Coolmore Stud, in Fethard, County Tipperary, 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, which is currently owned and run by the Magnier family, has been associated with a long sequence of top-class stallions since the 1850s, originally in County Cork, where stallions still stand as part of Coolmore today. Coolmore was once home to champion sires Sadler's Wells, Danehill, and Galileo. Coolmore Ireland 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 Alleged, Storm Bird, 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. Coolmore's first major homebred was Sadler's Wells, a son of Northern Dancer born in Kentucky at Sangster's Swettenham Stud. In 1984, Sadler's Wells won the Irish 2,000 Guineas, the Eclipse Stakes and the Irish Champion Stakes and was named the champion miler in France. Retired to stud at Coolmore, Sadler's Wells went on to be the fourteen-time leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland. Sadler's Wells leading offspring include Galileo, Montjeu and High Chaparral, all of whom became important sires at Coolmore. In 1990, Coolmore purchased a half-interest in Danehill, a grandson of Northern Dancer, and began shuttling him between Ireland and Australia. Danehill became a champion sire first in