Wannabe Grand (18 January 1996 – after 2009) was an Irish-bred, British-trained

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 c ...

racehorse and

broodmare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four ...

. In a racing career which lasted from May 1998 until November 1999, she won four races and was placed five times from sixteen starts. She was one of the best juvenile fillies in Britain in 1998 when she won the

Empress Stakes The Empress Stakes is a Listed flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old fillies. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is sched ...

Cherry Hinton Stakes The Duchess of Cambridge Stakes is a Group races, Group 2 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old Filly, fillies. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket Ra ...

and

Cheveley Park Stakes The Cheveley Park Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it i ...

as well as finishing second in the

Lowther Stakes The Lowther Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old fillies. It is run at York over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each ...

. In the following year she finished second in the

1000 Guineas The 1000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 ...

on her seasonal debut and went on to win the

Flying Fillies' Stakes The Flying Fillies' Stakes is a Listed flat horse race in Great Britain open to fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at Pontefract over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,027 metres). The race was f ...

, as well as being placed in the

Coronation Stakes The Coronation Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 7 furlong and 213 yards (1,603 metres), and it is schedul ...

Oak Tree Stakes The Oak Tree Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 7 furlongs (1,408 metres), and it is ...

and

Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes The Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old fillies over a distance of one and one-eighth miles on the turf held annually in October at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky ...

. She was retired from racing to become a broodmare and produced at least seven winners.

Background

Wannabe Grand was a bay mare with a large white

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

and a white

sock A sock is a piece of clothing worn on the feet and often covering the ankle or some part of the calf. Some types of shoes or boots are typically worn over socks. In ancient times, socks were made from leather or matted animal hair. In the late ...

on her left hind leg bred in Ireland by the horse breeding company Vizcaya Ag. She was sired by Danehill, a sprinter who won the

Cork and Orrery Stakes The Platinum Jubilee Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. Three-year-olds foaled in the Southern Hemisphere are also eligible. It is run at A ...

and

Haydock Sprint Cup The Sprint Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Haydock Park over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and ...

in 1989. He went on to become a highly successful breeding stallion, producing the winners of more than one thousand races including 156 at

Group One Group One, Group 1, Grade I or G1 is the term used for the highest level of Thoroughbred and Standardbred stakes races in many countries. In Europe, the level of races for Thoroughbred racing is determined using the Pattern races, Pattern race sys ...

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 ...

level. Among his best offspring are

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Under ...

Duke of Marmalade Duke of Marmalade (12 March 2004 – 5 November 2021) was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He is best known for winning five consecutive Group One races in 2008, for which he was named European Champion Older Horse. Upon retirement ...

Rock of Gibraltar The Rock of Gibraltar (from the Arabic name Jabel-al-Tariq) is a monolithic limestone promontory located in the British territory of Gibraltar, near the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula, and near the entrance to the Mediterr ...

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

and

North Light North Light (foaled March 1, 2001) is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse, and active sire, bred in Ireland but trained in the United Kingdom. He is best known as the winner of The Derby in 2004. He currently stands at the Adena Springs Stud ...

. Wannabe Grand's dam Wannabe won one minor race from six starts as a three-year-old in 1993 and also produced the Ballycorus Stakes winner Wannabe Better. Wannabe was a descendant of the broodmare Woodlark who was a half-sister to

Alycidon Alycidon (1945–1963) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse who was described as "one of the greatest stayers in history". In a career which lasted from the autumn of 1947 until September 1949 he ran seventeen times and won eleven races. He w ...

and the grand-dam of Larkspur. As a

yearling Yearling may refer to: *Yearling (horse), a horse between one and two years old *''The Yearling ''The Yearling'' is a novel by American writer Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, published in March 1938. It was the main selection of the Book of the Mo ...

in October 1997, Wannabe Grand was consigned by the Chippenham Lodge Stud

Tattersalls Tattersalls (formerly Tattersall's) is the main auctioneer of race horses in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Founding It was founded in 1766 by Richard Tattersall (1724–1795), who had been stud groom to the second Duke of Kingston. T ...

and bought for 60,000

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from t ...

by David Morris. During her racing career, the filly was owned by Bruce McAllister and trained by

Jeremy Noseda Jeremy Noseda (born 17 September 1963) is a retired British racehorse trainer. After six years working for John Dunlop, and five years as assistant to John Gosden, he joined Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin operation in late 1993, and played a si ...

