Duncan Grimley
Back in the early '80s, when I was working at the auction company ABCOS in Adelaide, Robert Sangster’s Swettenham Stud had its own yearling sale. On those occasions, they’d put two yearlings into the ring at the same time and people would bid on them, choosing whichever one they wanted.
It would have been around 1984, from memory, and I was working as a bid spotter. Sir Patrick Hogan had come over for the sale from New Zealand, a young studmaster at the time, and it became the very first occasion that I met him.
Sir Patrick Hogan pictured at the final National Yearling sales at Trentham in 1987 | Image courtesy of Race Images PN
Sir Patrick bid on two horses in the ring, going to $28,000 I think, and he ended up getting them. One was a daughter of Maybe Mahal, who was a champion, and the other was a Sticks And Stones filly, that sire having done very little.
Of the pair, Sir Patrick ended up picking the Sticks And Stones filly, much to the surprise of everyone in the auditorium, and much to the surprise of pretty much everyone on the complex that day.
Of course, the filly was a daughter of no less than Eight Carat and she proved to be the exceptional Diamond Lover.
Eight Carat (GB) | Image courtesy of Sportpix
In time, the Maybe Mahal yearling didn’t win a single race, but Diamond Lover was a Group 1 winner for Cambridge Stud and a champion broodmare. Her foals were the likes of the Derby winner Don Eduardo, and of course there was Tristalove, herself a winner of two Group 1s and a brilliant broodmare in turn.
Looking back, it’s probably no surprise that Sir Patrick chose Diamond Lover of the pair.
The man was the best studmaster that’s ever been in the Southern Hemisphere, and to do what he did for the breeding industry in New Zealand, it was extraordinary. The greatest thing about him was that he’d always give you time and share his knowledge freely. He didn’t hold anything back.
“The man (Sir Patrick Hogan) was the best studmaster that’s ever been in the Southern Hemisphere, and to do what he did for the breeding industry in New Zealand, it was extraordinary.” - Duncan Grimley
I have plenty of stories about my time with Sir Patrick Hogan.
On another occasion, I was looking after Brian Agnew's horses and we had a Sir Tristram filly at Cambridge Stud. I rang Sir Patrick and told him I wanted to bring the filly back to Australia to put through the Easter sale.
“No, no, no”, Sir Patrick said, “you won’t be doing that because she needs to go through Karaka.”
Duncan Grimley | Image courtesy of Darren Tindale
I was quite insistent because she'd be one of only three or four Sir Tristram fillies at Easter and she’d do quite well, but Sir Patrick was definite that she’d go to Karaka because, without her, he wouldn’t top the sale and he was up to 21 years as leading vendor.
So I told him I didn't want any more costs and he didn’t send me any more, and, true enough, the filly went to Karaka and made NS$825,000. She ended up topping the sale and Sir Patrick’s roll continued.
He would do things like that that other people wouldn’t even consider. His emotion, his marketing, his professionalism and delivery of a product was beyond anything we’d ever seen. He was well-ahead of his time.
“His (Sir Patrick's) emotion, his marketing, professionalism and delivery of a product was beyond anything we’d ever seen. He was well-ahead of his time.” - Duncan Grimley
I even think he was the first person in the world to cover 100 mares in a season. He had a very good vet at Cambridge Stud called Jonathan Hope, scanning mares that had just come into play.
Patrick’s idea was that if he scanned them, he wouldn’t have to cover them so many times in a cycle and he could find out earlier if they were in foal. As a result, he reasoned he could cover more mares on fewer covers, which was what happened, and I believe he was the first in the world to do it.
But despite his success, he was always an approachable character. If he liked you, he’d do anything for you, but the reality was that most people would have done anything for him too.
Sir Patrick Hogan | Image courtesy of Trish Dunell
It’s very sad for his old friends like myself that he’s gone, but we knew it would happen. I think we’ve all got plenty of good memories to remember.
Mike Fleming
My first year at Cambridge Stud, we were returning to the farm from breakfast and three dry mares were unloaded out the front of the yearling barn. All the team were summoned by the Boss (Sir Patrick) to report in, then parade a mare up and back, then stand her up correctly.
