Go For Wand (April 6, 1987 – October 27, 1990) was a champion

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thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, 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 bas ...

. Go For Wand was sired by Canadian Hall of Famer

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, out of Obeah (winner of, among other races, the

Blue Hen Stakes The Blue Hen Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-old fillies held annually in early October at Delaware Park Racetrack in Stanton, Delaware. A non-graded stakes event raced on dirt, since 2004 it has been contested at a dis ...

, and the

Delaware Handicap The Delaware Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Delaware Park Racetrack in Wilmington, Delaware. The Grade III race is open to fillies and mares, age three and up, willing to race one mile and one eighth on the dirt. ...

twice). She was foaled and raised at Jane du Pont Lunger's Christiana Stables. As a two-year-old, she had a record of three-for-four before winning the 1989

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies is a -mile thoroughbred horse race on dirt (although the distance has varied, depending on the configuration of the host track) for two-year-old fillies run annually since 1984 at a different racetrack in the Un ...

. Her performances earned her the 1989 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Two-Year-Old Filly. As a three-year-old, she was seven-for-nine and was voted the 1990 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Three-Year-Old Filly. In 1990 at

Belmont Park Belmont Park is a thoroughbred racing, thoroughbred horse racetrack in Elmont, New York, just east of New York City limits best known for hosting the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the American Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United Stat ...

she ran against the

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Bayakoa in the

Breeders' Cup Distaff The Breeders' Cup Distaff is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares, three years old and up. Known as the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic between 2008 and 2012, it is held annually at a different racetrack in the United Stat ...

. Go For Wand was leading by a head at the sixteenth pole when she suffered an open fracture to her right cannon bone. She fell to the track and threw jockey Randy Romero to the ground before rising to limp on three legs. Romero broke his pelvis and several ribs. Track personnel caught Go For Wand and got her to lie down, and she was immediately

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on the track. The next day, she was buried in the infield at Saratoga racetrack. Like the death of Ruffian at the same track in July 1975, the accident was shown by

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on live television, and reminded viewers of that promising filly who was fatally injured on the track. Several veterinarians estimate that she broke her leg about twelve strides before she fell, which would mean that she suffered her catastrophic injury while passing the flagpole next to which Ruffian was buried. In 1992, the Maskette Stakes, a

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handicap race for fillies and mares, was renamed the "Go For Wand Handicap" in her memory. She is listed as #72 by '' Blood Horse'' on their list of top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century and in 1996 was inducted into the

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred horse racing, Thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and Horse trainer, trainers. In 1955, the museum ...

. As part of the "Thoroughbred Legends" series, in 2000, author Bill Heller published a book about the filly titled "''Go For Wand''." - Eclipse Press ()

Pedigree

References

Go For Wand's pedigree

Go For Wand at the United States' National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
{{Authority control 1987 racehorse births 1990 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Pennsylvania Racehorses trained in the United States Horses who died from racing injuries Thoroughbred family 2-f Filmed deaths of animals Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winners Du Pont racehorses United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees Eclipse Award winners