Newmarket, Suffolk Newmarket is a market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. Located (14 miles) west of Bury St Edmunds and (14 miles) northeast of Cambridge. It is considered the birthplace and global centre of thoroughbred hor ...

Racing career

1998: two-year-old season

On her racecourse debut, Wannabe Grand finished fourth in a six

furlong A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, 10 chains or approximately 201 metres. It is now mostly confined to use in hors ...

maiden race In horse racing a maiden race is an event for horses that have not won a race. Horses that have not won a race are referred to as maidens. Maiden horse races are held over a variety of distances and under conditions with eligibility based on the se ...

Leicester Racecourse Leicester Racecourse is a horse racing course in Oadby, Leicestershire, about three miles south of the city centre. History of horse racing in Leicester The earliest evidence suggests that racing took place at Abbey Meadow, Leicester on 23 Mar ...

on 25 May and then finished second in a similar event at Newmarket eleven days later. On 25 June the filly was moved up in class for the Listed Empress Stakes at over six furlongs at Newmarket and started the 7/4 favourite against five opponents. Ridden by John Reid she took the lead two furlongs from the finish and won by three quarters of a length and half a length from Aunt Flo and Miss Universe.

Walter Swinburn Walter Robert John Swinburn (7 August 1961 – 12 December 2016) was a flat racing jockey and trainer who competed in Great Britain and internationally. Biography Swinburn was born in Oxford. He was the son of Wally Swinburn, who won the ...

took over the ride when the filly was stepped up in class again for the

Group Three AP Films or APF, later becoming Century 21 Productions, was a British independent film production company of the 1950s until the early 1970s. The company became internationally known for its imaginative children's action-adventure marionette tel ...

Cherry Hinton Stakes over the same course and distance on 7 July. The

David Loder David Loder (born in Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, England) is a trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses. He began his professional career in Newmarket in 1992 and trained for thirteen years including for Godolphin Racing, where he trained Dub ...

-trained Spirit Willing started favourite ahead of the

Queen Mary Stakes The Queen Mary Stakes is a Group races, Group 2 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old Filly, fillies. It is run at Ascot Racecourse, Ascot over a distance o ...

runner-up

Pipalong Pipalong (foaled 26 January 1996) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. She was sold cheaply as a yearling but developed into a top-class specialist sprinter who excelled on soft ground. Trained in Yorkshire ...

and the French challenger Pescara, with Wannabe Grand starting at odds of 11/1 in the ten-runner field. After being restrained by Swinburn in the early stages she took the lead inside the final furlong and won by one and a half lengths from Pipalong with Pescara a short head away in third. Wannabe Grand was beaten in her next three races. On 25 July she finished fourth behind Mythical Girl, Gipsy Rose Lee and Rustic in the

Princess Margaret Stakes The Princess Margaret Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old fillies. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled to take ...

Ascot Racecourse 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

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

on 20 August she finished second of the ten runners behind

Bint Allayl Bint Allayl (19 January 1996 – 22 February 1999) was a British champion Thoroughbred racehorse. She was rated the best two-year-old filly of 1998 by both the International Classification and the Cartier Racing Awards. She won three of her ...

with Flanders in third and Mythical Girl in sixth. In September she was sent to Ireland for the Group One

Moyglare Stud Stakes The Moyglare Stud Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to two-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 7 furlongs (1,408 metres), and it is scheduled ...

over seven furlongs at the

Curragh The Curragh ( ; ga, An Currach ) is a flat open plain of almost of common land in County Kildare. This area is well known for Irish horse breeding and training. The Irish National Stud is located on the edge of Kildare town, beside the ...

and ran fourth behind

Edabiya Edabiya (foaled 8 April 1996) is a retired Irish-trained thoroughbred Group 1 winner racehorse. Background Edabiya, a chestnut horse, was foaled on 8 April 1996. She is the third foal of Ebaziya. Her sire is Rainbow Quest. She is owned by Aga ...

