Sadler's Wells retired from stud duty

SADLER'S WELLS (Northern Dancer), one of Europe's all-time premier sires, has been retired

from stud duties due to declining fertility, Coolmore Stud

announced Monday. The 27-year-old stallion will remain at

Coolmore in Ireland, where he has stood since retiring to stud

for the 1985 season.

"I think Sadler's Wells is generally

acknowledged as the best sire Europe has ever seen, and we feel

very privileged to have been associated with him," Coolmore

Manager Christy Grassick said. "Despite his advancing years, he is

still in remarkably good condition and I hope he enjoys a long

and happy retirement. His influence will be felt for many years

to come and, in Galileo (Ire), Montjeu (Ire) and High Chaparral

(Ire), we are delighted to have his three best sons at Coolmore."

Sadler's Wells was champion sire in Britain and Ireland a

record-breaking 14 times, including 13 years in succession. On

the day his retirement was announced, Sadler's Wells was

represented by Prospect Wells, who broke his maiden in the Prix Greffulhe

(Fr-G2) at Saint-Cloud. He is also the sire of last week's Chester Vase (Eng-G3) winner Doctor Fremantle and

further 2008 Group 3 winners Ask (GB), Royal and Regal and

Gagnoa.

Sadler's Wells has sired a

staggering 272 stakes winners from 2,149 foals of racing age, a

strike rate of nearly 13 percent. Of those, 154 have won graded

races and 18 have been named champion. Only his late former

stablemate Danehill has sired more stakes winners. Sadler's

Wells, whose stud fee has been listed as private for several

years, covered 64 mares in 2007.

Robert Sangster and Vincent O'Brien enjoyed no small amount of success in the

1970s and 80s with horses purchased in the United States,

including the likes of champions Alleged, The Minstrel and Golden

Fleece, to name a few. One of their minor acquisitions during

that time was a $40,000 Bold Reason yearling filly at Keeneland

July in 1976 from the consignment of Claiborne Farm. She was

produced by the *Forli mare Special, a granddaughter of the famed

broodmare *Rough Shod II (Gold Bridge). Named Fairy Bridge, the bay won both of

her starts as a two-year-old in Ireland and was honored as the

joint-topweighted filly in that country in 1977 without winning a stakes. She

returned to the United States to begin her breeding career.

Following the death of her first foal by *Vaguely Noble, Fairy

Bridge was covered by Northern Dancer and produced Sadler's Wells

in 1981. Her next foal, the Northern Dancer colt Fairy King, was

injured in his lone start, but became a very successful stallion

at Coolmore. He was followed by Tate Gallery (Northern Dancer),

who won the National S. (Ire-G1) in 1985. Fairy Bridge then produced a

pair of stakes-winning fillies by Northern Dancer, Fairy Gold and

Puppet Dance. Her final foal was the winning Danzig colt

Perugino, who has sired Australian star Testa Rossa and the

good sprinter The Tatling during his stud career.

Sadler's Wells captured both of his starts at two, including

the Beresford S. (Ire-G2), but was overshadowed by the brilliance of

stablemate El Gran Senor, who ended 1983 as the champion

two-year-old in England and Ireland. At three, Sadler's Wells won

the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial S. (Ire-G2) before earning classic glory in the

Irish Two Thousand Guineas (Ire-G1). He followed with a runner-up finish in the Prix du Jockey-Club

(Fr-G1), splitting future top sires

Darshaan and Rainbow Quest. The blaze-faced bay established

himself as one of the toughest members of his generation

thereafter, winning the Coral-Eclipse S. (Eng-G1) and Irish Champion

S. (Ire-G1) as well as finishing second in the King George VI and Queen

Elizabeth Diamond S. (Eng-G1).

