Horsetrader: Robert Sangster and the Rise and Fall of the Sport of Kings
By Patrick Robinson with Nick Robinson
Unsurprisingly we have had several recommendations for the superb Horsetrader. Below, syndicate manager Sam Hoskins and Godolphin Flying Start trainee Isabella Paul tell us why they enjoyed it so much.
Sam Hoskins: Co-written by Kennet Valley Thoroughbreds' founder Nick Robinson, who I believe was partly responsible for introducing Robert Sangster to racing, this book would be high up there for me as it really sets the scene to today's racing and breeding world. The incredible bloodstock market and ups and downs make for thrilling reading. These 'good old days' were well before my time but the excitement and energy are so apparent.
Isabella Paul: I read Horsetrader having just arrived in Kentucky as part of the American phase of Godolphin Flying Start and I did not regret it. This may seem like an obvious choice but it's a brilliant account of a bygone era in thoroughbred racing, breeding, and sales. It harks back to the early days of Coolmore and the crucial role that Robert Sangster and his Vernon Pools fortune played in the development of the industry that we know today.
The book explores the height of the buying war between Sheikh Mohammed and Coolmore and the way in which “men from old Bluegrass families” began to “live their lives in a way they thought befitted their status as the prime movers in the most glamorous business on earth”. You can't help but be drawn in by the extraordinary highs that Kentucky farms enjoyed before it inevitably all came crashing down. For anyone invested in the industry as an employee, fan, or other, it's a book that absolutely must be read.
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