Grand Parade (horse)

Grand Parade
Grand Parade, circa 1920, as photographed by Clarence Hailey.
Sire	Orby
Grandsire	Orme
Dam	Grand Geraldine
Damsire	Desmond
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1916
Country	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Colour	Black
Breeder	Richard Croker
Owner	Lord Glanely
Trainer	Etienne G. de Mestre Behan Frank Barling
Record	8: 7-0-1
Earnings	£
Major wins
Anglesey Stakes (1918) National Produce Stakes (1918) Epsom Derby (1919) St. James's Palace Stakes (1919)

Grand Parade (1916–1932) was an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from April 1918 to June 1919, he ran eight times, winning seven races and was never beaten at level weights. He was a leading two-year-old in Ireland in 1918, winning the Anglesey Stakes and the National Produce Stakes. In 1919 he won both his races and became the first black horse for 106 years to win the Epsom Derby.

Grand Parade (foaled 1916) was bred in Ireland by the American politician Richard Croker at his Glencairn Stud. He was sold as a foal to the shipping magnate Lord Glanely for a sum of 470 gns. The colt was trained during his three-year-old season by Lord Glanely’s private trainer Frank Barling at the Falmouth House stables at Newmarket, Suffolk.

Grand Parade’s sire, Orby, was owned and bred by Croker and had become the first Irish-trained horse to win the Epsom Derby in 1907. He went on to be a reasonably successful stallion, siring, apart from Grand Parade, the 1000 Guineas winner and leading sprinter Diadem. The female side of Grand Parade’s pedigree was undistinguished: his dam Grand Geraldine was a former cart-horse that raced only one time as a two-year-old. She produced several full-siblings to Grand Parade (Howard O'Carroll, Oakland and Ybro) that met with limited racing success.

Grand Parade won five of his six races as a two-year-old, beginning with the Fitzwilliam Stakes at Newmarket in April. He was then off the course for three months before returning to Newmarket to win the Soltykoff Stakes at the July meeting. He was trained for these races by Etienne G. de Mestre, the son of the notable Australian trainer Etienne L. de Mestre. Grand Parade’s season then took an unusual turn as he was relocated to Ireland where his training was supervised by a trainer named Behan. Grand Parade was unbeaten in three Irish starts, all at the Curragh, winning the Biennial Stakes, the Anglesey Stakes and the National Produce Stakes. In the autumn he was returned to England and joined Frank Barling's stable. Despite a rough sea journey from which he was given no time to recover, Grand Parade was sent straight to Newmarket for the Moulton Stakes. He finished third to Glanmerin and Knight of the Air, attempting to give fifteen pounds to the winner and five to the runner-up, with his jockey, Steve Donoghue, being criticised for giving the colt a poor ride. At the end of the year he was rated the equal second best two-year-old in Britain, two pounds below The Panther.