, Fear and Greed and Crystal Downs. Noseda felt that the soft ground and strong headwind had led to the filly's stamina being overtaxed. On her final appearance of the season, Wannabe Grand, ridden by the veteran

Pat Eddery Patrick James John Eddery (18 March 1952 – 10 November 2015) was an Irish flat racing jockey and trainer. He rode three winners of the Derby and was Champion Jockey on eleven occasions. He rode the winners of 4,632 British flat races, a f ...

was one of nine fillies to contest the Group One Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket on 29 September. Noseda had not intended to run the filly but changed his mind when Bint Allayl was injured; he commented "I honestly thought that we would never beat Bint Allayl so, if we went to Newmarket, we would be running for a place. But that has changed now and we might be able to win". She was made the 3/1 favourite ahead of the Godolphin filly Subeen whilst the other runners included Flanders, Miss Universe, Circle of Gold (winner of the

Prestige Stakes The Prestige Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old fillies. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 7 furlongs (1,408 metres), and it is scheduled to take place ...

), Golden Silca (

Mill Reef Stakes The Mill Reef Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-olds. It is run at Newbury over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled ...

), Imperial Beauty and Atlantic Destiny (

Sirenia Stakes The Sirenia Stakes is a Group races, Group 3 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old horses. It is run at Kempton Park Racecourse, Kempton Park over a distanc ...

). After being restrained in the early stages, she began to make progress in the last quarter mile, took the lead 150 yards from the finish and won by half a length from Imperial Beauty. Subeen took third just ahead of Miss Universe, Atlantic Destiny and Circle of Gold.

1999: three-year-old season

On her three-year-old debut, Wannabe Grand started a 16/1 outsider for the

1000 Guineas The 1000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 ...

at Newmarket on 2 May. She raced up the stands side of the Rowley Mile course (the left-hand side from the jockeys' viewpoint), and after being held up by Eddery in the early stages she finished well to place second to

Wince Windows Embedded Compact, formerly Windows Embedded CE, Windows Powered and Windows CE, is an operating system subfamily developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows Embedded family of products. Unlike Windows Embedded Standard, which is base ...

, beaten half a length by the winner, with Valentine Waltz a short head away in third. In the

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 June she started the 11/4 favourite but dead-heated for third with Valentine Waltz behind

Balisada Balisada (foaled 10 February 1996) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. As a two-year-old in 1998 she competed in maiden races and won at her third attempt. In the following season she made rapid improvement and recorded a 16/1 ...

and Golden Silca. The filly was brought back to sprint distances in July and started favourite for the

July Cup The July Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres ...

in which she was matched against colts and older horses. She finished seventh of the seventeen runners behind

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

. Later that month she was made favourite for the Listed

Goodwood Racecourse Goodwood Racecourse is a horse-racing track five miles north of Chichester, West Sussex, in England controlled by the family of the Duke of Richmond, whose seat is nearby Goodwood House. It hosts the annual Glorious Goodwood meeting in lat ...

, but after taking the lead inside the final furlong she was caught in the final stride and beaten a head by the

Henry Cecil Sir Henry Richard Amherst Cecil (11 January 1943 – 11 June 2013) was a British flat racing horse trainer. Cecil was very successful, becoming Champion Trainer ten times and training 25 domestic Classic winners. These comprised four winners o ...

-trained Selfish. On 22 August, Wannabe Grand started the 10/11 favourite for the Listed Flying Fillies Stakes over six furlongs at

Pontefract Racecourse Pontefract Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. Layout The track is left-handed undulating course with a sharp bend into the home straight. Horses drawn low (i.e. on the inside of the ...

. After tracking the early leader Noble One, she moved up to dispute the lead a furlong out and won by half a length from Pipalong. On her final appearance in Europe, Wannabe Grand contested the

on 4 September and finished seventh of the sixteen runners behind the four-year-old colt

Diktat A diktat (german: label=from German, Diktat, ) is a statute, harsh penalty or settlement imposed upon a defeated party by the victor, or a dogmatic decree. The term has acquired a pejorative sense, to describe a set of rules dictated by a foreign p ...

. For her last two races, the filly was sent to race in North America and was moved up in distance. In the

over nine furlongs at

Keeneland Racecourse Keeneland Association, Inc. is an equine business based in Lexington, Kentucky. It includes two distinct divisions: the Keeneland Race Course, a Thoroughbred racing facility, and Keeneland Sales, a horse auction complex. It is also known for its ...

on 9 October she was ridden by

Robby Albarado Robby J. Albarado (born September 11, 1973, in Lafayette, Louisiana) is an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. He began riding at the age of 10 and progressed to riding at bush tracks in his native Louisiana by the age of 12. After turning ...

and stayed on well in the closing stages to finish third behind Perfect Sting.

