Ossory (1885–1889) was a

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse. He was trained at

Kingsclere Kingsclere is a large village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. Geography Kingsclere is approximately equidistant ) from the towns of Basingstoke and Newbury on the A339 road. History Kingsclere can trace back its history to a p ...

John Porter John Porter may refer to: Politicians * John Porter (portreeve), 1390–94, Member of Parliament (MP) for Taunton * John Porter (Illinois politician) (1935–2022), Illinois politician, U.S. Representative * John Porter (MP for Bramber) (died 1599 ...

for the

1st Duke of Westminster Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster, (13 October 1825 – 22 December 1899), styled Viscount Belgrave between 1831 and 1845, Earl Grosvenor between 1845 and 1869, and known as The Marquess of Westminster between 1869 and 1874, was an ...

. As a three-year-old he won the

Prince of Wales's Stakes The Prince of Wales's Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile 1 furlong and 212 yards (2,004 ...

and St. James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Breeding

Ossory was a full-brother to the unbeaten

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Tri ...

winner

Ormonde Ormonde is a surname occurring in Portugal (mainly Azores), Brazil, England, and United States. It may refer to: People * Ann Ormonde (born 1935), an Irish politician * James Ormond or Ormonde (c. 1418–1497), the illegitimate son of John Butl ...

. Both being sons of Epsom Derby winner

Bend Or Bend Or (1877–1903) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1880 Epsom Derby. His regular jockey Fred Archer, winner of thirteen consecutive British jockey titles, said Bend Or was probably the greatest horse he had ever ridden. No ...

and

Doncaster Cup The Doncaster Cup is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 2 miles 1 furlong and 197 yards (3,600 metr ...

winner

Lily Agnes Lily Agnes (1871–1899) is an English Thoroughbred racehorse. On the track she won 21 races including the Northumberland Plate, Doncaster Cup and Ebor Handicap. She is best known for being the dam of unbeaten Triple Crown winner Ormonde, but s ...

. Like his brother Ormonde, Ossory was a roarer.

Racing career

Ossory only raced once as a two-year-old, winning the Criterion Stakes at Newmarket. He started as a 50/1 outsider for the 2000 Guineas and finished last out of the six runners. He then went to Royal Ascot for the

. Starting at odds of 10/1 Ossory pulled away in the last 100 yards to win by three lengths from Galore. Ossory and Galore met again at the Royal meeting, this time over a mile in the St. James's Palace Stakes where only the two lined up. With 300 yards to go the two horses were level and then Galore began to edge ahead, but in the closing strides Ossory came back at him and the race finished in a

dead heat A dead heat is a rare situation in various racing sports in which the performances of competitors are judged to be so close that no difference between them can be resolved. The result is declared a tie and the competitors are awarded a joint ra ...

. Ossory next started in the Eclipse Stakes. Starting at 100/6 and ridden by Tom Cannon junior he led the field of thirteen in the opening stages of the race. Three furlongs into the race he had a sizeable lead, but stablemate

Orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as a p ...

had closed the gap as they entered the finishing straight. By the time they entered the final 100 yards Orbit had taken the lead, which he gradually increased to win by a length from Ossory, with Martley a further length back in third place. Ossory then finished unplaced in the

Sussex Stakes The Sussex Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and ...

. His next race came in at

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

where he started as the 5/4 joint favourite for the Great Yorkshire Stakes. Ossory led his two rivals into the finishing straight and neither were able to catch him, leaving Ossory to win by a length from Arrandale. He made the running in the

St Leger Stakes 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 a ...

and finished unplaced.

Death

After the 1888 season Ossory was sold for stud duties and exported to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. He left in January 1889, but while on the journey they experienced severe weather conditions in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. As a result of this Ossory died from exhaustion and was thrown overboard.

Pedigree

''Note: b. = Bay, br. =

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model us ...

, ch. =

Chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...

References

{{Reflist 1885 racehorse births 1889 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 16-h