Sam Sangster

Rashabar
Coventry Hero Rashabar Retired; Stud Plans Pending

Group winner Rashabar has been retired from racing and connections will now seek a spot at stud for the four-year-old. The Manton Thoroughbreds runner secured a maiden victory with Billy Loughnane aboard in the G2 Coventry Stakes in June of 2024, and would go on to place in that season's G1 Prix Morny and G1 Pri Jean-Luc Lagardere. Second in the G3 Greenham Stakes, he ran fourth in the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas and filled that position again in the G1 St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot. Later that...

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'A Moment That Will Live With Me For The Rest Of My Life': Sam Sangster on Diego Velazquez

A mistake made by the organisers of the Racing League was to underestimate just how much certain racing colours resonate with those watching the action. All of us who have followed racing over the years will have owners and trainers we like to get behind. Even when scanning down a race card in the paper each morning, certain sets of silks act as an automatic signpost as to the potential quality of the races to come.   It is very clear the regard in which Robert Sangster was held during...

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Joie De Vivre
Invaluable Proves Invaluable At Arqana

Sam Sangster's gathering of smart mares with which to launch the new National Stud stallion Diego Velazquez continued on the third day of the Arqana Breeding Stock Sale in Deauville, where he bought the session-topper, Invaluable (Invincible Spirit), in foal to first-season sire Vandeek for €121,000 from the Fairway Consignment. The unraced Invaluable (lot 774), now nine, is a sister to the Listed winner Emmaus, while their dam Prima Luce (Galileo) won the G3 Athasi Stakes. Recent G1 Grosser Preis von Bayern winner Bay City Roller (New Bay) features under...

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Diego Velazquez wins the Marois
Diego Velazquez to Shuttle to Swettenham Stud in 2026

By Kit Gow/TTRAusNZ Swettenham Stud has announced that Frankel's exceptional Group 1-winning son Diego Velazquez will shuttle to their Nagambie operation, commencing in the 2026 breeding season. Winner of the 1600-metre G1 Prix Jacques Le Marois, just like sensational sires Dubawi and Kingman, Swettenham Stud are confident that Diego Velazquez will be a welcome addition to the Victorian stallion ranks, where he will provide breeders with unique access to the only Group 1-winning son of global super sire Frankel standing in Australia. Diego Velazquez will spend the first half of...

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Diego Velazquez to Stand for £17,500 in Debut Season at The National Stud

This year's Prix Jacques le Marois winner Diego Velazquez will stand for a fee of £17,500 at the National Stud in 2026. The son of Frankel, who was bought by Sam Sangster Bloodstock on behalf of a syndicate in the days before his breakthrough Group 1 triumph at Deauville, recently arrived in Newmarket, having been retired from racing after he finished fifth in the GI Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes at Keeneland earlier this month. A six-time winner from 12 career starts - a tally which also included Group 2 triumphs...

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Diego Velazquez wins the Marois
Diego Velazquez Retired To The National Stud, Rashabar Headed To BC Turf

Group 1 winner Diego Velazquez will not contest the Breeders' Cup and has been retired, according to syndicate manager Sam Sangster. The son of Frankel--who was bought by Sangster's syndicate directly before his Jacques le Marois victory-- is set to stand at the National Stud in Newmarket. Last seen finishing fifth under Frankie Dettori in the GI Coolmore Turf Mile at Keeneland, he has won six of his 12 starts for trainer Aidan O'Brien. Raced by the Coolmore partners through his win in the G2 Minstrel Stakes in July, the...

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'An Incredibly Emotional Moment': National Hero Sangster Delivers G1 Stallion for Newmarket 

DEAUVILLE, FRANCE -- There have been few more rapturous receptions to a winner in the usually reserved enclosure of Deauville than that given to Diego Velazquez on this sweltering Sunday afternoon. Sam Sangster completed what could well be one of the most significant deals of his career earlier this week, ensuring that the Frankel colt who had hitherto run in Derrick Smith's silks for the Coolmore partnership instead bore the colours which were so intrinsically linked to the early days of that empire.  Arguably the most famous carrier of those...

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Diego Velazquez early stallion photo
Diego Velazquez to Stand at The National Stud in 2026 after Sam Sangster Bloodstock Purchase

The multiple Group 2 winner Diego Velazquez is set to take up stallion duties at the National Stud in 2026, following his purchase by Sam Sangster Bloodstock on behalf of a syndicate. The son of Frankel will continue his racing career in the care of trainer Aidan O'Brien but will run in the renowned Sangster silks for the remainder of the 2025 season. Last seen winning the G2 Minstrel Stakes at the Curragh, Diego Velazquez is set to make his next appearance in Sunday's G1 Prix Jacques le Marois at...

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Deauville Next for Rashabar After Poignant Royal Ascot Success

The G1 Prix Morny at Deauville on Sunday, August 18 has been identified as the "obvious target" for Rashabar (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) after he defied odds of 80-1 to gain a first career victory in the G2 Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot. Beaten in two previous starts at Newbury and Chester, Rashabar found significant improvement to come out on top in a field of 22 for Ascot's premier two-year-old contest, showing a good attitude to hold on by a nose having raced away from the other principals. It...

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Rosallion Picks up Ascot Baton From Blue Point

ASCOT, UK--A wishlist for the first day of Royal Ascot would certainly have included the hope that a Classic-winning colt would step forward and announce himself as a proper horse, a major win for an international traveller, and the sight of the inimitable Sir Mark Prescott in the winner's enclosure. Tick. Tick. Tick. We'll throw in to the mix a tearful Mark Loughnane proclaiming the 80/1 Coventry S. victory for his jockey son Billy as "the best ever moment of my life", and Sam Sangster, equally tearful as his father's...

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Sangster, Sexton, Among Three New National Stud Board Members

Sam Sangster, Nancy Sexton and Fred Barrelet have all joined The National Stud (TNS) Board, the stud announced on Tuesday. SireCam creator Sangster runs the Manton Thoroughbreds syndicate, as well as a bloodstock agency, while Sexton possesses pedigree knowledge and an astute understanding of the international Thoroughbred market. Formerly clinical director at Rossdale's Veterinary Surgeons, Barrelet is a veterinary delegate for the FEI veterinary committee. Chairman Lord Grimthorpe said, "We are very lucky to have secured three outstanding new members who will bring a wide variety and vital range of...

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Budget-Busting Isaac Shelby Repays Sangster's Faith

One of the most cheering aspects of an excellent three days of racing for Newmarket's July Meeting was seeing the famous Sangster silks returning to the winner's enclosure aboard a group winner. For racing fans of a certain vintage it is impossible to see those colours originally registered to the late Robert Sangster and not conjure up memories of some of the famous horses to have raced in them, not least the great Sadler's Wells. How far into the league of great horses Isaac Shelby (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire})...

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