{{Short description|British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse}}

{{Infobox racehorse | horsename = Roddy Owen | image_name = | caption = | sire = Owenstown | grandsire = Apron | dam = Deslas Star | damsire = Cygnus | sex = [[Gelding]] | foaled = 1949<ref name="pedigree">{{cite web|url=https://www.equineline.com/Free-5X-Pedigree.cfm?page_state=ORDER_AND_CONFIRM&reference_number=2366370&registry=T&horse_name==Roddy%20Owen&dam_name==Desla%27s%20Star%20%28GB%29&foaling_year=1949&nicking_stats_indicator=Y|title=Roddy Owen pedigree |publisher=Equineline |date=2016-04-22|accessdate=2016-04-22}}</ref> | country = United Kingdom | colour = [[Bay (horse)|Bay]] | breeder = | owner = [[Earl of Fingall|Lord Fingall]] | trainer = Danny Morgan | record = | earnings = | race = Leopardstown Chase (1958)<br>[[Cheltenham Gold Cup]] (1959) |awards= |honours = |updated= }}

'''Roddy Owen''' (foaled 1949) was a British-bred, Irish-trained [[Thoroughbred]] racehorse who won the 1959 [[Cheltenham Gold Cup]]. 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 (horse)|Kerstin]] 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 [[Horse training|unbroken]] five-year-old. He was sired by Owenstown, a high-class stayer whose wins included the [[Irish St Leger]] and the [[Ebor Handicap]]. His dam Desla's Star was a distant descendant of the broodmare Gondola, a half-sister of the [[St Leger]] winner [[Gamester (horse)|Gamester]].<ref name="tbl">{{cite web|url=http://www.bloodlines.net/TB/Families/Family19c.htm|title=The Twinkle - Family 19-c|publisher=Thoroughbred Bloodlines|access-date=2016-04-29|archive-date=2013-09-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921233636/http://www.bloodlines.net/TB/Families/Family19c.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> During his racing career Roddy Owen was owned by [[Earl of Fingall|Oliver Plunkett, 12th Earl of Fingall]] and was trained at [[Newbridge, County Kildare|Newbridge]], [[County Kildare]] by Danny Morgan who had won the Gold Cup as a jockey on [[Morse Code (horse)|Morse Code]] in 1938. The horse was named after Captain Roderick Owen, an amateur jockey who won the [[1892 Grand National]].<ref name="Harman">{{cite book | last = Harman | first = Bob | title = The Ultimate Dream: The History of the Cheltenham Gold Cup| publisher=Mainstream Publishing | year = 2000| isbn = 1-84018-381-0}}</ref>

==Racing career==

===Early career=== Roddy Owen developed into a high class steeplechaser in Ireland,<ref name="gh1">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19581226&id=22hAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XpUMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4230,6588441&hl=en|title=Mandarin to win King George|author=White and Gold|date=26 December 1958|publisher=[[Glasgow Herald]]}}</ref> finishing third in the 1956 [[Irish Grand National]] 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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19570313&id=k2pAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=q5sMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3522,1382740&hl=en|title=Preference for Armorial III in Grand National Trial|author=White and Gold|date=13 March 1957|publisher=Glasgow Herald}}</ref>

===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]].<ref name="gh1"/> 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]] on his next start Roddy Owen's regular jockey Bunny Cox voluntarily gave up the ride and recommended [[Bobby Beasley]] as a replacement. The 1959 Gold Cup was run on [[Going (horse racing)|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 (horse)|Neji]] who had sustained a leg injury a week earlier.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19590306&id=GYsxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aqgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3595,1005796&hl=en|title=Gold Cup to Roddy Owen|date=6 March 1959|author=AP staff|publisher=[[Montreal Gazette]]}}</ref> [[Taxidermist (horse)|Taxidermist]], 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 [[Fractional odds|5/1]] whilst the other runners included [[Linwell]], [[Kerstin (horse)|Kerstin]] and Lochroe. Beasley tracked the leaders but as the field approached the final fence he appeared to have no chance as he was four [[Horse length|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.<ref name="Harman"/>

===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]] in October he was beaten by Kerstin in the Imperial Leather Chase at [[Manchester Racecourse]] in December.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19591205&id=Z-o-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=-EwMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2034,4874659&hl=en|title=Roddy Owen best of Manchester field|date=5 December 1959|author=White and Gold|publisher=Glasgow Herald}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Harman"/> He stayed in training for the following season and finished third to Zonda at Leopardstown in November.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19610323&id=LBU1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=5KULAAAAIBAJ&pg=1952,3342201&hl=en|title=Blonde Warrior for Topham Trophy|date=23 March 1961|author=Harkaway|publisher=Glasgow Herald}}</ref>

==Assessment and honours== In their book, ''A Century of Champions'', based on the [[Timeform]] rating system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Roddy Owen an "average" Gold Cup winner.<ref name="century">{{cite book|last1=Morris| first1=Tony|last2=Randall|first2=John|title=A Century of Champions|publisher= Portway Press|year=1999|isbn=9781901570151}}</ref>

==Pedigree== {{Pedigree |name = Roddy Owen (GB), bay gelding, 1949<ref name="pedigree"/> |f = Owenstown (GB)<br />1934 |m = Desla's Choice (IRE)<br />1931 |ff = Apron (GB)<br />1920 |fm = Madame de Stael (IRE)<br />1923 |mf = Cygnus (IRE)<br />1916 |mm = Desla (GB)<br />1914 |fff = [[Son-in-Law]] |ffm = Aprille |fmf = '''[[Chaucer (horse)|Chaucer]]*''' |fmm = Temoignage |mff = [[Sunstar (racehorse)|Sunstar]] |mfm = Mangalmi |mmf = [[Desmond (horse)|Desmond]] |mmm = Lady Fowler |ffff = [[Dark Ronald]] |fffm = Mother in Law |ffmf = '''Chaucer*''' |ffmm = Japonica |fmff = '''[[St. Simon (horse)|St Simon]]*''' |fmfm = '''[[Canterbury Pilgrim]]*''' |fmmf = [[The Tetrarch]] |fmmm = Monaleen |mfff = Sundridge |mffm = Doris |mfmf = '''[[William the Third (horse)|William the Third]]*''' |mfmm = Vampire |mmff = '''St Simon*''' |mmfm = [[L'Abbesse de Jouarre]] |mmmf = [[Wildfowler (horse)|Wildfowler]] |mmmm = Orxema (Family: 19-c)<ref name="tbl"/> }}

{{asterisk}} Roddy Owen is [[inbreeding|inbred]] 4S x 3S to the stallion [[Chaucer (horse)|Chaucer]], meaning that he appears fourth generation and third generation on the sire side of his pedigree.

{{asterisk}} Roddy Owen is inbred 5S x 4S x 5D x 4D to the stallion [[St. Simon (horse)|St Simon]], meaning that he appears fifth generation (via [[Chaucer (horse)|Chaucer]]) and fourth generation on the sire side of his pedigree, and fifth generation (via [[William the Third (horse)|William the Third]]) and fourth generation on the dam side of his pedigree.

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{Cheltenham Gold Cup winners}}

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