Tom Ochiltree
Encyclopedia
Tom Ochiltree was an American
Thoroughbred
racehorse, one of the last by the great foundation stallion
, blind Lexington
, still standing at what by then was A. J. Alexander's Woodburn Stud
in Kentucky
. Tom Ochiltree was an enormous colt
, eventually reaching 16 hands 2½ inches high with a girth of 76 inches.
Purchased by J. F. Chamberlain at the 1872 Woodburn yearling sale for $500, he eventually found himself at age four in the hands of the tobacco
heir George Lynde Lorillard
(who also owned Duke of Magenta
). Trained by Hall of Fame
conditioner Wyndham Walden (founder of Bowling Brook Farm in Carroll County, Maryland
), Tom Ochiltree won the Preakness Stakes
in the last days of the great match races...and the very year the Kentucky Derby
and Kentucky Oaks
were first run: 1875.
In the same year as Tom Ochiltree was foaled, another horse was born at the neighboring Nantura Stock Farm that would prove to be one of Tom Ochiltree's greatest rivals, Ten Broeck
. One year later, 1873, a third horse was born, Parole
(bred by the brother of Tom Ochiltree's owner, Pierre Lorillard IV
) who would become a rival to both Tom Ochiltree and Ten Broeck, just as the brothers were intense rivals on the track. In 1877, with the addition of the younger Parole, these three would ignite the racing world in one of its biggest match races.
At three, Tom Ochiltree lost the Breckenridge Stakes to Aristides, winner of the first Kentucky Derby, but he won the Annual Sweepstakes and the Dixie Stakes, as well as the Preakness. At the same time Ten Broeck was winning all his races. These two were then considered the best horses in the Union
. In those days, that could mean only one thing: a match race. But for one reason or another, the owners of both colts avoided a confrontation. At four, Tom Ochiltree won the Baltimore Cup, the Monmouth Cup, the Saratoga Cup and the Continental Cup. At five, he took his second Baltimore Cup, the Westchester Cup, the Grand National Handicap, and the All-Aged Stakes.
Then came the match race on October 24, 1877 at Baltimore, Maryland's Pimlico
between Parole, Ten Broeck and Tom Ochiltree. It was scheduled for the first day of the October meeting of the Maryland
Jockey Club. By this time Ten Broeck ("King of the Western Turf") was winning everything in the midwest, while Tom and Parole were exchanging wins on the east coast that were so heated that a backer of Parole attempted to poison Tom Ochiltree, an attempt that sickened his stablemate Leander instead. That July Parole had beaten Tom in the Saratoga Cup but Tom had come back and beaten Parole twice that October in the Grand National Stakes and All-Aged Handicap. On the day of the three-way match, perhaps 20,000 people showed up, filling every place in the stands or sitting in their carriages to watch. Both houses of Congress
adjourned so that members could attend. At 3:15 in the afternoon the horses went to post. Ten Broeck wore red ribbons in his mane, his stable colors. Parole wore cherry and black. Tom Ochiltree wore orange and blue. In the two and one-half mile race, Ten Broeck immediately led, followed by Tom Ochiltree, then Parole. And so it went in this order for quite some time. Twice Tom made a bid for the lead and won it on his second try. Parole was still trailing. And then, suddenly, Parole came on with a rush, lapped both horses and won by four lengths.
Horsemen were aghast. No one had ever beaten Ten Broeck...and Tom Ochiltree had beaten Parole more times than he was beaten. Later, the owners of both horses explained away their losses. Ten Broeck had been seen for some time before the race to have had a cough. As for Tom Ochiltree, before the race Wyndham Walden had telegraphed George Lorillard to warn him Tom had a cough. Lorillard had instructed him to run Tom "…so as not to spoil the race." But he also put $500 on Parole's nose.
A gelding
, Parole raced on, becoming one of the few American horses to win a prime English
race. Both Ten Broeck and Tom Ochiltree were retired to stud.
Tom Ochiltree died on December 29, 1897 at the Middleburg, Maryland
farm of his owner Wyndham Walden at the age of 25.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Thoroughbred
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...
racehorse, one of the last by the great foundation stallion
Stallion
A Stallion is a male horse.Stallion may also refer to:* Stallion , an American pop rock group* Stallion , a figure in the Gobot toyline* Stallion , a character in the console role-playing game series...
, blind Lexington
Lexington (horse)
Lexington was a United States Thoroughbred race horse who won six of his seven race starts. Perhaps his greatest fame came however as the most successful sire of the second half of the nineteenth century; he was the Leading sire in North America 16 times, and of his many brood mare and racer...
, still standing at what by then was A. J. Alexander's Woodburn Stud
Woodburn Stud
Woodburn Stud was an American horse breeding farm located in Woodford County, Kentucky about ten miles from the city of Lexington. It was established in the 18th century as an original land grant property of General Hugh Mercer to whom it had been granted for his military services during the...
in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
. Tom Ochiltree was an enormous colt
Colt (horse)
A colt is a young male horse, under the age of four. The term "colt" is often confused with foal, which refers to a horse of either sex under one year of age....
, eventually reaching 16 hands 2½ inches high with a girth of 76 inches.
Purchased by J. F. Chamberlain at the 1872 Woodburn yearling sale for $500, he eventually found himself at age four in the hands of the tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
heir George Lynde Lorillard
George L. Lorillard
George Lyndes Lorillard was an American tobacco manufacturer and a prominent Thoroughbred racehorse owner.-Biography:He was born in Westchester, New York, the son of Pierre Lorillard III and Catherine Griswold. In 1760, his great-grandfather founded P. Lorillard and Company in New York City to...
