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PEDIGREE HANDICAPPING DECEMBER 8, 2007 Sangster's influence by Tim Holland The world record-breaking sale of Playful Act (Ire) at the recent Keeneland November Sale and this week's dispersal of the Swettenham broodmares at Newmarket may have served as a reminder to many as to the achievements and the impact the late Robert Sangster had on the world of Thoroughbred racing and breeding. Sangster, who died in April 2004, purchased his first racehorse in the early 1960s and his first notable success as an owner came when his Brief Star captured the 1969 Ayr Gold Cup the year after he had purchased 200 acres in Northeast England where he founded Swettenham Stud. The standard was quickly set when the stud's very first consignment of yearlings offered at the Newmarket Sales in December 1971 included Dibidale. Sangster retained a 50 percent share in the filly, a move that proved shrewd when the chestnut daughter of *Aggressor II became champion three-year-old filly through her victories in the Irish Oaks (Ire-G1) and Yorkshire Oaks (Eng-G1). Dibidale was desperately unlucky not to win the most important Oaks in Europe when her saddle slipped at Epsom when she was taking the lead turning for home. Remarkably, jockey Willie Carson remained aboard and passed the post in third place only to be disqualified from that position when it was revealed that some of the lead weight had fallen out. Dibidale raced in the colors of Sangster's friend and partner Nick Robinson, but it was not long before the famous green, blue and white silks were carried by champions. In 1976, The Minstrel and Durtal (Ire) carried the colors to become champion European two-year-old colt and filly, respectively and this would be the first of an amazing consecutive 25 years that a Sangster-owned horse would win a Group or Grade 1 race. The Minstrel set the stage for what was to follow in the next two decades. It had not taken Sangster long to realize that the real money was to be made with stallions but after buying established sires such as Sun Prince, Deep Diver and Green God, Sangster recognized that it would make more sense to find and make the stallions himself. Thus in 1975, Sangster formed a group of investors, including the legendary trainer Vincent O'Brien and John Magnier, that would focus on buying yearlings that would have the potential to be world-class stallions at the end of their racing careers. This trio would change the course of Thoroughbred history and wind up being the foundation of the Coolmore Stud empire as it is today. Five years earlier, O'Brien had trained Nijinsky II to win the English Triple Crown. Nijinsky was from the second crop of the Canadian-based sire Northern Dancer, who had also sired North American champions Vice Regal and Fanfreluche, as well as the leading French miler Lyphard. The group, nicknamed "The Brethren" in the early days, recognized the potential of Northern Dancer as a major world influence and purchased several yearlings by that sire on their first foray to the Kentucky summer sales. These included The Minstrel, who was secured for $200,000. After losing his first two starts of his three-year-old season, including the Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1), the pressure was on The Minstrel to win the Epsom Derby (Eng-G1), which he did narrowly, in good part due to a powerful ride from Lester Piggott. The chestnut colt went on to pad his resume with easier victories in the Irish Derby (Ire-G1) and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. (Eng-G1) before being syndicated to stud for $9 million, and the Brethren's plan was under way. 1977 was a huge year for Sangster and his partners. In addition to The Minstrel, the stable sent out seven other horses that would win Group 1 races in Europe and each one was bred in the United States. These included Alleged, who won the first of his two Prix de l'Arc de Triomphes (Fr-G1) that year and had been bought for $120,000. He would be syndicated for $13 million upon his retirement. Additionally, Try My Best was the second of five Dewhurst S. (Eng-G1) winners to carry Sangster's colors and be named champion two-year-old in England, four of whom were by Northern Dancer. The fifth was a grandson of the Canadian-bred sire. One of Sangster's major attributes was to employ the right talent for certain situations. In 1978, a good example was displayed when he hired Bill Shoemaker to ride Hawaiian Sound in the Epsom Derby. Trained by Barry Hills, who had trained Rheingold to a heartbreaking near miss in the 1972 Derby when he was outfinished by Roberto, Hawaiian Sound was an outsider at 25-1. Sangster recognized the superior judgment of pace owned by American jockeys and his plan nearly worked when Shoemaker led from the start, only to be caught in the final strides by Shirley Heights. This ride was hailed by the British media as one of the greatest pieces of horsemanship they had ever seen and the following year Sangster enticed another American, Steve Cauthen, to England to ride for Hills full time. Cauthen was an immediate sensation in England and would become champion jockey three times with 10 English classic wins to his name. As with Shoemaker, one of Cauthen's biggest assets was his ability to judge pace and, to a degree, he revolutionized British race riding. In the fall of 1980 and a week after Durtal's sister Detroit gave Sangster a third Arc win, Storm Bird won the Dewhurst. Unbeaten in five starts at two, Storm Bird endured a rocky start to his three-year-old year when a disgruntled ex-employee cut his mane and tail off. After a disappointing defeat in his seasonal debut, he was found to have a virus which knocked him out of the classics. However, by early fall he was working forwardly in preparation for an attempt at the Arc at which time he was syndicated for, at the time, an astounding price of $24 million. However, a minor injury