Robert Sangster, 67; English Racehorse Owner Had Run Major Betting Business

Robert Sangster, the English soccer-pools operator who parlayed that career into one of the world’s most successful horseracing and breeding operations, died Wednesday at his home in London. Sangster, who was 67, had been suffering from pancreatic cancer.

Sangster, who was born in Liverpool, inherited the Vernons pools from his father and eventually sold the betting concern for more than $150 million.

Sangster raced more than 100 Group One stakes winners, including 27 wins in Europe’s classic races. He won the Epsom Derby twice, with The Minstrel in 1977 and Golden Fleece in 1982. He also won the French Derby twice, the Irish Derby four times and the Arc de Triomphe, France’s biggest race, three times. In 1984, Sangster’s Royal Heroine won the $1-million Breeders’ Cup Mile at Hollywood Park, setting a North American time record for that distance on grass.

He was a student of bloodlines and a wheeler-dealer at some of the most prestigious horse auctions in the United States. At a Keeneland sale in Lexington, Ky., in 1985, he and a few partners paid $13.1 million for an unraced yearling. That’s still a world record for a public sale of a horse.

The horse, a half-brother to American Triple Crown champion Seattle Slew, was named Seattle Dancer. But he raced only five times, winning twice and earning $152,413.

One of Sangster’s smartest investments was in Sadlers Wells, one of the world’s most influential stallions.

“Robert was a true visionary,” said Vincent O’Brien, a trainer who was a partner of Sangster’s, along with Ireland’s Coolmore Stud. “His large-scale investments in the best American-bred yearlings was one of the principal factors in establishing Coolmore and Ireland as a major force in the bloodstock world. He was a great friend and a wonderful owner.”

At the time of his death, Sangster owned Collingrove Stud in Australia. In recent years, he lived in Australia and Barbados. He once established residence on the Isle of Man, between England and Ireland, because of its tax advantages.

“It’s a sad day,” said Lester Piggott, an English jockey who rode for Sangster before his retirement. “It’s the end of an era.”

Sangster’s three marriages ended in divorce. He is survived by three sons.

Associated Press contributed to this report.