Sangster reported to be ill

The Melbourne Sunday Herald in Australia has reported that Robert Sangster, 68, one of the prominent racehorse owners who helped build Coolmore Stud into a global powerhouse, is undergoing treatment in London for pancreatic and liver cancer.

Sangster was among the group of investors who paid a world-record yearling price of $13.1 million to acquire Seattle Dancer at the 1985 Keeneland July yearling sale. He has bloodstock holdings around the world, including such properties as Collingrove Stud in Australia and Swettenham Stud and the Manton training complex in England. Sangster is the co-breeder of such influential horses as Sadler's Wells and El Gran Senor and he bred or raced countless other champions and Group 1 winners, among them The Minstrel, Storm Bird, Be My Guest, Dr Devious, Rodrigo de Triano, and Turtle Island.

Backed by the Vernon Pools betting fortune he inherited from his father, Sangster teamed up with John Magnier and Vincent O'Brien in the 1970's, developing the Coolmore Stud operation that remains globally dominant today.