Serena Mary Rothschild, Baroness Rothschild (''née'' Dunn; 28 April 1935 – 13 January 2019) was a British
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
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...
owner and the wife of
Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild
Nathaniel Charles Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild, (born 29 April 1936) is a British peer, investment banker and a member of the Rothschild banking family.
Now mostly retired, he has held many important roles in business, finance ...
.
Early life
Rothschild was the daughter of
Sir Philip Gordon Dunn, Bt., and Lady Mary Sybil St. Clair-Erskine (daughter of
James St Clair-Erskine, 5th Earl of Rosslyn
James Francis Harry St Clair-Erskine, 5th Earl of Rosslyn (16 March 1869 – 10 August 1939), styled Lord Loughborough until 1890, was a Scottish soldier, author and aristocrat.
Early life
Lord Rosslyn was the eldest son of Robert St Clair-Erskin ...
). Her sister is the writer
Nell Dunn. Her paternal grandfather was
Sir James Dunn, Bt., a prominent
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
financier.
Thoroughbred racing
Rothschild oversaw the management of Waddesdon Stud at
Waddesdon Manor
Waddesdon Manor is a English country house, country house in the village of Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire, England. Owned by National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, National Trust and managed by the Rothschild Foundation ...
in
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...
. In November 2006, she paid 3 million
guineas
The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...
for the mare
Spinning Queen
Spinning Queen (foaled 27 March 2003) is a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare best known for her emphatic victory over a top-class field in the 2006 Sun Chariot Stakes. As a two-year-old in 2005 she won on her debut and went on to run ...
, then a
world record
A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...
price (for a filly or broodmare) of 4.6 million guineas when she purchased
Magical Romance
Magical Romance (foaled 5 February 2002) is an Irish-bred British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. In a racing career which lasted from June 2004 until September 2005, she won three of her nine races. As a two-year-old in 2004, she ...
at the
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 ...
sale.
In 2009, her colt
Pounced, trained by
John Gosden
John Harry Martin Gosden (born 30 March 1951) is a British racehorse trainer. He has trained over 3,000 winners worldwide, including winners of the Breeders' Cup Classic, the Derby, the Arc, the King George, the Eclipse, and over 600 winne ...
and ridden by
Frankie Dettori
Lanfranco Dettori (; born 15 December 1970), better known as Frankie Dettori, is an Italian horse racing jockey based in the United Kingdom. Dettori has been British flat racing Champion Jockey three times and has ...
, won the
Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf
The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf is an American Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-old horses, run on a grass course at a distance of one mile. It is part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the ''de facto'' year-end championship for North ...
at
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 ...
in
Arcadia, California
Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of t ...
. In 2011, her colt
Nathaniel
, nickname =
{{Plainlist,
* Nat
* Nate
, footnotes =
Nathaniel is an English variant of the biblical Greek name Nathanael.
People with the name Nathaniel
* Nathaniel Archibald (1952–2018), American basketball player
* Nate ...
won the
King Edward VII Stakes
The King Edward VII Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old colts and geldings. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile 3 furlongs and 211 yards (2,406 met ...
(G2) at Ascot and the
(G1), also at Ascot. In 2012, she won the
Eclipse Stakes
The Eclipse Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Sandown Park over a distance of 1 mile, 1 furl ...
(G1) with Nathaniel, The
Lancashire Oaks (G2), and then the
Irish Oaks
The Irish Oaks is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs (2,414 metres), and it ...
(Classic G1) with
Great Heavens
Great Heavens (foaled 28 April 2009) is a British Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2012 Irish Oaks. She is owned by Lady Rothschild and trained by John Gosden.
Breeding
Great Heavens is the daughter of Galileo, who won The Derby, Irish Derby ...
.
Personal life
On 20 October 1961, she married financier
Jacob Rothschild
Nathaniel Charles Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild, (born 29 April 1936) is a British peer, investment banker and a member of the Rothschild banking family.
Now mostly retired, he has held many important roles in business, finance an ...
, with whom she had four children,
Hannah (b. 1962), Beth (b. 1964), Emily (b. 1967), and
Nathaniel
, nickname =
{{Plainlist,
* Nat
* Nate
, footnotes =
Nathaniel is an English variant of the biblical Greek name Nathanael.
People with the name Nathaniel
* Nathaniel Archibald (1952–2018), American basketball player
* Nate ...
(b. 1971).
[The Rothschild Foster Trust: "The descendants of Charles Rothschild"]
retrieved September 27, 2012
The couple made their home at
Pewsey,
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
, and maintained a villa on the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
island of
Corfu
Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
. She and her husband were involved in a number of charitable and humanitarian organisations, and she was a Vice President of the Wiltshire Blind Association.
Lady Rothschild died in a London hospital on 13 January 2019 following a short illness.
She was 83.
References
1935 births
2019 deaths
British racehorse owners and breeders
British baronesses
Serena Dunn Rothschild
Serena Mary Rothschild, Baroness Rothschild (''née'' Dunn; 28 April 1935 – 13 January 2019) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse owner and the wife of Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild.
Early life
Rothschild was the daughter of S ...
Daughters of baronets
{{UK-horseracing-bio-stub