Fetching $61 odds to win in race five, Retrospection, ridden by Neil Farley, timed its run to perfection to break away in the final 600m, winning by just over a length from Zoffala and St Arrnica.
Speaking to racing.com post-race, Archard said it was a pleasing run for the four-year-old after an underwhelming showing several weeks ago.
“His work’s been fantastic, it really has,” Archard said.
“He had an ordinary run out at Echuca.
“His pedigree suited the longer run, we thought if he got a nice run in he would have a good showing.
“He’s a real up-and-coming young horse.”
The post-race interview also made waves on social media when the humorous story of the horses ownership came to light.
“The guys out the back, they were actually out at the Echuca Cup back in March,” Archard said.
“They wandered over to my stables thinking it was a bus stop — they walked out owning a horse.”
One member, Jarrod, popped up alongside Archard in the interview to sing the praises of the Echuca trainer.
“We’ve had a lot of horses, but this bloke is the best trainer you will ever have one with,” he said.
“I found him on the Kyneton Post, I walked into his track one day, put $600 down, and here we are.”
Archard also had a winner in race eight on Saturday, with another four-year-old gelding, Common Request, taking out the Swan Hill Stockfeeds Handicap over 1600m to cap off a big weekend.
Ridden by Sheridan Clarke, Common Request took out the final race of the day by two lengths in an impressive showing.
Looking ahead, Archard outlined the next steps for his surprise winner.
“(Retrospection) will probably go through his classes now,” Archard said.
“He’ll probably go to Sandown for a benchmark 70. We’ll see how we go there and then he’ll likely go for a bit of a spell.”
