St. Simon, with Fred Archer up on Newmarket Heath

St. Simon is considered one of the greatest racehorses of all time. Foaled in 1881 by Galopin out of St. Angela, he was owned by the Duke of Portland and trained by Matthew Dawson and is shown here on his home grounds at Newmarket. On his retirement in 1886, he had won nine races in nine starts over two seasons. He went on to be even more successful at stud, based at Welbeck Abbey until his death in 1908. Fred Archer (1857-1886), considered the finest rider of his day, was one of the first sportsmen to become a national celebrity. In all, he had 2,748 winners and 21 classic successes in his career, including five Derby winners. He is shown here riding 'long', as was the tradition before the 'monkey up a stick' position was introduced from America in the 1890s.
John Alfred Wheeler became an equestrian and sporting artist on his retirement from the army (the Bays, Queen's Dragoon Guards) in 1847. He was based firstly in Bath, and later in London, where he had many well-known sporting patrons including the Duke of Beaufort.