Pedigree Handicapping

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.