Sadler's Wells

Sadler's Wells (11 April 1981 – 26 April 2011) was an American-bred, Irish-trained champion Thoroughbred racehorse and outstanding sire. He was the 1984 European Champion miler after winning the Irish 2,000 Guineas, Eclipse Stakes and Phoenix Champion Stakes in that year. He also finished second in the French Derby and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Despite his success as a runner, it is as a sire that Sadler's Wells is best known. He was the leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland a record-setting 14 times, including 13 titles in a row. At the time of his death, he had sired 323 stakes winners. Only Danehill, who was operational across both hemispheres, sired more. Sadler's Wells was also a notable sire of sires, including Galileo and Montjeu in Europe, and El Prado in the United States. He helped reverse a trend from the middle of the twentieth century where many of Europe's most successful racehorses were exported to stand in the United States and later Japan. Background Sadler's Wells was a bay horse with a broad white blaze and white socks on his hind legs. He was bred in the United States by Robert Sangster's Swettenham Stud and raced under Sangster's name. His owner was part of the original Coolmore partnership team with Tim Vigors and trainer Vincent O'Brien, later joined by John Magnier. They became active in the North American yearling auctions starting in the mid-1970s, purchasing and part-breeding notable horses like The Minstrel, Alleged, Golden Fleece and El Gran Senor, and creating a high demand for the offspring of Northern Dancer and Nijinsky. By the early 1980s, they were noted for paying millions of dollars for the right yearling, entering in bidding duels with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum of Dubai In 1976, Sangster, O'Brien and Magnier made one of their most important purchases for only $40,000 ($,000 inflation adjusted)—a yearling filly by the little-known stallion Bold Reason. She was named Fairy Bridge and trained by O'Brien in Ireland, where she became the champion two-year-old filly of 1977. Fairy Bridge was closely related to a number of outstanding horses previously trained by O'Brien, including Thatch, Marinsky, Lisadell and Apalachee. In 1980, Fairy Bridge was sent back to America and bred to Northern Dancer, the most successful sire of his era. Sadler's Wells was her first foal. She would later also produce National Stakes winner Tate Gallery and successful breeding stallion Fairy King.