"The day before the 1971 Champion Sprint at Haydock Park, bloodstock agent Jack Doyle was standing with the wealthy Vernon Pools heir, Robert Sangster, when he pointed across the room at a young Irishman who was the talk of the racecourse. He had just clinched a deal to buy a horse called Green God for what was then a princely sum of £160,000 (€182,873) and if it won the following day, it would be crowned the "fastest horse in England"."
"Sangster looked at the young Irishman. "He seemed such a countryman, and here he was representing a group of Irish breeders risking telephone numbers on the purchase of a racehorse," he later recalled."
The failed Barne Estate deal and the court case that followed cast a long shadow over his lifetime achievements. The day before the 1971 Champion Sprint at Haydock Park, bloodstock agent Jack Doyle stood with Vernon Pools heir Robert Sangster and pointed out a young Irishman who had become the talk of the racecourse. The young man had just clinched a deal to buy a horse called Green God for £160,000 (€182,873). If Green God won the next day, the horse would be hailed as the "fastest horse in England." Sangster later noted that the young man "seemed such a countryman" while representing a group of Irish breeders risking telephone numbers on the purchase.
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