Gentlemen Riders 



MAJOR E. R. OWEN 



Amongst the military riders whose careers appear in the 

 pages of this book, none had a more brilliant career during the 

 comparatively short time he was riding, than Captain Edward 

 Roderic Owen, familiarly known as " Roddy " Owen. The 

 second son of Mr. Hugh Darby Owen of Bettws, Montgomery- 

 shire, he was born on May 4th, 1856. Educated at Eton, 

 he entered the Army through the militia, receiving, in 

 1857, a commission in the South Devon Infantry Militia 

 (nth Foot), being appointed the following year to the East 

 Devonshire regiment, afterwards known as the Lancashire 

 Fusiliers. 



Previous to this he had commenced his riding career by 

 winning the Duke of Beaufort's Blue-coat race at Daintrey, on 

 the late Mr. Chaplin's Holland, he being only nineteen at the 

 time. Owing to his enforced absence with his regiment in 

 Canada, India, and elsewhere, his race-riding in this country 

 may be said to have been done in snatches, and it was not 

 until 1885, when the regiment returned to England for a 

 permanency, that he had a chance of distinguishing himself; 

 and that he intended to make up for lost time, now he had 

 got it, was very soon made clear. For the next seven 

 years in fact, dating from February 13th, 1885, when he 

 set the ball a rolling by winning a Hunters' Hurdle Race 

 at Wolverton, on a horse belonging to his brother Mr. 

 Hugh Owen, until the 25th March, 1892, when he won the 

 Grand National on Father O'Flynn, his success was almost 

 phenomenal. 



He won the Sandown Grand Prize in two successive years, 



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