History of Robert Sangster
Robert Sangster was the outstanding British racehorse owner and breeder of his generation; for a heady period of some eight years, his emerald green and royal blue silks were among the most familiar in the sport, and he appeared to have a virtual monopoly on the big races in Britain, Ireland and France.

At the height of his success he had around 1,000 horses at stud and in training in England and Ireland, America, Venezuela and Australia. In the course of his career, he won two Epsom Derbys (The Minstrel and Golden Fleece); four Irish Derbys (Jaazeiro, Assert, El Gran Senor and Law Society); two French Derbys (Assert and Caerleon); three Prix de l'Arc de Triomphes (Alleged, twice in successive years, and Detroit); five Irish 2,000 Guineas (Kings Lake, Sadler's Wells, Prince of Birds, Rodrigo de Triano and Turtle Island); three English 2,000 Guineas (Lomond, El Gran Senor and Rodrigo de Triano); and one 1,000 Guineas (Las Meninas).

Thirteen of these successes - the majority - came in the period 1977-84, during which Robert Sangster was Britain's leading owner five times. Although he was to continue to be a major force in racing, he never again achieved the dominance of those years and concentrated on his breeding operation.

In the 1970s he had gone into partnership with John Magnier and the trainer Vincent O'Brien in the Coolmore Stud, Co Tipperary. On O'Brien's advice, "the Brethren" (as the trio became known) tried to "corner" the Northern Dancer line, buying yearlings at the sales in Kentucky.

It was a breathtakingly bold idea: to buy all the best yearlings, potential Classic winners which would subsequently become top-class stallions for public syndication. Caerleon and Sadler's Wells were to become two of the most successful stallions in the world.

In 1984 he bought the Manton Estate, the famous stables near Marlborough in Wiltshire, and Manton became the centre of his racing operation in Britain.  To date there have been 49 Group 1 winners from Manton, the most recent of which was Red Rocks in the Man O’War Stakes in July 2008.

Although best known to the public for his success on the track, Robert Sangster had an extensive breeding operation in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres.   In fact there have been 168 Group 1 winners across the world that have either be owned or bred by his companies.  When in 2007, the Sangster family decided to have a bloodstock dispersal sale, the quality of the broodmares was highlighted by two record sales.  The first was Playful Act, sold for $10.5m in Keeneland in 2007 and then in 2008 Milanova was sold in Sydney for A$5m.  It may be many years to come before one owner/breeder holds both these records simultaneously.