Geoff Wragg
Popular racehorse trainer who helped Lester Piggott to his final Epsom Derby victory on Teenoso
GEOFF WRAGG, who has died aged 87, was among the most respected trainers in horse racing, and enjoyed his finest moment in 1983 when Teenoso won the Epsom Derby – Lester Piggott’s ninth and final victory in the race.
It was Wragg’s first season as a trainer in his own right, although he had worked assiduously as assistant to his famous father, Harry Wragg, for 28 years. As a jockey, Harry (known as “The Head Waiter” for his mastery of the late challenge) had won three Derbies and 10 other English Classics. After retiring from the saddle in 1946 he became a trainer, winning the 1961 Derby with the 66-1 shot Psidium, as well as four other Classic races. With two of his younger brothers – Sam and Arthur – also successful jockeys, the Wraggs became a formidable racing family.
Born on January 9 1930, Geoffrey Wragg was brought up at Bedford Lodge, his parents’ home in Newmarket, and educated at Elstree Preparatory School, Berkshire, and then Fettes. He considered a career as a vet, but National Service with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), which sent him on courses at Southampton University, kindled a lifelong interest in electronics. (Later, at the Wraggs’ Newmarket yard, Abington Place, he would design and install an early alarm system to detect any problems in the horseboxes, and he would be the first to trial electronic timing equipment on the gallops.)
After working briefly on a stud farm in the United States, Wragg began working as a radar engineer in the laboratories of the Cambridge electronics company Pye, where he tried unsuccessfully to convince his superiors that, one day, everyone would be wandering around with a telephone in their pockets. When mobiles eventually became available, Wragg made sure to purchase one of the earliest examples, which he carried to the gallops in a huge leather case suspended at the side of his horse.
Geoff Wragg was at Pye when, in 1955, his brother Peter decided to cease helping their father at Abington Place to pursue a career as a bloodstock agent. Geoff filled the role until Harry’s retirement in 1982, when he finally took over the licence himself, inheriting horses belonging to owner-breeders such as the Oppenheimers, John Pearce and Eric Moller. He continued to prefer to train for owner-breeders, rather than expand his operation.
He could hardly have got off to a better start when Moller’s Teenoso won the Derby, but Wragg always felt that the horse “didn’t get the credit he deserved”. The race was run on unusually soft ground, and the winner recorded the slowest time for almost a century. The trainer was vindicated when Teenoso returned the following year to win the Grand Prix de Saintcloud in Paris and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot, both on fast ground. Again, Piggott was the jockey.
The Moller racing operation also owned Pentire, which Wragg trained to win the Predominate Stakes, King Edward VII Stakes, Great Voltigeur, and Irish Champion Stakes (all in 1995) and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 1996. Wragg described this horse as his “best colt”, although it was never entered for the Derby.
In the 2006 Derby, Wragg came close to pulling off a sensational victory when John Pearce’s Dragon Dancer, a 66-1 shot which had never won a race, failed by only a short head to hold off Sir Percy. His one other Classic success was with Marling, which took the Irish 1,000 Guineas under Walter Swinburn in 1992; in the same year she won the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood.
Wragg’s many other good winners included Most Welcome (Lockinge Stakes, 1989); Arcadian Heights (Ascot Gold Cup, 1994); Owington (July Cup, 1994); First Island (Hong Kong Cup, 1996); Rebecca Sharp (Coronation Stakes, 1997); and Balisada (Coronation Stakes, 1999). He was frequently successful at Chester’s May meeting, Royal Ascot and at “Glorious Goodwood”.
Noted for his patience with his horses and for his quiet courtesy, Wragg retained the loyalty of both his staff and owners until his retirement in 2008.
He was a keen golfer and radio ham, and for 50 years served on the committee of Astley Club (now The Racing Centre), the community centre in Newmarket for stud and stable staff.
Geoff Wragg is survived by his wife Patricia, whom he married in 1956. His sister Susan was married to the jockey Manny Mercer, and their daughter, Carolyn, married the 11-times champion jockey Pat Eddery.
Geoff Wragg, born January 9 1930, died September 15 2017