Spendarella (foaled April 27, 2019) is an American thoroughbred racehorse who has won multiple graded stakes as a three-year-old in 2022 on the turf including Grade I Del Mar Oaks at Del Mar.

Background

Spendarella is a bay filly, bred in New York State by Gainesway Thoroughbreds, the breeding arm of

Gainesway Farm Gainesway Farm is an American Thoroughbred horse breeding business in Lexington, Kentucky. It was originally called Greentree Farms. The 1,500 acre (6 km²) property has been home to stallions such as Youth and Exceller and numerous others w ...

. Her sire is the Japanese-bred

Karakontie Karakontie (foaled 30 January 2011) is a Japanese-bred, French-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. He was one of the best French-trained two-year-olds of 2013 when he won three of his four races including the Prix La Rochette and Prix Jean-Luc Lagar ...

, grandson of champion

Sunday Silence Sunday Silence (March 25, 1986 – August 19, 2002) was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In 1989, he won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes but failed to complete the Triple Crown when he was defeated in the Belmont ...

. Her dam is out of the California-bred

Unusual Heat ''Unusual Heat'' is the seventh studio album by British-American rock band Foreigner, released on June 14, 1991 by Atlantic Records. Recorded at several different studios across the state of New York and England, and produced by Terry Thomas a ...

mare Spanish Bunny, who broke her maiden at Del Mar in 2010. Gainesway purchased Spanish Bunny in foal to Sundarban for US$130,000 from Taylor Made Sales Agency at the 2015 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. Spanish Bunny is also the dam of 2015 Grade I

American Oaks The American Oaks is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old fillies over a distance of one and one-quarter miles on the turf held annually in late December Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, USA. The event currently of ...

and Grade II

Honeymoon Stakes The Honeymoon Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old fillies over a distance of one and one-eighth miles on the turf course scheduled annually in late May or early June at Santa Anita Park. The event currentl ...

winner Spanish Queen, a daughter of Tribal Rule who was voted that year's champion California-bred 3-year-old filly, and Spanish Loveaffair a multiple stakes-winning full sister to Spendarella. The mare has a 2-year-old filly by Destin named Spanish Destiny and a 2022 colt by Uncle Mo. Spendarella is trained by

H. Graham Motion H. Graham Motion (born May 22, 1964, in Cambridge, England) is an American horse trainer, notable for his work with 2011 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom (horse), Animal Kingdom and Better Talk Now. Motion started out training and winning with ...

and owned by Gainesway Stable, the racing arm of

Career

2022: three-year-old season

Unraced at 2, Spendarella debuted at Gulfstream Park on February 2, winning a maiden race by

lengths Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Intern ...

over one mile with jockey Jose Ortiz aboard. A month later on March 5 followed that with victories in the Grade III

Herecomesthebride Stakes The Herecomesthebride Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three year old fillies, over a distance of one mile on the turf held annually in March at Gulfstream Park, Hallandale Beach, Florida. The event currently carries a ...

at Gulfstream Park and the Grade II Appalachian Stakes at Keeneland. Tyler Gaffalione rode her for the first time in the Keeneland race. At

Royal Ascot Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races and ...

, in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes Spendarella and jockey William Buick finished second, but was game in defeat to European two-year-old champion filly

Inspiral Orbital decay is a gradual decrease of the distance between two orbiting bodies at their closest approach (the periapsis) over many orbital periods. These orbiting bodies can be a planet and its satellite, a star and any object orbiting it, or c ...

, the daughter of Frankel. Trainer Motion told on TVG, "I'm thrilled with her. She's a very brave filly, and I think she proved she is a grade 1 filly today." Spendarella was sent to the West Coast, to California where on August 20, she faced twelve other fillies in the Grade I Del Mar Oaks. Starting as the 6/5 favorite jockey Tylor Gaffalione let Spendarella lope along in third behind early fractions of :23.82 and :47.05. He had her in a perfect spot to watch the leaders Gracelund Gray and Cairo Memories and yet keep an eye out for the rest of the field. Cairo Memories took over from a fading Gracelund Gray around the final turn. As Gracelund Gray began backing up, Gafflione angled Spendarella out slightly around her. From there, Spendarella easily caught Cairo Memories entering the stretch. It was immediately obvious that no one was going to catch the invader, and Spendarella cruised home to win by 4 1/2 lengths in 1:47.09.

Statistics

''Legend:''

''Notes:''
An (*) asterisk after the odds means Spendarella was the post-time favorite.

Pedigree

Spendarella is inbred 5s x 4d x 4d to Northern Dancer, meaning Northern Dancer appears in the fourth generation on the dam's side twice of the pedigree and in the fifth generation on the sires's side through his son Storm Bird.

References

{{reflist, 2 2019 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Thoroughbred family 9-f American Grade 1 Stakes winners