Geoff Wragg

Geoff Wragg (born 9 January 1930) was a Thoroughbred horse trainer who trained champion horses such as Teenoso and Pentire. He is the son of former jockey and trainer Harry Wragg, from whom he took over the licence at Abington Place, Newmarket in 1983 upon his father's retirement. Wragg retired in 2008 after 25 years of training and sold Abington Place to Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum the following spring. He relocated to Yorkshire, the birthplace of his late father, Harry Wragg.

Wragg's father, Harry, was an extremely successful jockey and trainer, and the pair would be renowned for being the first to trial electronic timing equipment on the gallops as well as weighing their horses. His riding career was littered with success, winning all five domestic Classics - almost repeating the feat as a trainer with only the Epsom Oaks eluding him (trained the runner-up in 1974, ironically with the future dam of Teenoso, Furioso). Harry retired in 1982, leaving Geoff to train Teenoso to Classic glory at Epsom the following June. Harry's brothers were jockeys Arthur jr and Sam. Geoff had two siblings: brother Peter was a successful bloodstock until his death in February 2004, and sister Susan was married to top jockey Manny Mercer until his untimely and tragic death in September 1959. Geoff's retirement in 2008 brought to an end a long and hugely successful association with the Wragg name in horse racing.

Wragg enjoyed Classic success in his very first season as a trainer when Teenoso won the Epsom Derby under Lester Piggott in 1983. However, the closest Wragg would come to replicating Teenoso's win would be some 23 years later when the unconsidered 66/1 chance Dragon Dancer came within a short head of causing one of the biggest upsets in the race's history in a four-way go to the line, narrowly losing out to Sir Percy. Rather ironically, Wragg had trained the temperamental dam of the winner and both he and his father also trained several of the extended family, the most notable member being Teenoso. His 2001 contender, Asian Heights, well fancied after his last-to-first win in the Predominate Stakes at Goodwood, was cruelly robbed of his chance of running in the Classic after splitting a pastern with just over a week to go before the big race. He recovered to win at Group 3/Listed level, but injuries continued to blight him and his career somewhat fizzled out.

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