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.Australian Stud Book: Fairy Bridge (USA) 1975 Retrieved 18 November 2010
The colt was sent into training with Vincent O'Brien at Ballydoyle. Throughout his racing career, Sadler's Wells had a characteristic running style, galloping with his head at an unusually high angle. He was a well-balanced horse with good tactical speed standing high. Even as a sire, he was noted for his laid-back, good-natured temperament, a trait he passed on to many of his offspring.
Racing career
1983: two-year-old season Sadler's Wells made his first appearance in September at Leopardstown Racecourse in a seven-furlong maiden race. Ridden by Pat Eddery, the colt started the 1/2 favourite in a field of sixteen runners and won by six lengths from Cyrano. Three weeks later, he was moved up in class for the Group Three Beresford Stakes at the Curragh over one mile on soft ground. The horse led from the start and won by six lengths from Cerussite. In the International Classification, he was given a rating of 78, ten pounds behind the top-rated two-year-old, his stable-mate El Gran Senor.
1984: three-year-old season Sadler's Wells met El Gran Senor on the racecourse for the only time when he finished second to him in the seven-furlong Gladness Stakes at the Curragh. Frank McNulty, head of BBA Ireland, later commented: "I remember seeing him at the Gladness Stakes—when he walked into the ring I thought he looked absolutely magnificent, even though he was only the second string." Sadler's Wells next won the ten-furlong Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial and was then brought back in distance for the Irish 2,000 Guineas over one mile, where he was ridden by George McGrath. In a closely contested finish, he won from the French-trained Procida and the favourite Secreto. The O'Brien-trained Capture Him, whom Eddery chose to ride in preference to Sadler's Wells, finished fourth.
Instead of going for the one-mile St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, the colt was moved up in distance for the French Derby, a race O'Brien had won the previous year with Caerleon. Sadler's Wells took the lead in the straight but was overtaken in the closing stages and beaten one and a half lengths by Darshaan, with Rainbow Quest in third. In July, Sadler's Wells was the only three-year-old in a field of nine runners for the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park. He held off the challenge of the mare Time Charter to win by a neck. The winner was praised for his "battling" and "determined" performance against more-experienced rivals. Later that month, Sadler's Wells ran a strong second to Teenoso in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.
Sadler's Wells failed to reproduce his best form when fourth in the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup at York. Two weeks later he ran in the inaugural Phoenix Champion Stakes, the most valuable race ever in Ireland. The colt held off a late challenge from Seattle Song to win by three-quarters of a length. That success took his prize money for the season to £384,114. At the time, this was the fourth-highest single-season total for any horse trained in Britain or Ireland, behind Troy (£408,424 in 1979), Tolomeo (£400,000 in 1983) and Shergar (£386,410 in 1981). On his last appearance, Sadler's Wells was sent to Longchamp in October for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, where he finished eighth behind Sagace.
Assessment Sadler's Wells was given a rating of 90 by the International Classification, making him the sixth-best European horse in 1984. He earned a Timeform rating of 132 for his victory in the Eclipse Stakes. British breeder Bob McCreery would later say, "I was absolutely convinced Sadler's Wells was the real deal. I always admired his guts. He was a very tough horse, and that's one thing I've really always tried to go for, courage. He was absolutely ideal, the ideal horse."
Stud record In 1985, Sadler's Wells was syndicated by Coolmore for €800,000 a share (total value of €32m) and stood for an initial fee of IR£125,000. He was an immediate success when his first crop reached racing age in 1988, led by In the Wings and Old Vic. Two other colts from that crop, Scenic and Prince of Dance, dead-heated in the 1988 Dewhurst Stakes. In 1989 with only two crops of racing age, he set a world record by having 11 stakes winners in one year, an exceptional achievement at a time when foal crops were much smaller than today. For 1990, his stud fee increased to £150,000 with a book of 65 mares. Eamonn Phelan of Coolmore commented, "Very few stallions get offspring like themselves, but this fellow does. He's so tough and very well bred as well as being very sound."
In 1990, his daughter Salsabil won the 1000 Guineas, Epsom Oaks and Irish Derby, which helped propel Sadler's Wells to his first champion sire title. He went on to be Champion Sire in Great Britain & Ireland a record 14 times, including 13 years in a row from 1992 to 2004. The previous record of 13 titles was set by Highflyer in the 18th century.
Sadler's Wells has been called one of the most influential sires of all times, especially based on his record in the English Classic Races. He is the sire of 12 English Classic winners, a number comparable with leading sires Stockwell and St Simon from the 19th century. His English Classic winners are: Salsabil (1000 Guineas, Oaks), Intrepidity (Oaks), Moonshell (Oaks), Entrepreneur (2000 Guineas), King of Kings (2000 Guineas), Imagine (Oaks), Galileo (Derby), Milan (St Leger), High Chaparral (Derby), Brian Boru (St Leger), Refuse to Bend (2000 Guineas) and Alexandrova (Oaks). In 2001, his daughters swept the top three positions in the Oaks. He also sired 14 winners of the Irish Classics. In 1999, his sons finished one-two-three in the Irish Derby.
By 2001, his stud fee had increased to £200,000 with a book of roughly 200 mares each year. With the increased number of offspring each year, his number of stakes winners began to rapidly accelerate. Sadler's Wells briefly held the all-time record for the number of stakes winners when Roman Saddle become his 177th stakes winner in July 2001. Mr. Prospector had held the previous record with 176 stakes winners. Sadler's Wells sired his 200th stakes winner in 2002, becoming the first stallion to achieve that landmark. However, Danehill then passed him, reaching the 300 stakes winner mark in 2005, a level Sadler's Wells would achieve in 2008. At the time of his death in 2011, Sadler's Wells had sired 323 stakes winners, including 73 individual Group 1/Grade I winners on the flat. He also sired several National Hunt winners, most notably Istabraq.
Notable progeny c = colt, f = filly, g = gelding,