Meteora

Meteora (1802–1821) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare who won the classic Oaks Stakes at Epsom Downs Racecourse in 1805. In a racing career which began with her win in the Oaks on 31 May 1805 and lasted until July 1810 she ran thirty-six timeas and won twenty-four races. She defeated the Derby winner Cardinal Beaufort and the St Leger winner Staveley in match races and won many other important races of the era including the Stamford Gold Cup (three times), the Oatlands Stakes (twice), the Audley End Stakes, the Somerset Stakes and the Brighton Gold Cup. Many of her defeats occurred when she was carrying large weights in handicap races. Background Meteora was a bay mare bred by her owner Robert Grosvenor, 2nd Earl Grosvenor, later 1st Marquess of Westminster. Her sire Meteor, a son of Eclipse, was also bred by Grosvenor's father and finished second in the 1786 Epsom Derby before winning his next 21 races. He dam, Maid of All Work was an influential broodmare, being the Foundation mare of Thoroughbred family 17-a and the direct female ancestor of many successful modern racehorses including Lyphard, Decidedly and Danzig Connection. Racing career 1805: three-year-old season Meteora's racing career was scheduled to begin with a 200 guinea match race against a filly owned by Mr Sitwell at Newmarket on 13 May. She won the prize money without having to compete when her opponent failed to appear for the race. On 31 May Meteora made her competitive debut in the Oaks Stakes at Epsom. In a field of eight she was the third choice in the betting at odds of 7/2 behind the Duke of Grafton's filly Dodona. Ridden by Francis Buckle, she won the classic from Dodona and Sir Frank Standish's unnamed sister to Duxbury.