Busybody (1881–1899), was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare who won two British Classic Races in 1884. In a racing career which lasted from September 1883 until May 1884 she ran six times and won five races. As a two-year-old in 1883 she won her first three races including the Middle Park Plate and the Great Challenge Stakes before sustaining her only defeat when conceding weight to the winner Queen Adelaide in the Dewhurst Stakes. As a three-year-old she won the 1000 Guineas over one mile at Newmarket and The Oaks over one and a half miles at Epsom Downs Racecourse a month later. She was then retired to stud where she became a successful broodmare.
Busybody parades before the Oaks, from Illustrated London News, May 1884
The finish of the 1884 Oaks from the Illustrated London News. Busybody beats Superba
Busybody during her retirement, c. 1890
The British Classics are five long-standing Group 1 horse races run during the traditional flat racing season. They are restricted to three-year-old horses and traditionally represent the pinnacle of achievement for racehorses against their own age group. As such, victory in any classic marks a horse as amongst the very best of a generation. Victory in two or even three of the series marks a horse as truly exceptional.
Sceptre, the only outright winner of four classics, painted by Emil Adam
Nijinsky, the last winner of the Triple Crown in 1970