Northern Dancer, represented by dual classic

winner El Gran Senor (Two Thousand Guineas [Eng-G1] and Irish Derby [Ire-G1]) as well as

Epsom Derby (Eng-G1) hero Secreto in addition to Sadler's Wells, set

record earnings figures in Britain and Ireland in 1984, becoming

the first stallion to pass the million mark

Despite an army of Group 1-winning sons, it took some time for

Sadler's Wells to establish himself as a sire of sires,

particularly in Europe. His champion son El Prado (Ire), sent to

Kentucky for stud duty, climbed from a relatively humble

beginning (a $5,000 stud fee) to the upper echelons of U.S.

sires, leading the general sire list in 2002 and perennially in

the top five. Fort Wood rewrote the books in South Africa, and

Scenic (Ire) carved out a solid career in Australia. As for his

European sons at stud, In the Wings (GB) sired a globe-trotting

superstar in Singspiel (Ire) before his untimely death, and

Barathea (Ire) has sired a sprinkling of Group 1 winners.

But

true successors to his mantle did not come forward until his more

recent crops. Champion Montjeu's first three-year-olds

emerged in 2005 with the likes of Hurricane Run (Ire), hero of

the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Fr-G1); Motivator, the Epsom Derby victor; and

Scorpion (Ire), winner of the Grand Prix de

Paris (Fr-G1) and the St Leger S (Eng-G1). A year later, the first crop of

champion Galileo produced Irish One Thousand Guineas (Ire-G1) heroine

Nightime, Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) winner Red Rocks (Ire) and

Sixties Icon, who led home a Galileo trifecta in the St

Leger. Galileo's second crop included Teofilo, the

top-ranked European two-year-old of 2006, while his third crop

includes last year's European juvenile champ and recent Two Thousand Guineas

runner-up New Approach.

A significant portion of his Group 1 winners are male, but fillies by Sadler's Wells have also made their mark in the

classics, including the Oaks (Eng-G1) heroines Salsabil (Ire) (1990),

Intrepidity (GB) (1993), Moonshell (Ire) (1995), Imagine (Ire)

(2001) and Alexandrova (Ire) (2006). Salsabil also distinguished

herself with a victory in the One Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) and defeated colts

in the Irish Derby.

Given their success on the track, it is not surprising that

Sadler's Wells's daughters have become valuable both in the sales

ring and in the breeding shed. The leading broodmare sire in

Ireland and Britain in 2005, 2006 and 2007, Sadler's Wells is the

damsire of recent Two Thousand Guineas winner Henrythenavigator. That

colt is by Kingmambo, who has been a particularly useful foil

with Sadler's Wells mares. The partnership has included champions

El Condor Pasa and Divine Proportions, classic winner Virginia

Waters and Group 1 winner Thewayyouare.

Sadler's Wells is also the broodmare sire of Group 1 winners

Cesario (Jpn), Diktat, Horatio Nelson, Musical Chimes,

Peeping Fawn, Sakhee, Silic (Fr), Whipper, Youmzain, and others. 

Last November, his daughter Playful Act (Ire) became the most

expensive broodmare of all time when knocked down to Darley's

John Ferguson for 

$10.5 million. Fittingly, she was sold out of a dispersal of

Robert Sangster's stock. Daughter Liffey Dancer set a world

record for a yearling filly at last year's Tattersalls October

Sale. She sold to Charlie Gordon-Watson, agent for Craig Bennett,

for 2.5-million guineas ($5.33 million). Sadler's Wells has also

sired the highest-priced yearling ever sold in Europe, Diaghilev (a Group 1 winner in Hong Kong under the name River

Dancer), who sold for 3.4-million guineas in 2000 at Tattersalls

Houghton.

Robert Sangster's son Ben, who was on hand to watch Playful

Act sell last November, reflected on the sire who has had an

immense impact on his family. 

"He was a phenomenal horse," Sangster told

sportinglife.com. "His record as a stallion is unbelievable, and

it is the end of a very distinguished career. His legacy will

live on through his sons and daughters and their sons and

daughters. He has the likes of Montjeu and Galileo among many

others to continue his bloodline. A number of his sons and

daughters will probably be lining up at Epsom this year and for

the next couple of years to come and his influence will

continue."