Ashford Stud

Coolmore Stud, in Fethard, County Tipperary in Ireland, is headquarters of the world's largest breeding operation of thoroughbred racehorses. Through its racing arm, Ballydoyle, Coolmore also has raced many classic winners and champions. The operation is currently owned and run by the Magnier family, which has been associated with a long sequence of top-class stallions since the 1850s, originally in Co Cork, Ireland where stallions still stand as part of Coolmore today.

Coolmore was home to champion sires Sadler's Wells and Danehill, and currently features leading sire Galileo.

Coolmore was originally a relatively small farm dedicated to general agriculture, but came into the Vigors family in 1945 when a training operation was established there. It was inherited by Tim Vigors, famous fighter pilot in the Battle of Britain and in the Far East. Having left the air force, he firstly joined Goffs bloodstock auctioneers before setting up his own bloodstock agency in 1951. He moved to Coolmore in 1968 and began transforming it into the well known stud farm it is today.

Vigors went into partnership with his friend Vincent O'Brien, a leading racehorse trainer, and Robert Sangster, the Vernons pools magnate. He later sold his interest to O'Brien and his son-in-law, John Magnier. Eventually, Magnier became sole owner, and built the farm into a multi-national, multibillion-euro operation. The farm currently occupies over 7000 acres.

In the mid-1970s, Coolmore became very active in the American sales market, displaying particular interest in the offspring of Northern Dancer. Their first significant purchase was The Minstrel, a dual classic winner in 1977. Other purchases included Caerleon, Be My Guest and El Gran Senor. The bidding duels between Coolmore and the Maktoum brothers of Dubai became legendary, leading to a bloodstock boom in the 1980s.

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