If you were really struggling to get the mare to parade properly and stand up, the Boss would jump on the lead himself and show you how to do it. His lessons were direct, precise and left little room for incompetence.
Sir Patrick Hogan leads a yearling at the Trentham sales in 1987 | Image courtesy of Race Images PN
If you couldn’t parade the mare adequately, you were given a green shirt for the yearling sales. If you passed, you were given a white shirt meaning that you were approved to lead.
We then went through leading lessons on the specific yearlings we were allocated, so attributes could be properly enhanced. You had the same yearlings all the way through the sale and if a buyer came to inspect and you were showing another one of your horses, he would make the buyer wait until you were available to show the yearling as taught.
For example, if the horse was incorrect in front, the Boss would have you shorten up the stride of the walk when the buyer moved to the front, so the yearling would have a less extravagant action and place his hoof down more precisely.
Mike Fleming
If the yearling was a terrific mover - and many of the Zabeels could really swagger - you were instructed not to stop the horse until the buyer stood in front of you to block your path. Never mind if the buyer asked you to stand it up, the instruction was ‘walk, walk, walk’ because he knew how it captivated buyer attention.
He would remind us daily that buyers made their decision within 30 seconds of first seeing a yearling, and you only had one chance at a first impression.
There really was no one quite like Sir Patrick. A lot of us at Magic Millions today came through the Sir Patrick school and are feeling his loss very much - but, don’t worry, Boss, we’ll get those horses sold, we know you’d expect nothing less.
“A lot of us at Magic Millions today came through the Sir Patrick school and are feeling his loss very much - but don’t worry, Boss, we’ll get those horses sold, we know you’d expect nothing less.” - Mike Fleming
Vicky Leonard
In 1997 as a typical 10-year-old Kiwi farm kid, I was absolutely horse-obsessed. Soon after Sir Tristram died in May, the documentary ‘The Promise’ aired on New Zealand TV, the story of Sir Patrick and Sir Tristram.
The next day at school we were told to complete an assignment project on a famous person, and I asked the teacher if I could write about a horse instead of a person, selecting Sir Tristram. I wrote to Cambridge Stud and asked if they had any information I could use for my project. Shortly after, a box arrived at home with a cap, t-shirt, a framed photo of Sir Tristram, all his breeding records and marketing collateral from his career. It came with a handwritten note from Sir Patrick asking to see my project when I had finished it.
I posted my project up and received a note back saying, ‘Congratulations Vicky, this is a wonderful project. I understand you live in the South Island, but if you are able to come to Waikato I would love for you to visit Cambridge Stud’.
Sir Patrick Hogan and Sir Tristram (Ire) | Image courtesy of Race Images PN
The next school holidays, Mum and Dad sent myself and a Pony Club friend up to stay with family who lived nearby so we could visit the farm. We spent time in the foaling unit, saw our first stallion cover (very enlightening) and then were tasked with giving two older mares a thorough grooming - little did I appreciate at the time that those mares were Eight Carat and Diamond Lover.
At lunch with Sir Patrick he said: ‘When you’re old enough make sure you come and work for me’ - which I never forgot.
From that time on I was obsessed with Cambridge Stud and their stallions, closely following the stallion results on the track and at Karaka. As soon as I left home for university, I emailed Sir Patrick reminding him of that job offer from almost a decade earlier, which he kindly honoured.
I completed three Karakas for Cambridge Stud, and learned an incredible amount from both the Boss and Marcus Corban during that time. Sir Patrick’s attention to detail and constant quest for perfection is something you rarely come across. We would even see him pottering around the garden trimming the roses, making sure everything was as good as it could be. He had an incredible passion and work ethic which he instilled into the people who were lucky enough to work for him.
“Sir Patrick’s attention to detail and constant strive for perfection is something you rarely come across. He had an incredible passion and work ethic, which he instilled into the people who were lucky enough to work for him.” - Vicky Leonard
But the greatest lesson Sir Patrick taught me was to take the time to reply and engage with those keen and passionate about horses who reach out, no matter how young they are. I have him to thank for sparking an interest that turned into a passion and now a career in this amazing industry, and hope to continue passing that lesson forward to young ones coming through.
