Sadler's Wells has put out his last cigarratte

RIP. A huge influence on the breed, just like his sire before him and possibly Galileo to follow in his hoofsteps. And a real character too, he always looked like he knew he was the star of the show. What a legacy he's left through his sons and daughters. Will leave a huge hole at Coolmore.
 
I absolutely adored him. He lived to a great age, had a wonderful life and left us all so many memories - and more for the future no doubt.

But I am still sad at his passing. :(

I know he covered enormous books, had bad ones as well as good ones etc - but I will always belive that he would still have been champion sire even if he had only had a handful of mares. Like his sire there was something kind of supernatural about him. Bags of presence and electricity.

I hope Frankel wins the Guineas for this sire line.
 
It's sad news, although 30 is a tremendous age for a thoroughbred, especially a stallion.

He was a wonderful success at stud, his figures perhaps slightly flattered by sheer weight of numbers and the modern passion for watering (most, though not all, of his offspring had a preference for ease in the ground), but he was definitely one of the best stallions in the world over the last 50 years or so. I suppose you'd put Bold Ruler, Mr Prospector, Star Kingdom, Ribot and Sunday Silence ahead of him, but, off-hand, I can't think of another one.
 
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How good would Sunday Silence have been if he hadn't gone to Japan? One of my all time favourites, I was enthralled when I first saw footage of his races with Easy Goer.
 
Venusian said:
It's sad news, although 30 is a tremendous age for a thoroughbred, especially a stallion.

He was a wonderful success at stud, his figures perhaps slightly flattered by sheer weight of numbers and the modern passion for watering (most, though not all, of his offspring had a preference for ease in the ground), but he was definitely one of the best stallions in the world over the last 50 years or so. I suppose you'd put Bold Ruler, Mr Prospector, Star Kingdom, Ribot and Sunday Silence ahead of him, but, off-hand, I can't think of another one.
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The last 50 years? Northern Dancer then...
 
Bar the Bull said:
Do you remember the time when his legacy as a sire of sires was in doubt?

Now we have:

Galileo
Montjeu
High Chaparral

Oscar
Old Vic

And a fair few bullets to be fired, particularly as a jumps sire, with Yeats, etc.
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I presume you are on the wind up with High Chaparral?!
 
Not at all.

High Chaparral's performances over the past two years have seen his fee increase from €10k to €25k. In a falling market.

Apart from So You Think, he has had Shoot Out, Monaco Consul and Descarado winning G1s for him down under. And he has started to get serious results in this hemisphere, with Wigmore Hall, High Heeled, The Miniver Rose, Redwood and Joanna all doing their stuff.

He is obviously not as good as Montjeu or Galileo yet, and not likely to be.

But he has been a success at stud, with something like 30 horses with RPRs over 100.
 
Wigmore Hall, Redwood and High Heeled will never place in a strong Group 1.

Maybe he is a late starter, but he has had enough chances to do well in Europe and relative to the company he was bracketed with, he hasn't managed it.

Maybe he's just good at getting some listed or Group 3 horses.
 
In retrospect, yes - the actual performance of both horses in that race was nothing special, and High Heeled was beaten out of sight.
 
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