Sadler’s Wells retired from Stud

May 2008, will be remembered by the horse racing community as the month when the racing industry lost two of its greatest sires. Storm Cat was retired on the heels of the announcement from Coolmore Stud, that Sadler’s Wells will be spending the rest of his life in the comfort of the stud farm, in full retirement. Both horses were retired due to their age beginning to cause a decline in fertility. Sadler’s Wells retires as a legend and a champion horse.

Sadler’s Wells was born in the United States in 1981. He was sired by the magnificent Northern Dancer and foaled by Fairy Bridge. He enjoyed a successful racing career with late owner Robert Sangster, while trained under the guidance of Vincent O’Brian. The highlights of his horse racing career includes spectacular victories such as the 1983 Beresford Stakes, Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial in 1984 and in the same year, the Irish 2000 Guineas, Eclipse Stakes, Irish Champion Stakes and the award for Champion Miler (France).

But it was his career as a champion sire that catapulted him to stardom and branded him as the leading sire in Europe. It is known that most of the Coolmore Stud Empire was built on his reputation and his ability to sire winners. During his time as a stud stallion, he has produced seventy Group 1 individual winners, approximately two hundred and fifty stakes winners, twenty one Group 1 winning two year olds and twenty two classic champions. His progeny includes Refuse to Bend, Alexandrova, In The Wings, King of Kings, Old Vic, Yeats, Carnegie, Entrepreneur and Galileo. Galileo achieved tremendous success by winning the 2001 Epsom Derby and in 1999, Montjeu made the headline after being victorious at the French Derby, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomph and the Irish Derby. Istabrag became a breathtaking hurdler with career earnings of over a million pounds and High Chaparral won the Epsom Derby in 2002 and took the Breeders’ Cup Turf title twice.

His triumphant contributions to the horse racing industry is evident in the achievements of his offspring and recognized through awards such as the 1995 Leading Sire in North America and the 1990 Leading Sire Award in Great Britain and Ireland, which he received again from the year 1992 to 2004. The Leading Sire in France Award was presented to Sadler’s Wells in 1993, 1994 and 1999. Sadler’s Wells will be fondly remembered through the legacy of champions he has left behind.