Susan Archer
I met my husband Michael Martin in 1983 when he’d already bought the central part of Fencourt Stud, near Cambridge in New Zealand and renamed it Fencourt Farm out of respect to John and Patrick Hogan, as that was their family property.
They must have moved in the late 1970s when Patrick and Justine went to Cambridge Stud, and John lived just round the corner from us. He was a lovely man, a bit older than Patrick, and John was very good to us.
When Patrick worked on a TV documentary about Sir Tristram, he and the film crew walked around Fencourt, because that’s where Sir Tristram first arrived in New Zealand. So we had that connection and, being part of the industry, we went to the sales, followed all the racing and saw the impact that Patrick made with Cambridge Stud and Sir Tristram.
Sir Patrick Hogan with Zabeel (NZ) | Image courtesy of Trish Dunell
In 1997, we came back from Tasmania, where Michael had been chief executive of the Tasmanian Racing Authority for five years, and we both worked for the NZTBA. A year later Thoroughbred Breeders Victoria (it may have been Thoroughbred Breeders Australia) organised a breeders’ conference at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, and the feature presentations were John Messara on Danehill, Robert Sangster on Sadler’s Wells and Patrick Hogan on Sir Tristram. I think it was the only time they were ever on the same stage together.
Patrick was very good talking one to one, but he became nervous talking to a crowd, and this was important. He was going to be speaking alongside these two other major players, so there was a bit of competition and he knew he was representing New Zealand. He came to me, Tim Greene, editor of New Zealand Bloodhorse at the time, and Jacques Koolen, who did a lot of the early thoroughbred video work in New Zealand, and said: ‘I need your help to put this presentation together’, and I thought, ‘This is terrific, what a great opportunity.’
We had a ball doing it: Tim and I did the research, framed the story and wrote the script, and I said to Patrick that, ‘Your point of difference is that you’re the consummate horseman, you’ve lived this story with Sir Tristram in a very personal way and together you’ve come from nowhere to fame and success.’
Susan Archer | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
We decided to begin the presentation with a video, with the lights down, and a combination of Irish and Maori music, with Sir Tristram coming out of the darkness, to give Patrick a really strong start. We spent a lot of time on the script, and I think I made Patrick practise it. You’ve got to be comfortable with the words of a presentation or speech and feel confident about saying them.
My memory is that John spoke first, presenting an utterly compelling, stats-based, deep analysis of Danehill’s performance compared with other great stallions.
At one point, he turned to Patrick and said: ‘I’m sorry Patrick, but he’s going to surpass Sir Tristram.’ And he was right, in terms of the stats, but Danehill had significant help from Sir Tristram mares.
Sir Patrick Hogan and John Messara | Image courtesy of Arrowfield Stud
While John spoke, Patrick was sitting at the table, and we’d put double-sided sellotape on the back of his speech so he could go up to the lectern, stick it down and flip the pages without having to shuffle them. But he’d torn the backing off the tape so the speech had stuck to the table - which didn’t help Patrick’s nerves, or mine! Anyway, he finally pulled it off the table in time, just as the video began to play.
He went up and I knew he was nervous, but he was also emotional because he felt so passionately about Cambridge Stud, and especially Sir Tristram. He began telling his story, and I remember after about two or three minutes a couple of people behind me said: ‘Oh my God, this is amazing.’ His nervousness became emotion and it was really personal.
I think Robert was the last speaker - he stood there on the stage, pulled out the notes that Coolmore had done for him on Sadler’s Wells with all the analysis about why he was the greatest stallion in the world, and he threw them away!
Then Robert regaled us with the most brilliant stories about his life - around Sadler’s Wells but a whole lot of other things as well, about rock stars and what they got up to on the Isle of Man and he had everyone in the palm of his hand.
Sir Patrick and Justine Lady Hogan | Image courtesy of Trish Dunell
The three of them had portrayed their distinctive personalities and stories in an unforgettable way and it was a big success for all of them, and the conference.
There’s no doubt Patrick changed the game for New Zealand breeding by transforming the promotion of stallions and yearlings. He always had good connections with the old-time horsemen, but he took the whole industry forward and I think that’s part of why Kiwis are feeling a special sadness - because his death really marks the end of a very progressive and exciting era in New Zealand’s thoroughbred history.
