Due to a technical error which stopped Archer from being entered in the third (1863) Melbourne Cup, Cutts was not able to attempt to win the hat-trick.c During his long career John 'Cutts' Dillon, was one of the best known, best liked and most respected jockeys in New South Wales.
Keith W. Paterson in his book The Masters Touch, Racing with trainer Etienne L. de Mestre, Winner of 5 Melbourne Cups tells us that he was "respected for his honesty, no less than for his skill as a horseman...gained the esteem of not only his fellow professionals but also of all owners of horses for whom he rode".
Archer, the horse John rode to victory in the first and second Melbourne Cups in 1861 and 1862, was from the stable of Etienne de Mestre at "Terara" near Nowra in New South Wales.
Cutts last race for the de Mestre stable, and his last ride before retiring as a jockey, was on Archer who placed third in the three-mile Seventh Champion Sweepstakes at Ballarat on 1 October 1863.
Other horses ridden by Cutts for de Mestre included Veno, Mariner, Greenmantle, Sailor, Moss Rose, Exeter, Inheritor, Lauristina, Potentate, and Red Rover.
Although it would be romantic to believe that an Aboriginal jockey had won the first and second Melbourne Cups, the most famous horse race in Australia, the cold hard facts of history do not allow this notion.