Spain (foaled 1997 in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

) is an American

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. Thoroughbreds are ...

racehorse who retired as the most financially successful mare in North American racing history in her time.

Background

Bred and raced by Prince Ahmed bin Salman's

The Thoroughbred Corp. The Thoroughbred Corporation is a Thoroughbred horse racing and breeding operation established in 1994 by principal partner Prince Ahmed bin Salman of the Saudi Arabian royal family. It was based at an facility at Bradbury Estates, in Bradbury, ...

, Spain was out of the winning mare Drina. Her sire was

Thunder Gulch Thunder Gulch (May 23, 1992 – March 19, 2018) was a Champion American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for his wins in the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes in 1995, which earned him the title of U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt. Background ...

, a winner of five

Grade I In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

races including the 1995 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes. Spain was conditioned for racing by U.S. Racing Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas.

Racing career

At age two, she made six starts, winning once. At age three, Spain had her best year. She got her first Grade I win in the

La Brea Stakes The La Brea Stakes is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old fillies over a distance of seven furlongs on the dirt track held annually in late December at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, USA. The event currently ...

Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...

, then capped off her year with a win in the 2000 Breeders' Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs. Given little chance by bettors of defeating notable fillies such as Surfside and the heavily favored Riboletta, Spain was sent off at odds of more than 55:1. Her victory resulted in a winning $2 bet paying $113.80, the second-highest in Breeders' Cup history. For jockey

Victor Espinoza Victor Espinoza (born May 23, 1972) is a Mexican jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing who won the Triple Crown in 2015 on American Pharoah. He began riding in his native Mexico and went on to compete at racetracks in California. He has w ...

, it marked his first

Breeders' Cup The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Grade I Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was a single-day event; starting in 2007, ...

win. Spain returned to racing at ages four and five. In 2001, she won the

La Cañada Stakes The La Cañada Stakes is a Grade III American thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares age four-years-old and older over a distance of one-and-one-sixteenth miles on the dirt track held annually in January at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Ca ...

and ran second to

Unbridled Elaine Unbridled (March 5, 1987 – October 18, 2001) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1990 Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic. He retired with a career record of eight wins, six places, and six shows in 24 starts, ...

in the 2001 Breeders' Cup Distaff. As a five-year-old in 2002, at Churchill Downs, Spain won the Louisville Breeders Cup Handicap and, while in foal to

Storm Cat Storm Cat (February 27, 1983 – April 24, 2013) was an American Thoroughbred stallion whose breeding fee during the peak of his stud career was $500,000, the highest in North America at the time. He was the leading sire in North America in 1999 ...

, won the

Fleur de Lis Handicap The Fleur de Lis Stakes is a Graded stakes race, Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for Filly, fillies and Mare (horse), mares age three and older over a distance of miles on the dirt run annually in mid-June at Churchill Downs in Louisvi ...

. She was retired after that race having earned a record $3,540,542.

Assessment

In the 2000 International Classification (the forerunner of the

World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings The Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings (LWBRR), known as World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings (WTRR) before 2012, are horseracing's equivalent to World Rankings by other major sporting organizations such as ATP Tennis Rankings, World Golf R ...

), Spain was given a rating of 122, ranking her equal with Jostle as the second best three-year-old filly in the world (and the best in America), four pounds below the top-rated French filly Egyptband.

Breeding record

Following the death of Prince Ahmed bin Salman in 2002, Spain was sold to Gerry Dilger of Dromoland Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, for $5.3 million at the November 2003 Keeneland Sales while carrying her second foal by Storm Cat, eventually named Calcaria. During the same auction, Gerry Dilger also paid a North American record price for a

weanling A weanling is an animal that has just been weaned. The term is usually used to refer to a type of young horse, a foal that has been weaned, usually between six months and a year. Once it is a year old, the horse is referred to as a yearling. The ...

colt when he paid $2.4 million for Spain's first foal by Storm Cat, named Carpocrates. For her new owner, Spain produced another foal by Storm Cat in 2005. A colt named Plan, he won in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

for owner

Michael Tabor Michael Barry Tabor (born 28 October 1941) is a British businessman, bookmaker, gambler and owner of thoroughbred racehorses. Tabor regularly appears on the ''Sunday Times Rich List'' of the richest people in Britain. In 2012 his fortune w ...

before being sold to

IEAH Stables IEAH Stables (International Equine Acquisitions Holding) operated a thoroughbred horse racing stable in the United States that included Big Brown, the winner of the 2008 Kentucky Derby and Preakness . The company was based in Garden City, New York. ...

, for whom he races in the United States. Plan came in second in his only race in the United States, the grade one Secretariat Stakes. In 2006, Spain produced Dreamtheimpossible by

Giant's Causeway The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption. It is located in County Antrim on the north coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles (5 km) northeast of ...

. The horse raced at age two in 2008 in Ireland and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

for owner Susan Magnier. On May 1, 2017 Spain foaled a colt by Triple Crown winner

American Pharoah American Pharoah (foaled February 2, 2012) is a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the American Triple Crown and the Breeders' Cup Classic in 2015. He was the 12th Triple Crown winner in history, and in winning all four races, became the first ho ...

References

{{reflist 1997 racehorse births Breeders' Cup Distaff winners Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Thoroughbred family 9-f