Eddie Delahoussaye Edward J. Delahoussaye (born September 21, 1951) is a retired American Thoroughbred jockey from New Iberia, Louisiana. He began his career in 1968 and ten years later became the top American jockey with 384 wins. He has won the Kentucky Derby in ...

took over the ride in the

Matriarch Stakes :'' This article is about an American horse race. For the Australian horse race, see Matriarch Stakes (Australia).'' The Matriarch Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares that are of age three-years-old or older ...

Hollywood Park Racetrack Hollywood Park was a thoroughbred race course located in Inglewood, California, about 3 miles (5 km) from Los Angeles International Airport and adjacent to the Forum indoor arena. In 1994, the original Hollywood Park Casino was added to the ...

on 22 November, when the filly finished fifth of the nine runners behind Happyandunoit.

Breeding record

Wannabe Grand was retired from racing to become a broodmare. In December 2009 she was auctioned at Tattersalls and bought for 62,000 guineas by Badgers Bloodstock. Relocated to Double S Bloodstock in

New South Wales, Australia ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in 2009, Wannabe Grand has produced 13 foals and seven winners to date: *Bachelor of Arts, a bay colt, foaled in 2001, sired by

. Won one race. *Walkonthewildside, bay colt (later

gelded A gelding is a castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. Castration, as well as the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male equine to be calmer and better-behaved, making th ...

), 2002, 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 ...

. Won three races. *King of Argos, bay colt (later gelded), 2003, by

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-sea ...

. Won four races. *Zetto Kirk, bay colt, 2004, by Selkirk. Won seven races in Japan. *Wannabe Free, bay filly, 2005, by

Red Ransom Red Ransom (foaled 1987 in Virginia, died 2009) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. In his 2006 book ''Designing Speed in the Racehorse'', author Ken McLean wrote that Red Ransom "was a sensationally fast juvenile." Bred by Paul Mellon and r ...

. Won one race. *Wannabe King, bay colt (later gelded), 2006, by

King's Best Kings Best (24 January 1997 – 16 April 2019) was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2000 Guineas Stakes. He was described by his trainer Michael Stoute as the best miler he'd ever trained. Background King's Best ...

. Won eight races. *Mashatu, bay colt (later gelded), 2007, by

Pivotal Pivotal may refer to: * Pivotal CRM, a customer relationship management software system offered by Aptean * Pivotal Labs, a software company ** Pivotal Tracker, a project management product offered by Pivotal Labs * Pivotal Software, a software ...

. Failed to win in eight races. *Breton Star, bay colt (later gelded), 2008, by

Medicean The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Mu ...

. Failed to win in seven races. *Estrela, bay filly, 2009, by

Authorized Authorization or authorisation (see spelling differences) is the function of specifying access rights/privileges to resources, which is related to general information security and computer security, and to access control in particular. More for ...

. Won one race. *Wannabe A Mak, brown gelding, 2011, by

More Than Ready More or Mores may refer to: Computing * MORE (application), outline software for Mac OS * more (command), a shell command * MORE protocol, a routing protocol * Missouri Research and Education Network Music Albums * ''More!'' (album), by Booka ...

. Placed once in 9 starts. *Lukey Dee, bay colt, 2013, by

New Approach New Approach (foaled 18 February 2005) is a retired Irish Thoroughbred racehorse and active stallion. In a racing career which lasted from July 2007 to October 2008 he ran eleven times and won eight races. He was undefeated in five races as a tw ...

. Unraced. *Unnamed filly by Sebring, 2014. *Unnamed filly by Pierro, 2015.

Pedigree

*Like all of Danehill's offspring Wannabe Grand is

inbred Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders and o ...

4x4 to the mare

Natalma Natalma (March 26, 1957 – January 29, 1985) was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse best known as the dam (mother) of the most important sire, and sire of sires, of the late 20th Century, Northern Dancer. She also established a highly infl ...

. This means that she occurs twice in the fourth generation of her pedigree.

References

{{reflist 1996 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Ireland Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 1-w