Owned by Robert Sangster and trained by Vincent O'Brien, Sadler’s Wells was born in 1981. His breeding was immaculate; his sire, Northern Dancer, was perhaps the greatest of all time and his dam, Fairy Bridge, was unbeaten on the racecourse and already the mother of several other great names, including Fairy King and Tate Gallery.His racing career included victories in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, the Eclipse Stakes and the Phoenix Champion Stakes, while he also finished runner-up in the Prix du Jockey-Club and in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes. Over his eleven starts he was victorious six times and won over $650,000. Sadler’s Wells was then retired to the great Irish stud at Coolmore in 1985, where he became an overnight sensation. Up until the end of 2001, Sadler’s Wells had been champion sire for ten consecutive seasons, and eleven in all. He has produced more than 170 Classic winners, including the victors in 47 individual Group One races. Prior to 2001, the only chink in his armoury had been his failure to father a Derby winner.
Five of his sons had finished second but in 2001 Galileo at last went won better. The earnings of Sadler’s Wells at stud are thought to total almost £40,000,000 each year for the Coolmore Stud and one of his colts sold at a public auction in 2000 for the European record of £3,500,000. Sadler’s Wells has thus established himself as the pre-eminent stallion of his time – and his reign at the top shows no sign of coming to an end. **NOTE** This Limited Edition Print has been hand signed by the artist, printed with lightfast inks on acid-free, matt coated, high grade board from elemental chlorine-free pulps sourced from environmentally-conscious paper suppliers.
