James Ochiltree

Article by Alan Trout

If ever a rider could be said to be a one horse jockey, that man is surely James Ochiltree. He appears to have had just 13 rides under National Hunt rules between March 1898 and May 1901, and nine of them were on a horse named Tyrolean.

Of those nine rides, four were unplaced, one did not finish, one fell, one went the wrong course, and one finished second. There was one victory, however, and that was at Bogside on April 6, 1899 when Ochiltree and Tyrolean won the Scottish Grand National. Admittedly, the race was not as important in the racing calendar as it is now, but many good jockeys and horses and tried and failed to do what Ochiltree and Tyrolean did that day.

Foaled in 1892, Tyrolean had already won two races, ridden by his owner Mr G. H. P. Taylor when, after finishing a bad last of three in an Edinburgh National Hunt Flat Race on September 30, 1897, he was sold to Mr E. B. Meldrum.

Ochiltree and Tyrolean first teamed up when unplaced in the five-runner Palace Handicap Hurdle at Hamilton Park on September 26, 1898. He had already ridden twice unsuccessfully under National Hunt rules, staring with a fourth and last place finish (after refusing) on Firefly in the Edinburgh Handicap Chase at Oatridge on April 2, 1898. His second outing on Tyrolean was no more successful than the first, finishing unplaced in the Arran Selling Hurdle at Hamilton Park on November 19.

Whether he had shown something in those races or done well in point-to-points, Tyrolean was sent off third favourite in a field of five when he lined up at Bogside for the 1899 Scottish Grand National. He was in the first two throughout, and after a prolonged struggle with Uphantes, the mount of the good amateur Mr Scully, Tyrolean prevailed by half a length. The Sportsman’s reporter was rather dismissive of the victory, claiming that the race had lost much of its interest due to the recent deaths of possible runners.

One week after his Bogside victory, Tyrolean scored again, this time ridden by his owner Mr Meldrum, winning the Linlithgow and Stirlingshire Hunt Cup at Oatridge by a distance. Four days later at Kelso, Ochiltree and Tyrolean were reunited, only to take the wrong course in the Roxburghe Handicap Steeplechase.

They were to have five more outings together, their best effort being when second in the Lonsdale Handicap Steeplechase at Penrith on October 26, 1899. They had another attempt at the Scottish Grand National in 1900 but finished unplaced. That was Tyrolean’s only race that year, but he came back in 1901 to win on his first outing, when again partnered by Mr Meldrum, winning the Linlithgow and Stirlingshire Hunt Cup for a second time on April 19. Clearly, Mr Meldrum did not believe in a horse resting on his laurels, for within an hour and carrying his owner’s 13 stone he failed to complete the course in the Edinburgh Handicap Chase.

Ochiltree and Tyrolean both made their final appearance when falling in the Tyninghame Steeplechase at Dunbar on May 10, 1901. That was Tyrolean’s last race.

Although James Ochiltree made a brief comeback a few years later, managing one second place finish on Black Boy, albeit in a three-runner race, at Bogside on October 29, 1909, the Scottish Grand National of 1899 remained his only victory.