(who also owned Duke of Magenta
Duke of Magenta
----Duke of Magenta was one of the most successful racehorses in the United States in the 19th century.Foaled in 1875 at the Woodburn Stud near Lexington, Kentucky, he was owned by New York City tobacco tycoon, George L. Lorillard and trained by Hall of Famer R. Wyndham Walden. "Duke of Magenta"...
). Trained by Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
conditioner Wyndham Walden (founder of Bowling Brook Farm in Carroll County, Maryland
Carroll County, Maryland
Carroll County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. In 2010, its population was 167,134. It was named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton , signer of the American Declaration of Independence. Its county seat is Westminster....
), Tom Ochiltree won the Preakness Stakes
Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...
in the last days of the great match races...and the very year the Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
and Kentucky Oaks
Kentucky Oaks
The Kentucky Oaks is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The race currently covers 1⅛ miles at Churchill Downs; the horses carry 121 pounds . The Kentucky Oaks is held on the Friday before the Kentucky Derby each year...
were first run: 1875.
In the same year as Tom Ochiltree was foaled, another horse was born at the neighboring Nantura Stock Farm that would prove to be one of Tom Ochiltree's greatest rivals, Ten Broeck
Ten Broeck
Ten Broeck was an American U.S. Racing Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse whose 1878 match race win in Louisville against the great California mare, Mollie McCarty was immortalized in the Kentucky folk song commonly called Molly and Tenbrooks.Bred by John Harper at his farm near Midway,...
. One year later, 1873, a third horse was born, Parole
Parole (horse)
Parole was a Thoroughbred race horse bred by Pierre Lorillard, a scion of the tobacco family. Lorillard and his brother George were both horsemen and competed throughout their careers...
(bred by the brother of Tom Ochiltree's owner, Pierre Lorillard IV
Pierre Lorillard IV
Pierre Lorillard IV was an American tobacco manufacturer and thoroughbred race horse owner.-Biography:...
) who would become a rival to both Tom Ochiltree and Ten Broeck, just as the brothers were intense rivals on the track. In 1877, with the addition of the younger Parole, these three would ignite the racing world in one of its biggest match races.
At three, Tom Ochiltree lost the Breckenridge Stakes to Aristides, winner of the first Kentucky Derby, but he won the Annual Sweepstakes and the Dixie Stakes, as well as the Preakness. At the same time Ten Broeck was winning all his races. These two were then considered the best horses in the Union
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In those days, that could mean only one thing: a match race. But for one reason or another, the owners of both colts avoided a confrontation. At four, Tom Ochiltree won the Baltimore Cup, the Monmouth Cup, the Saratoga Cup and the Continental Cup. At five, he took his second Baltimore Cup, the Westchester Cup, the Grand National Handicap, and the All-Aged Stakes.
Then came the match race on October 24, 1877 at Baltimore, Maryland's Pimlico
Pimlico Race Course
Pimlico Race Course is a horse racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland, most famous for hosting the Preakness Stakes. Its name is derived from the 1660s when English settlers named the area where the facility currently stands in honor of Olde Ben Pimlico's Tavern in London...
between Parole, Ten Broeck and Tom Ochiltree. It was scheduled for the first day of the October meeting of the Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
Jockey Club. By this time Ten Broeck ("King of the Western Turf") was winning everything in the midwest, while Tom and Parole were exchanging wins on the east coast that were so heated that a backer of Parole attempted to poison Tom Ochiltree, an attempt that sickened his stablemate Leander instead. That July Parole had beaten Tom in the Saratoga Cup but Tom had come back and beaten Parole twice that October in the Grand National Stakes and All-Aged Handicap. On the day of the three-way match, perhaps 20,000 people showed up, filling every place in the stands or sitting in their carriages to watch. Both houses of Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
adjourned so that members could attend. At 3:15 in the afternoon the horses went to post. Ten Broeck wore red ribbons in his mane, his stable colors. Parole wore cherry and black. Tom Ochiltree wore orange and blue. In the two and one-half mile race, Ten Broeck immediately led, followed by Tom Ochiltree, then Parole. And so it went in this order for quite some time. Twice Tom made a bid for the lead and won it on his second try. Parole was still trailing. And then, suddenly, Parole came on with a rush, lapped both horses and won by four lengths.
Horsemen were aghast. No one had ever beaten Ten Broeck...and Tom Ochiltree had beaten Parole more times than he was beaten. Later, the owners of both horses explained away their losses. Ten Broeck had been seen for some time before the race to have had a cough. As for Tom Ochiltree, before the race Wyndham Walden had telegraphed George Lorillard to warn him Tom had a cough. Lorillard had instructed him to run Tom "…so as not to spoil the race." But he also put $500 on Parole's nose.
A gelding
Gelding
A gelding is a castrated horse or other equine such as a donkey or a mule. Castration, and the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male horse to be calmer and better-behaved, making the animal quieter, gentler and potentially more suitable as an everyday...
, Parole raced on, becoming one of the few American horses to win a prime English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
race. Both Ten Broeck and Tom Ochiltree were retired to stud.
Tom Ochiltree died on December 29, 1897 at the Middleburg, Maryland
Middleburg, Maryland
Middleburg is an unincorporated community in Carroll County, Maryland, United States.-References:...
farm of his owner Wyndham Walden at the age of 25.