Roddy Owen (foaled 1949) was a British-bred, Irish-trained

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorse who won the 1959

Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlon ...

. After winning several good steeplechases in Ireland he was aimed at the major British races in the 1958/59 National Hunt season. He finished a close second in the King George VI Chase and then started second favourite for the Gold Cup in March. He relished the heavy ground came from a seemingly impossible position at the second last to defeat a strong field which included Linwell,

Kerstin Kerstin is a female German and Swedish given name; it is the European version of Christina. Notable persons with this name include: Arts and entertainment * Kerstin Anderson (born 1994), American stage actress and singer, portrayed Maria von Tr ...

and Pas Seul. He finished fourth to Pas Seul in the following year's Gold Cup at the age of eleven.

Background

Roddy Owen was a bay gelding bred in England, and exported to Ireland as an unbroken five-year-old. He was sired by Owenstown, a high-class stayer whose wins included the

Irish St Leger The Irish St Leger is a Conditions races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Ireland open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at the Curragh Racecourse, Curragh ...

and the Ebor Handicap. His dam Desla's Star was a distant descendant of the broodmare Gondola, a half-sister of the

St Leger The St Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over ...

winner Gamester. During his racing career Roddy Owen was owned by Oliver Plunkett, 12th Earl of Fingall and was trained at Newbridge,

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

by Danny Morgan who had won the Gold Cup as a jockey on

Morse Code Morse code is a telecommunications method which Character encoding, encodes Written language, text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code i ...

in 1938. The horse was named after Captain Roderick Owen, an amateur jockey who won the 1892 Grand National.

Racing career

Early career

Roddy Owen developed into a high class steeplechaser in Ireland, finishing third in the 1956

Irish Grand National The Irish Grand National is a National Hunt steeplechase in Ireland which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Fairyhouse over a distance of about 3 miles and 5 furlongs (5, ...

and winning the Leopardstown Chase in 1958. He made his first appearance at the Cheltenham Festival in 1957 when he ran unsuccessfully under a weight of 167 pounds in the National Hunt Handicap Chase.

1958/59 National Hunt season

After winning one of his first two starts of the 1958/59 season Roddy Owen was sent to England in December 1958 for the King George VI Chase at

Kempton Park Racecourse Kempton Park Racecourse is a horse racing track together with a alcohol licensing laws of the United Kingdom, licensed entertainment and conference venue in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, England, on the border with Greater London; it is 13 miles ...

. He appeared to be an unlucky loser, recovering from a bad mistake four fences from the finish and being beaten only a head by Lochroe. After a poor run at

Leopardstown Racecourse Leopardstown Racecourse is a horse-racing course in Leopardstown, approximately south of Dublin city centre, in Ireland. Like the majority of Irish courses, it hosts both National Hunt and Flat racing. Built by Captain George Quin and modell ...

on his next start Roddy Owen's regular jockey Bunny Cox voluntarily gave up the ride and recommended

Bobby Beasley Bobby Beasley (26 August 1935 – 9 January 2008) was an Irish jockey and horse trainer. Background Beasley was born in London in to an Irish racing family. His father, Harry, also known as "HH" Beasley, was an outstanding flat jockey and rode ...

as a replacement. The 1959 Gold Cup was run on heavy ground on 6 March and attracted a field of eleven runners after the likely favourite Saffron Tartan was withdrawn on the morning of the race. Another notable absentee was the American Champion Neji who had sustained a leg injury a week earlier.

Taxidermist Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body by mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the process ...

, the winner of the Whitbread Gold Cup and the Hennessy Gold Cup was made the new favourite with Roddy Owen next in the betting on 5/1 whilst the other runners included Linwell,

and Lochroe. Beasley tracked the leaders but as the field approached the final fence he appeared to have no chance as he was four lengths adrift of the leading trio made up of Pas Seul, Linwell and Lochroe. The race changed completely at the last obstacle when Pas Seul fell, almost bringing down Linwell, who in turn collided with Lochroe. Roddy Owen, racing on the inside, was able to avoid the chaos and swept past Linwell and Lochroe to take the lead. Linwell made a recovery and reduced the deficit but Roddy Owen stayed on well to win by three lengths with Lochroe another ten lengths back in third place.

Later career

In the 1959/60 National Hunt season Roddy Owen was again aimed at the Gold Cup. After finishing second on his seasonal debut at

Gowran Park Gowran Park is a horse race course in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the Annely Estate near the village of Gowran. The first meeting was held in 1914. and the first ever racecourse commentary in Ireland took place here in 1952. Gowra ...

in October he was beaten by Kerstin in the Imperial Leather Chase at

Manchester Racecourse Manchester Racecourse was a venue for horse racing located at a number of sites around the Manchester area including; Kersal Moor, New Barns, Weaste and Castle Irwell, Pendleton, then in Lancashire. The final home of the course, Castle Irwel ...

in December. He faced eleven opponents at Cheltenham on 10 March. He was still in contention when hampered by the fall of Kerstin at the last and finished fourth behind Pas Seul, Lochroe and Zonda. He stayed in training for the following season and finished third to Zonda at Leopardstown in November.

Assessment and honours

In their book, ''A Century of Champions'', based on the

Timeform Timeform is a sports data and content provider located in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. Founded in 1948, it provides systematic information on form to punters and others involved in the horse racing industry. The company was purchased by th ...

rating system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Roddy Owen an "average" Gold Cup winner.

Pedigree

References

{{Cheltenham Gold Cup winners 1949 racehorse births Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in Ireland Thoroughbred family 19-c Cheltenham Gold Cup winners Cheltenham Festival winners National Hunt racehorses