Go for Wand (USA)
April 6, 1987 – October 27, 1990
Deputy Minister (USA) x Obeah (USA), by Cyane (USA)
Family 2-f
April 6, 1987 – October 27, 1990
Deputy Minister (USA) x Obeah (USA), by Cyane (USA)
Family 2-f
A champion at 2 and 3, Go for Wand was brilliant, beautiful and classy. Sadly, she was also ill-fated. After proving herself much the best among the fillies of her crop, she defeated older females twice before tackling defending champion older female Bayakoa in the 1990 Breeders' Cup Distaff (USA-G1). The two were dueling heads apart at the sixteenth pole when Go for Wand's right front ankle snapped. The filly somersaulted, throwing jockey Randy Romero, and got up with her right leg dangling grotesquely. Running on three legs and her heart, she avoided the outriders long enough to cross the finish line for the last time. She was euthanized on the spot and was buried at Saratoga two days later.
Race record
13 starts, 10 wins, 2 seconds, 0 thirds, US$1,373,338
1989:
1990:
Honors
Assessments
Go for Wand was rated #72 among the top 100 American racehorses of the 20th century by a panel of experts assembled by The Blood-Horse (Thoroughbred Champions, Eclipse Press, 7th printing, 2005). She was 13th among the 26 fillies and mares on the list.
Go for Wand topped the fillies on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1989 with 123 pounds, 2 pounds above second-rated Stella Madrid.
Highweighted at 130 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old fillies of 1990, 7 pounds above second-rated Charon.
As an individual
A good-sized, rugged filly, Go for Wand was highly intelligent and had a great zest for racing. She did not handle loose, cuppy footing well but was an excellent mudder. She was strongly attached to her regular exercise rider, Rose Badgett (the girlfriend and later the wife of her trainer). She had never had any soundness problems prior to taking her fatal misstep at Belmont Park.
Connections
Go for Wand was bred and owned by Jane du Pont Lunger's Christiana Stable. She was trained by William Badgett, Jr.
Pedigree notes
Go for Wand is inbred 5x5 to unbeaten champion and two-time English champion sire Nearco. She is a half sister to Grade 2 winners Dance Spell and Discorama and to stakes winner Black Powder (all by Northern Dancer). She is also a half sister to Carnivalay (also by Northern Dancer), a good regional sire in the Mid-Atlantic, and to Throw Away Line (by Northern Dancer's grandson Assert), dam of European stakes winners Hesperia (by Slip Anchor), Wavey (by Kris) and Rebuff (by Kris). In addition, Go for Wand is a half sister to Assertaine (by Assert), third dam of 2024 Takarazuka Kinen (JPN-G1) winner Blow the Horn.
Go for Wand's dam Obeah won the important Delaware Handicap in 1969 and 1970. She is a half sister to Grade 2 winner Targa (by Cannonade) and to Ameriverse (by Amerigo), dam of Grade 2 winner Garden Verse (by Cyane) and stakes winner Fuego Seguro (by Apalachee).
Obeah's dam Book of Verse (by One Count) is a half sister to English stakes winner Birthday Present (by Precipitation) and to Mixed Marriage, whose family includes the important racehorses and sires Gone West, Tentam and Known Fact. The dam of Book of Verse, Persian Maid (by Tehran), is also the ancestress of 1982 Argentine Mare of the Year Miss Keat and 1974 Oaks d'Italia (ITY-G1) winner Red Girl through other daughters.
Books and media
Go for Wand is the fourth book in the Thoroughbred Legends series from Eclipse Press. It was written by Bill Heller and published in 2000.
