After two years working in the US with Wesley Ward plus stints with several more big names, the 26-year-old grandson of the late Robert Sangster is upholding the family name with a bright start to his new career at historic Manton
GB: Alec Taylor, Michael Dickinson, Barry Hills, John Gosden, Peter Chapple-Hyam, Martyn Meade, Brian Meehan – the list of G1-winning trainers based at Manton is a long one.
It might also be a daunting one for the latest name added to the Wiltshire roll call: Ollie Sangster. At just 26, Sangster is a new trainer but far from a newcomer, having grown up just a few hundred metres from the yard on the family estate in which he now chats while overseeing second lot.
There’s no getting away from the fact that Sangster is a famous racing name. Ollie’s grandfather Robert was one of the biggest figures in the sport, owning the winners of more than 100 G1 races and, along with John Magnier and Vincent O’Brien, helping to found the Coolmore operation.
A dominant figure in the 1970s and beyond, he owned the Manton estate where Sangster now operates; the trainer’s father Ben is also a successful breeder, having been responsible for three-time G1 winner Luxembourg.
So, as Ollie becomes the first of his family to try his hand at training, is having such a surname a gift from heaven or a poisoned chalice?
“I almost think it’s more the latter,” says Ollie with a wide grin. “People might be reluctant to support you and give you horses because they presume you have them anyway, which definitely isn’t the case. They think it’s a silver-spoon scenario where everything has been handed to you on a plate, which is far from the truth.
“I’m very lucky to be associated in a very distant way with a lot of good horses the family has had, but I want to make my own path and achieve my own success,” he goes on, removing a stray bit of matting. “I want people to support me for who I am and what I’m doing, and not for what’s gone on in the past.”
That said, Robert Sangster’s celebrated blue, green and white silks – carried with distinction by the likes of The Minstrel and El Gran Senor among any number of others – are still associated with the stable via Red Post Racing, which is named after the bit of the Manton estate from which his grandson trains.
Family pride
Although Ollie’s memories of his famous grandfather are scarce, he has a huge sense of family pride and the famous blue and green also adorns his ‘OS’ company logo.
“Dad was saying that he wishes that his father was still alive and how much he would have enjoyed having a couple of horses here and the craic every morning on the gallops,” he says.
“He would scheme away and line up a few winners,” the trainer continues. “I was too young to have a relationship with him as he died young, only 67, but by all accounts, that was what he loved most – enjoying racing horses with people and the sport that goes with it.”
Back to business, and Sangster has a keen grasp of his, which has yielded nine winners in just five months and is operating at a strike rate of 22%.
They’ve collected a Royal Ascot third, with Inquisitively in the Windsor Castle Stakes, and struck at that same Listed-race level when Shuwari landed the Star Stakes at Sandown. It makes for impressive reading, but Sangster is not getting carried away.
“I’m delighted, although I’m sure it will taper off a bit,” he says. “Shuwari is our headline horse. I had an aim for one horse just to gain black type so to win was fantastic. She always worked well, but I suppose when you don’t have the big numbers it’s hard to get a yardstick on where the horses are at, but she always found things very easy.”
This early success hasn’t come easy. The stables, not part of the spectacular main yard, are a labour of love. Sangster has a good team – head person Maisie Hainey is a recruit from John Gosden – but is extremely hands-on.
Great location
“The yard we’re in now was a machinery yard when Manton was in its heyday,” he explains. “It’s never really had horses trained out of it. We’ve put in boxes and other facilities and as far as the whole place works, it’s in a great location in that it’s easy to access, easy to get to the gallops and right in the middle.
“We share the grass gallops with Martyn [Meade] and Brian [Meehan]. They’re Martyn’s gallops and he and his team do a wonderful job maintaining them.
“My parents have lived here since the early 90s, so I have been lucky enough to have lived here my whole life, apart from some stints abroad. I rode out for Brian from the age of 13 so to get the chance to train here is a real treat.
“I had it in my head when I was riding out that I wanted to be a jockey and I did ride a bit as an amateur” – in fact, he was joint-champion amateur in 2013, albeit with a grand total of four winners from 12 rides! – “but that was always going to be short-lived.”
Sangster is unassuming, almost diffident, and entirely committed to his chosen career, which seems to be something which crept up on him. “I’m not sure where it came from –the ball started rolling and I started working in racing yards,” he says.
‘Wesley’s a great guy’
“I like the results-based nature of training,” he goes on. “I did two years out in America, working for Wesley Ward. It was great – hard work – but I loved it. Wesley’s a great guy and I’m lucky to be able to speak to him at least every week.
“I think what he’s pioneered with the whole Ascot thing, being the winning-most international trainer, is remarkable. I’ve definitely learned a lot about travelling horses long distances and how to get ready for the right races, so that was a good thing to have experienced.”
Sangster has also spent time with Classic-winning trainers on both hemispheres, namely David Hayes in Australia and both Charlie Hills and Hugo Palmer at home in Britain – in Lambourn and Newmarket respectively – before two years with Joseph O’Brien in Ireland.
Given that his name also featured alongside his mother Lucy and James Wigan in the owners’ partnership of G1 winner Saffron Beach, there is little doubt that he is fairly well connected in racing terms. He also has a good mix of owners, with big names such as Amo Racing, Lady Bamford joined by a few syndicates. Highclere have also joined the Sangster fold.
“I’ve been lucky and built up some good clients over the years who have been kind and supported me,” he says. “Having said that, we also bought a few horses at the Horses In Training Sale and yearlings who we’ve syndicated. A lot of friends, family and local people – including some new to racing - have come in for small shares and a few of them have won races, so it’s been good fun.
“I don’t know what the ultimate aim is. I’ve got 25 horses and, while it’s not necessarily a numbers game, it’s about keeping the quality in the yard and trying to get some new owners in.
“In order to get the quality you do often need the quantity, so the numbers do need to go up a bit, but I’d never want it to get too big that I feel I’m not in touch with all the horses. I like working with them all and getting to know them.”
Sangster, it seems, is far from living the life of a carefree 26-year-old. Any spare time is spent at the gym or training his two gundogs, while girlfriend Rose, who runs a sport horse yard, commandeers as much as of his time as possible.
“It’s an all-consuming lifestyle, this,” he says. “I’ve had to make a lot of sacrifices to get the business on the road. I see friends holidaying, partying and I do think ‘wouldn’t that be nice?’ But if you have a dream then you must put the work in, especially in the early years. I’m lucky in that I’m able to do something I love every day.”
Lucky, yes. Hardworking and driven? Certainly. The Sangster name is in safe hands.
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