Beltrán Alfonso Osorio, 18th duke of Alburquerque

Beltrán Alfonso Osorio y Díez de Rivera, 18th Duke of Alburquerque (15 December 1918 – 8 February 1994), was a Grandee of Spain and an amateur jockey. As a Spanish aristocrat, he was known as the "Iron Duke" of Alburquerque.

He was also Duke of Algete, Marquis of Alcañices, los Balbases, Cadreita, Cuéllar, Cullera, and Montaos, Count of Fuensaldaña, Grajal, Huelma, Ledesma, la Torre, Villanueva de Cañedo, and Villaumbrosa.

His son, Juan Miguel Osorio y Bertrán de Lis (b. 1958), is the current Duke of Alburquerque and Duke of Algete.^[1]

Jockey career

The duke became obsessed with winning Britain's Grand National Steeplechase horse race after watching a film of the race on his eighth birthday. However, each of his attempts ended in failure.

On his first attempt in 1952, he fell from his horse, waking up later in hospital with a cracked vertebra. He tried to win again in 1963, and fell from his horse yet again. (Bookies placed a bet of 66-1 against him finishing still on the horse). He raced again in 1965, but again fell from his horse after it collapsed underneath him, breaking his leg.

In 1974, after having sixteen screws removed from a leg he had broken after falling in another race, he also fell while training for the Grand National and broke his collarbone. He then competed in a plaster cast in the race, this time managing to finish, but only in eighth place. One anecdote from this race is that he barged into Ron Barry at second Canal Turn; Barry asked "What the **** are you doing?", to which he replied: "My dear chap I haven't a clue...I've never got this far before!"

In 1976, the duke fell again during the race, this time being trampled by other horses. He suffered seven broken ribs, several broken vertebrae, a broken wrist, a broken thigh, and a severe concussion which left him in a coma for two days.

At 57, the Iron Duke still tried to compete, but officials revoked his license for "his own safety". He never won the Grand National, but broke more bones than any other jockey in attempting to do so.

Sources

↑ Spanish official website

Hobbs, Nicolas (2007). "Grandes de España" (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 October 2008.
Instituto de Salazar y Castro. Elenco de Grandezas y Titulos Nobiliarios Españoles (in Spanish). periodic publication.

Spanish nobility
Preceded by Miguel Osorio	Duke of Alburquerque 1942-1994	Succeeded by Juan Miguel Osorio

Grand National
Races by year	1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Course	Aintree Racecourse Becher's Brook Canal Turn The Chair
Famous horses	Aldaniti Battleship Corbiere Crisp Devon Loch The Duke E.S.B. Foinavon Golden Miller L'Escargot Lord Gyllene Lottery Peter Simple Red Rum West Tip
Famous jockeys	Duke of Alburquerque Jack Anthony Martin Becher Tommy Carberry Bob Champion Richard Dunwoody Brian Fletcher Dick Francis Josh Gifford Bruce Hobbs Count Karl Kinsky Jem Mason Tony McCoy Tom Olliver Ernest Piggott Richard Pitman Ruby Walsh Fred Winter
Other people	Peter Bromley Ginger McCain Vincent O'Brien Michael O'Hehir Peter O'Sullevan Jenny Pitman Fred Rimell Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Lord Oaksey Lord Sefton
Lists	List of Grand National winners List of Grand National first four placings List of equine fatalities in the Grand National List of female Grand National jockeys

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