Oedipus was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Champion Thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 steeplechase

Steeplechase (horse racing)

The steeplechase is a form of horse racing and derives its name from early races in which orientation of the course was by reference to a church steeple, jumping fences and ditches and generally traversing the many intervening obstacles in the countryside...

 racehorse

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

. Sired by 1929's flat racing

Flat racing

Flat racing is a form of Thoroughbred horse racing which is run over a level track at a predetermined distance. It differs from steeplechase racing which is run over hurdles...

 Horse of the Year

Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year

The American Award for Horse of the Year is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. It has been awarded since 1887 to the horse, irrespective of age, whose performance during the racing year is deemed the most outstanding....

 Blue Larkspur

Blue Larkspur

Blue Larkspur was a bay Kentucky-bred thoroughbred race horse. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1957, awarded the 1929 Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year, and ranks Number 100 in Blood-Horse magazine's top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century...

 and foaled in Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

, Oedipus was purchased by Lillian Bostwick Phipps

Lillian Bostwick Phipps

Lillian Stokes Bostwick Phipps was an American socialite and owner of Thoroughbred steeplechase racehorses.-Biography:...

 and was conditioned by future Hall of Fame

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...

 trainer

Horse trainer

In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...

 Pete Bostwick.

Oedipus raced from 1948 through 1954 and was voted American Champion Steeplechase Horse for 1950 and again in 1951 when he won American steeplechasing's Triple Crown

Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing

The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...

: the Broad Hollow Steeplechase Handicap, the Brook National Steeplechase Handicap, and the American Grand National

Breeders' Cup Grand National Steeplechase

The Breeders' Cup Grand National Steeplechase is an American Grade I NSA sanctioned steeplechase race run each fall over the rolling hills of Moorland Farms in Far Hills, New Jersey. Set over a 2⅝ mile course during the one day Far Hills Races, it has 14 national fences, and a purse of $300,000...

. In 1952, Oedipus was again voted Champion, this time sharing the honor with Jam.

Retired at the end of the 1954 racing season, Oedipus died in 1978, the year he was inducted in the United States' National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...

.