and Archer for-Hall-of-Fame campaigning aside, let's take a look at the career of this literal (16.3 hands) and figurative giant among horses. Thoroughbred records of that era, while nowhere near as extensive as is now possible, were frequently better than those types of records kept for people, so much of Archer's history, even though perhaps mixed in with some exaggerated events, is fairly well documented.

Archer was foaled in 1856. There is some argument about the exact place, but it was either Exeter Farm or Ballabala. His sire was William Tell and his dam Maid of the Oaks. The bloodline was predominantly British, which was often the case in those times.

Archer was trained, and on paper owned, by Etienne de Mestre, known for having trained more Melbourne Cup winners of anyone other than Bart Cummings. He is tied for Melbourne Cup wins with John Tait and Dato Tan Chin Nam, but Archer and Etiennes's 1867 winner, Tim Whiffler, were leased. Only 1878 cup winner Calamia was truly owned by de Mestre.

Archer Racing Record:

Archer was tried only twice as a three-year-old. He failed to place in two events contested at Randwick in late May of 1860, the Tattersall's Free Handicap and the Randwick Plate.

A matter of several months later, beginning on 6 September 1860, now running as a four-year-old, he produced six consecutive wins with John Cutts aboard. Quirks of the scheduling calendar of those times enabled Archer to win two Randwick plates as a four-year-old, the first on 8 September 1860 and the next on 4 May 1861. The very next day, Archer took the Maitland Town plate with de Mestre aboard, since Cutts was riding de Mestre's other horse in this race that had just the two runners.

First up as a five-year-old, Archer produced his first Melbourne Cup, at 3:52 tied for slowest all-time, yet still by a considerable margin over a respectable field.

Again proving his stamina, he raced the next day and took the Melbourne Cup Plate, another two-mile event, giving him an unbeaten streak that encompassed nine races over a time period of 11 months.

Two thirds and a first in the AJC Queen's Plate capped Archer's four race five-year-old campaign.

Archer's six-year-old season had him breaking the 64 kg weight level for the first time, and 3 miles over the Geelow course relegated him to a third-place finish.

That weight and distance may have contributed to his already formidable stamina, because on 13 November 1862, Archer carried just a little more weight to put 8 lengths between himself and Mormon for his second Melbourne Cup. This winning margin has never been surpassed and it took 60 years before a horse again won two Melbourne Cups.

Archer ran only one more time that year. He won the All Aged Stakes at Flemington.

He was tried once as a seven-year-old, where he produced a third at Ballarat over 3 miles.

He was denied an opportunity to run in the 1863 edition of the Melbourne cup. Race officials claimed de Mestre's acceptance could not be processed in time due to a holiday. Some observers claim that given the margin Archer posted in the previous Cups, he would have been favoured to produce a third win in a small, seven horse field, but it must be mentioned that the small size of the field was the result of many owners scratching in protest over Archer's exclusion. Whether or not he would have won, all else being equal, is fodder for thought, since he drew almost 72 kg - but he was proved at distance and weight.

Archer was subsequently retired to stud where he received substantial fees, but his progeny failed to produce any stakes winners.

He died 22 December 1872 at age 16 after grazing accidentally in a field of green barley, inducing a fatal lung inflammation.

Whether or not he is eventually recognized with admission to the Hall, Archer has achieved legendary status amongst true punters, even if he did not truly walk from Sydney to Melbourne to win that first Melbourne Cup.

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