Tag: 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.
His name is the heraldic term for “a bend (i.e. diagonal stripe) which is golden or yellow in color”, and is a reference to the ancient former arms of the Grosvenor family which were adjudged against them in 1389 to the Scrope family in the most famous case ever heard before the Court of Chivalry, known as Scrope v Grosvenor. The Duke also awarded it as a lifelong family nickname to his grandson Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster (1879–1953), born in the year before the Derby win.
Bred and foaled at the 1st Duke of Westminster’s Eaton Stud, Bend Or grew to be a large stallion but was noted for his unusual docility. He was a chestnut colt who stood 16 hands 1 inch high and had a white blaze. He was sired by Doncaster, a son of Stockwell, from the…