kept Storm Bird out of the Arc field and he was retired to stud. While amazing at the time, the syndication price did not seen so outrageous once Storm Bird proved himself as a stallion, siring the likes of champions Indian Skimmer, Balanchine and Bluebird as well as the great stallion Storm Cat. Parallel to his European racing and breeding operations, Sangster's interests were becoming sizeable in Australia. His first major success in that continent came in 1979 with Panamint's victory in the Adelaide Cup (Aus-G2) and in 1980 he took the nation's biggest prize, the Melbourne Cup (Aus-G1), via Beldale Ball, who was trained by the leading conditioner Colin Hayes. Sangster's relationship with Hayes led to the pair teaming up to establish the hugely successful Collingrove in New South Wales, which is the predecessor of Swettenham's successful Australian operation today. In 1982, Sangster monopolized the European Derby scene by winning the English with Golden Fleece and the French and Irish with Assert (Ire), who was trained by Vincent O'Brien's son David. The following year, Caerleon made it two French Derby wins in a row for Sangster and El Gran Senor, whom Sangster often referred to as the best he ever owned, secured the two-year-old championship with his Dewhurst victory. A full brother to Try My Best who was Sangster's second Dewhurst winner, El Gran Senor won all of his four starts as a juvenile and in the spring of 1984 he demolished a star-studded field in the English Two Thousand Guineas. The field for that classic included Chief Singer, who would win his next three starts -- all Group 1 races; Lear Fan, winner of the prestigious Prix Jacques Le Marois (Fr-G1); and eventual champion older horse Rainbow Quest, winner of the following year's Arc. The ease of El Gran Senor's victory over these rivals tempted many to proclaim him one of the best milers in history. 1983 marked the first Grade 1 win in America for Sangster when Royal Heroine (Ire), who was trained by Michael Stoute, won the Hollywood Derby (G1) and the following year she added the Matriarch S. (G1) and the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) to her resume. However, perhaps the most unforgettable Breeders' Cup moment for Sangster came in 1990 when the 54 year-old, out-of-retirement Lester Piggott galvanized Royal Academy to a come-from-behind victory in the Mile at Belmont Park. El Gran Senor somewhat overshadowed the successes that year of another Ballydoyle runner by Northern Dancer, Sadler's Wells, who won the Eclipse S. (Eng-G1) and Irish Champion S. (Ire-G1). However, no horse could overshadow the achievements of Sadler's Wells at stud. Bred by Swettenham, Sadler's Wells was out of Fairy Bridge, who was purchased as a yearling in Kentucky for just $40,000 and became the champion Irish two-year-old in 1977. He retired to Coolmore in 1985 and sired champions Old Vic and In the Wings (GB) in his very first crop. Over the next 20 years, the international success and influence of Sadler's Wells has been immeasurable and his sons will continue to spread his influence. His offspring standing at Coolmore today include leading sires Montjeu (Ire) and Galileo (Ire). While Coolmore's policy of buying yearlings, racing them and retaining the best as stallions has been highly successful, the partners were always ready to secure potential leading sires from other avenues. Such was the case with Danehill, who was bred and raced by Khalid Abdullah. After a successful racing career that saw him become the champion European sprinter in 1989, Danehill was retired and sold to the partnership of Arrowfield Stud in Australia and Coolmore. After standing his first season in Australia in the fall of 1989, Danehill was returned to Ireland for the 1990 breeding season thus becoming one of the first "shuttle" stallions. Coolmore was, with the help of Colin Hayes, soon shuttling many of their stallions between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres and led the way in a practice that is commonplace today. Danehill was quickly successful in both Europe and Australia, and Coolmore soon acquired full ownership. He has been responsible for Ballydoyle standouts such as Dylan Thomas (Ire), George Washington (Ire), Rock of Gibraltar (Ire) and Horatio Nelson. Danehill died in 2003, but his influence and that of Sadler's Wells will dominate international turf racing for many years to come. With Vincent O'Brien approaching the end of his days of training and with Swettenham Stud continuing to grow in the mid-80s, Sangster put into action a new chapter in his life. He purchased the historic training establishment at Manton, spent several millions in improvements to the 2,300-acre estate and installed Michael Dickinson as his private trainer. Dickinson's tenure was short-lived and he was replaced by Barry Hills and later by Peter Chapple-Hyam and finally John Gosden. It was Chapple-Hyam who achieved the most success at Manton for Sangster through the exploits of Rodrigo De Triano, Turtle Island and Victory Note, and while the latter would be Sangster's last classic winner when he won the French Two Thousand Guineas (Fr-G1), Rodrigo De Triano may be considered the last great horse to sport his owner's colors. A winner of five Group 1 races, including the English Two Thousand Guineas, it may have been fitting since Rodrigo De Triano was the best son of one of Sangster's favorites, El Gran Senor. A glance at the pedigrees of the Swettenham Stud horses on offer in the recent sales illustrates the extent of Robert Sangster's success as an owner and breeder -- in all he raced more than 100 individual Grade/Group 1 winners, was champion owner in Britain on five occasions and bred or owned 17 European classic winners. A closer look at the pedigrees may give some insight as to the extent that Sangster forwarded the internationalization of racing and breeding.
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