Word: sangster
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...kiss of death. The once-upon-a-time darling was lustily booed. Recalls Cauthen, with typical stoicism: "I was a bit shocked about the way people reacted to what was happening to me." At his lowest point, he accepted a lucrative offer from the wealthy English horse owner Robert Sangster to race for him during the English flat season. Why not, Cauthen mused. "I felt I was a bit burned out. I'd never visited England and I thought, I'm young and this is the time to try it if I'm ever going...
Even with a Northern Dancer in his bloodline, every yearling is a longshot. But Sangster can use his superstars to cover the losers. Moreover, his worldwide sources enable him to place what he delicately calls "the lesser horses" where they bring the best possible fees. One far-out deal: a stud standing in Tasmania...
...Even so, Sangster has a unique way with horses, one that combines sporting instinct with clerkish fussiness on a corporate scale. He describes it as "horribly businesslike." At the core of his operation is a first-rate staff. Irish Trainer Vincent O'Brien, 65, for instance, is one of those souls who commune with Thoroughbreds somewhere beyond speech. O'Brien's canny ways brought the team its first big season in 1977: the $200,000 stallion The Minstrel won four major European races and was syndicated at $9 million. Pat Hogan is Sangster's "salt...
...sweating cycle, whether he was bothered by crowds. Three vets, including a heart specialist, performed a physical, with full X rays. "Leg Man" Bob Griffin examined a race horse's most important assets. And because the colt's most important assets will change after his racing days. Sangster's wily genealogist, John Magnier, also had to approve. Says Magnier: "It all follows the semen. If you don't have the semen, you don't have the industry...
...value. But the big payoff is now in the breeding barn. In the '50s a horse who won $1 million in purses was worth $1 million as a stallion. Today a million-dollar winner is worth $20 million at stud. One outstanding example is Northern Dancer, whose offspring Sangster often buys. Almost gelded because of his questionable conformation and rank temperament, the 1964 Kentucky Derby winner is now the world's greatest living superstud: 85 of his progeny (one in five) are stakes winners. His going rate is $300,000, but his 14 get at Keeneland were sold...