Fun facts
Last updated: June 23, 2024
Race record
13 starts, 10 wins, 2 seconds, 0 thirds, US$1,373,338
1989:
- Won Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Gulfstream Park)
- 2nd Frizette Stakes (USA-G1, 8FD, Belmont)
1990:
- Won Ashland Stakes (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Keeneland)
- Won Mother Goose Stakes (USA-G1, 9FD, Belmont)
- Won Test Stakes (USA-G1, 7FD, Saratoga)
- Won Alabama Stakes (USA-G1, 10FD, Saratoga)
- Won Maskette Handicap (USA-G1, 8FD, Belmont)
- Won Beldame Stakes (USA-G1, 9FD, Belmont)
- Won Beaumont Stakes (USA-G3, 7FD, Keeneland)
- 2nd Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1, 9FD, Churchill Downs)
Honors
- National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (inducted in 1996)
- Saratoga Hoofprints Walk of Fame (inducted as part of the inaugural class in 2013)
- Eclipse Award, American champion 2-year-old filly (1989)
- Eclipse Award, American champion 3-year-old filly (1990)
Assessments
Go for Wand was rated #72 among the top 100 American racehorses of the 20th century by a panel of experts assembled by The Blood-Horse (Thoroughbred Champions, Eclipse Press, 7th printing, 2005). She was 13th among the 26 fillies and mares on the list.
Go for Wand topped the fillies on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1989 with 123 pounds, 2 pounds above second-rated Stella Madrid.
Highweighted at 130 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old fillies of 1990, 7 pounds above second-rated Charon.
As an individual
A good-sized, rugged filly, Go for Wand was highly intelligent and had a great zest for racing. She did not handle loose, cuppy footing well but was an excellent mudder. She was strongly attached to her regular exercise rider, Rose Badgett (the girlfriend and later the wife of her trainer). She had never had any soundness problems prior to taking her fatal misstep at Belmont Park.
Connections
Go for Wand was bred and owned by Jane du Pont Lunger's Christiana Stable. She was trained by William Badgett, Jr.
Pedigree notes
Go for Wand is inbred 5x5 to unbeaten champion and two-time English champion sire Nearco. She is a half sister to Grade 2 winners Dance Spell and Discorama and to stakes winner Black Powder (all by Northern Dancer). She is also a half sister to Carnivalay (also by Northern Dancer), a good regional sire in the Mid-Atlantic, and to Throw Away Line (by Northern Dancer's grandson Assert), dam of European stakes winners Hesperia (by Slip Anchor), Wavey (by Kris) and Rebuff (by Kris). In addition, Go for Wand is a half sister to Assertaine (by Assert), third dam of 2024 Takarazuka Kinen (JPN-G1) winner Blow the Horn.
Go for Wand's dam Obeah won the important Delaware Handicap in 1969 and 1970. She is a half sister to Grade 2 winner Targa (by Cannonade) and to Ameriverse (by Amerigo), dam of Grade 2 winner Garden Verse (by Cyane) and stakes winner Fuego Seguro (by Apalachee).
Obeah's dam Book of Verse (by One Count) is a half sister to English stakes winner Birthday Present (by Precipitation) and to Mixed Marriage, whose family includes the important racehorses and sires Gone West, Tentam and Known Fact. The dam of Book of Verse, Persian Maid (by Tehran), is also the ancestress of 1982 Argentine Mare of the Year Miss Keat and 1974 Oaks d'Italia (ITY-G1) winner Red Girl through other daughters.
Books and media
Go for Wand is the fourth book in the Thoroughbred Legends series from Eclipse Press. It was written by Bill Heller and published in 2000.
Fun facts
- The Maskette Handicap was renamed in Go for Wand's honor in 1992. It is currently a Grade 3 event for fillies and mares aged 3 and up over 1 mile on dirt at Aqueduct's fall meet. Delaware Park also ran a stakes in Go for Wand's honor; this race was last contested in 2013 as a listed stakes for 3-year-old fillies at a mile and 70 yards on the dirt.
- Go for Wand's stable name was “Wanda.” Her registered name derived from her dam's, which is a term for a curse by a voodoo practitioner; going for a wand was a defense against the curse.
- Go for Wand's death proved a catalyst for development of the On Call program developed by the American Association of Equine Practitioners, which provides specialized equipment and trained staff at trackside for working with injured horses. The program also provides veterinarians with media experience to discuss equine injuries with journalists.
- Composer Jeffrey Schindler stated that he was inspired by Go for Wand's memory in writing his “Thoroughbred Fanfare.”
Last updated: June 23, 2024