de Mestre was Australia's first outstanding racehorse trainer and racing identity who trained the immortal Archer

Etienne Livingston de Mestre (9 April 1832 – 22 October 1916), was a 19th-century Australian breeder and jockey of Thoroughbred racehorses. He was Australia's first outstanding racehorse trainer and racing identity. During his extensive three-decade career in the horse racing industry, he encountered the full spectrum of successes and challenges, culminating in a reliance on charitable contributions from industry colleagues to sustain himself.

As a school boy Etienne loved thoroughbred horse racing, and developed into an excellent horseman, amateur jockey, and trainer. De Mestre spent his school holidays racing and working with the thoroughbred horses on his school-friend Thomas John "Tom" Roberts' "Exeter Farm" at Jembaicumbene. It has been said that in 1847, at the age of 15, and just three years after his father's death, he won the main event at Bathurst on his favourite Roberts' horse, Sweetheart. There is no newspaper support to sustain this story. It is possible that he was at the Goulburn races as a spectator after having ridden there with Tom. De Mestre later leased and trained Nancy, a foal of Sweetheart. He raced Nancy at Numba in 1856 and 1857.

In the early 1850s de Mestre went into partnership with his elder brother Andre Cotteral de Mestre (1823–1917) and leased a section of the "Terara" (near the mouth of the Shoalhaven River) from their mother. There they established a horse stud, stable and racecourse where unofficial races were held and which was said to be the finest training track in the colony. After inheriting "Terara" on their mother's death in 1861 they converted the rest of the farm into one of the best training and breeding establishment outside of Sydney.

In 1857 Etienne de Mestre rode George Taylor Rowe's horse Plant to victory in the Liverpool Club's Members Plate. George Taylor Rowe's horse Veno had already been sent from Sydney to Melbourne by steamship. After the Liverpool meeting de Mestre steamed to Melbourne with George Taylor Rowe to assist in the training preparation of Veno for the first inter-colonial Champion Challenge race between the champions of New South Wales and Victoria at Flemington Veno won against the Victorian champion in front of 20,000 spectators. Etienne became recognised as a master trainer, coming to prominence after leasing, training, and successfully racing Rowland Hassall & Tom Roberts' bred colts Mariner and Sailor from 1857 to 1859. This made him an overnight success as a trainer, with owners throughout the area keen to send him their best horses.

In 1861, De Mestre first sent horses of his own from Sydney to Melbourne by steamship with three horses delivered to run in the inaugural Melbourne Cup. His prowess as a trainer was significantly boosted by winning the Cup with one of these horses, Archer, a horse that he leased from Hassall & Roberts and raced in his own name. Archer raced again the next day to win another 2-mile long distance race, the Melbourne Town Plate. The next year, after Archer had won the 1862 AJC Queen Elizabeth Stakes in Randwick, Sydney, de Mestre again shipped his horses including Archer to Melbourne to race in the Melbourne Cup. Archer won his second Melbourne Cup by 10 lengths. Winning the Melbourne Cup twice was a feat not repeated until more than seventy years later when Peter Pan won the race in 1932 and 1934, and winning the Melbourne Cup two years in a row was a feat not repeated until more than 100 years later when Rain Lover won in 1968 and 1969.

De Mestre's plans to run Archer in the third Melbourne Cup were upset when, after already having shipped Archer and other horses to Melbourne, the Victoria Turf Club declared that de Mestre's telegraph of acceptance for Archer for the Cup had arrived late, and scratched Archer on a technicality. In protest of this decision and in a show of solidarity, all the interstate owners boycotted the third race and scratched their horses in sympathy. What was unknown at the time, however, was that due to injuries Archer would later sustain in the lead up to the Cup, it is unlikely that he would have been able to race. As a result, the scratchings the Melbourne Cup of that year ran with only the 7 local Victorian starters, the smallest number in the history of the Cup.

Under Mr. de Mestre's black livery Archer won the first two Melbourne Cups, and the Cup of 1867 and 1878 were secured by Tim Whiffler and Calamia respectively, the former of whom also captured the AJC. Metropolitan, 1867. He secured VRC. Derbies with Robin Hood and Navigator, the latter of whom also took the Australian Cup, 1883, and the VRC. St Leger of the same year. His Lordship and Navigator won the blue ribbon at Randwick, and Maribynong Plates, Ascot Vale Stakes, Champagne Stakes, and other classic events fell to the prowess of the Terrara trained horses.

Following the debacle over the third Melbourne Cup, de Mestre swore that he would never again race in Victoria. But he did. In 1867 he returned to the Melbourne Cup with horses from his stable. He set a new record and won for a third time with a horse that he leased from the owners of Archer, Tim Whiffler. Each year he continued to ship horses to Melbourne to compete in the Melbourne Cup. De Mestre meanwhile built a formidable record in other classic races in Victoria and NSW. In 1872, de Mestre's rival trainer 'Honest' John Tait beat de Mestre's record and had won four Melbourne Cups. It was not until 1877 that de Mestre was able to match this new record with Chester, and not until 1878 that he was able to beat and hold it for the next 99 years.

Besides the Melbourne Cup there were other important wins to his credit as a trainer, namely the AJC Queen's, three times with Tim Whifler, twice with Dagworth and also with Robin Hood; AJC Metropolitan with Navigator, Horation, Tim Wiffler and Dagworth; AJC Derby with Navigator, His Lordship, Robin Hood and Trident; Ascot Vale Stakes, His Lordship Grand Prix and Navigator, VRC Derby, Chester, Robinson Crusoe and Navigator, Maribyrnong Plate with Vulcan; Champagne Stakes, His Lordship and Navigator, Sires Produce Stakes, His Lordship, Australian Cup, Navigator.

De Mestre encountered many financial and health problems in the early 1880s; and, at the age of 51, in 1883, his inherited property of "Terara" was auctioned off to pay his debts, and the all-black livery of the Terara stable disappeared from the colonial racing world. Although most successful as owner and trainer, De Mestre had been persuaded to invest heavily in Queensland property, and it was here that he ran into trouble. A severe drought in Queensland, and also on the Shoalhaven, broke him financially. Finally he sold up, and when his health began to fail, friends organised a benefit race meeting for him. It was extremely successful, and the proceeds enabled him to live quietly yet comfortably until his death.