Tom Ochiltree

Tom Ochiltree (1872–1897) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1875 Preakness Stakes and several other major stakes. In 1877, he lost in one of the most famous match races of the nineteenth century – a race that had been so anticipated that both houses of Congress were adjourned so members could attend. In 2016, Tom Ochiltree was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Background Tom Ochiltree was bred by A.J. Alexander's Woodburn Stud and was one of the last offspring of the great foundation stallion, Lexington. He was an enormous colt, eventually reaching high with a girth of 76 inches. According to racing historian Walter Vosburgh, "For size, bone, and coarseness, Tom Ochiltree surpassed all contemporaries." Purchased by J. F. Chamberlain at the 1873 Woodburn yearling sale for $500, he was later resold to tobacco heir George Lynde Lorillard. He was named after Colonel Thomas P. Ochiltree, who joined the Texas Rangers at age 14, fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War, became a newspaper editor and served as a United States Congressman. The colt was originally trained by Hall of Fame conditioner Wyndham Walden, the founder of Bowling Brook Farm in Carroll County, Maryland). Tom Ochiltree had two great rivals, Ten Broeck and Parole. Ten Broeck was foaled in the same year as Tom Ochiltree at the neighboring Nantura Stock Farm. Parole was born one year later, bred by Pierre Lorillard IV, the brother and racing rival of Tom Ochiltree's owner. In 1877, these three would ignite the racing world in one of its biggest match races.