Enjoyed a punt – the Late Robert Sangster
Great Summerveld trainer of yesteryear Herman Brown Senior reminisced recently about his partnership with the late football pools magnate Robert Sangster, who was one of the biggest owners in world racing, a fact that not many appreciated at the time his colours of emerald green, royal blue sleeves and white cap with green spots were seen regularly on KZN racecourses.
Brown was introduced to Sangster at an Australian sale by the late Durban-based Bloodstock agent Chris Smith. Brown recalled that he and Sangster “took to each other immediately” and later Sangster, upon enquiring about Brown’s credentials, gave him the go ahead to buy a few horses.
Brown trained strings of between 15 to 20 horses for Sangster and one of the first things he learnt was that Sangster loved a punt.
However, he only ever considered a bet if the trainer was able to rate the chances of the horse as at least 8 out of 10.
The first horse that fitted the credentials was a colt called Seat Of Power.
Brown recalled that in those days, unlike in today’s age of transparency, the stakes money was not high and gambling played an important role in many yards.
He said, “There were eyes everywhere and many at Summerveld knew how good Seat Of Power was before he raced.”
Consequently Brown planned to debut the horse in Johannesburg. He was due to take a couple of his best horses up there for a big meeting and entered Seat Of Power in a maiden on the day.
Brown put Seat Of Power to the test beforehand and galloped him over 1400m on the Summerveld grass with one of his many Gr 1 horses.
He recalled , “Seat Of Power played with him.”
He continued, “I phoned Robert and told him I had a good runner for him. He asked me the rating and I replied nine.”
The problem now was how to get the money on, because when Sangster punted he punted big. After being advised by his father, Brown phoned one of the biggest bookmakers in Johannesburg, who confirmed that the favourite was even money and Seat Of Power was 3-1.
Brown was asked how much he would like on and after replying he added, “You will have to do the exchange rates because that’s the amount in pounds.”
Herman and Thelma Brown (Summerhill)
After an initial pause to absorb this information the bookmaker told Brown that he would likely be able to give him even money as long as he gave him about 15 minutes to finalise it. The bookmaker then claimed all the prices around the country and secured the even money bet, although the horse opened on course at prohibitive odds-on. He won easily and the ever generous Sangster rewarded Brown by allowing him to keep the stake money.
The best horse that Brown ever trained for Sangster was the remarkable Turncoat.
Turncoat’s first trainer was Mark Watters, who bought him for a relative tuppence, and he was then bought into the Jean Heming yard by one of her big owners after his first couple of impressive wins. He started his three-year-old career in fine style but was then put up for auction and on Brown’s recommendation Chris Smith secured him at a sizeable price on behalf of Sangster.
Turncoat went on to win the Cape Guineas and later that year won the Gr 1 Mainstay International over 1800m at Clairwood, beating top horses like Bodrum, Rain Forest, Up The Creek, The Rutland Arms and Gondolier.
Brown said “He was nothing to look at as he was small and had one club foot. At first sight you wondered how he could run at all. He was the greatest freak of a horse I have ever known.”
Jockey Michael Roberts confirmed that Turncoat was a terrible mover in his slow gaits and would stumble virtually every second stride.
Sangster’s legacy lives on in Coolmore Stud, which he transformed together with Irish business magnate John Magnier and the legendary Irish trainer Vincent O’Brien into its position today as by far and away the most powerful breeding operation in the world.
The trio fought bitter wars with the biggest Arab horse buyers in the sales rings of Keeneland Kentucky.
Their aim was to buy yearlings with blue-blooded pedigrees that would be able to both race and breed. O’Brien identified Northern Dancer as the sire to concentrate on. He was impressed by this horse’s racing record in which he had never won any of his 14 races by far because he believed that, unlike freak ability, courage was one asset that could certainly be passed on to future generations. Northern Dancer went on to become probably the most influential sire in the history of the thoroughbred. Among his sons the Coolmore trio secured was the great Nijinsky.
Kentucky Breeders revelled in the sales wars and consequently overextended themselves with the result that when Coolmore and the Arabs agreed to discontinue bidding against each other many studs collapsed, most notably the famous Calumet Farm.
Sangster was a fun loving man, who gelled with people of a similar outlook, not least of them the colourful Irish Bloodstock agent Billy McDonald, who had a fantastic eye for a horse and accompanied the Coolmore trio on their American sales raids.
According to the riveting book Horsetraders, McDonald decided on one famous occasion to short circuit his duties and pressed a $100 bill into a yearling manager’s hand and asked, “Which one do you like best”. He replied, “”They always race over to this gate from right across the far side of the paddock, and that little filly is always yards in front when they arrive.”
McDonald duly advised the Coolmore trio that he had “found” a good one, so they bought her. She was Fairy Bridge who would become dam of Sadler’s Wells, the horse upon whom Coolmore’s success is founded.
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