Sir Patrick Hogan, who was responsible for bringing the influential stallion Sir Tristram and his champion sire son Zabeel to New Zealand, will leave a lasting legacy on the country's racing and breeding industries.
Tributes flowed on Friday from around the world for the legendary Thoroughbred industry figure who died after a long illness. He was 83.
From humble beginnings and with a determination shared by his wife Justine, in 1976 Hogan founded Cambridge Stud, a nursery that was to reshape the bloodstock industry and draw unprecedented international attention to New Zealand.
In a masterstroke that was to reap huge accolades and rewards for Cambridge Stud, he selected Sir Tristram as his foundation stallion.
Sir Tristram had a modest race record but his new owner's implicit faith in the Irish-bred stallion's bloodlines—franked by his own Irish heritage—set the platform that would see Cambridge Stud become the dominant force through subsequent decades.
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Long-time associate Joe Walls, both a friend and business associate in his role as chairman of New Zealand Bloodstock, spoke on behalf of many when describing Hogan's contribution to New Zealand's proud heritage.
He said: "I have been fortunate enough to have known Patrick and Justine for more than 50 years and my association was more than just a client, salesman one. They have been amazing friends to both Wendy and myself.
"Two such great horses in Sir Tristram and his son Zabeel couldn't have been placed in better hands. His dedication to the industry, his marketing skills, his flair and his professional fairness put the New Zealand industry and the national sales on the map internationally."
Garry Chittick, whose Waikato Stud stands Zabeel's greatest son in champion stallion Savabeel, had a long-term association with Hogan and, while they operated separate studs, he did not see him as a rival.
You were legendary in its truest form. An icon,a leader and the person who helped shape the Breeding Industry and those in it. Thoughts and prayers to Lady Hogan and all the family. A bright light has gone out but your legacy will be passed on for generations pic.twitter.com/vI7eIbKwWY
— Tom Magnier (@TomMagnier) January 6, 2023
Chittick told ANZ Bloodstock News: "The New Zealand breeding industry, over a long period of time, has all syndicated stallions and so we bought shares in each other's horses. We weren't really competitors in the true sense of the word.
"I traveled around the world with Patrick a couple of times; South Africa a few times and Australia many times. He was fortunate enough to buy a horse, a modestly priced horse who was Sir Tristram and who turned out to be a superstar and that's what we're all in the business for.
"It was good for New Zealand and particularly good for him. Then, of course, he followed it up with Zabeel. I was actually on Zabeel's management committee but I don't ever recall having a meeting about him. He was able to go from one superstar (sire)to another."
Even as a boy growing up on the family farm where horses and cattle shared the paddocks, Hogan's special talents shone through.
Ribbon-winning dairy calves provided the springboard to parading Fencourt Stud yearlings at the annual Trentham sales as a teenager, and once he had his own draft under the Cambridge Stud banner, he brought a new standard to promotion and marketing.
What was to become a legion of Cambridge Stud staff quickly learnedthe Hogan way of impeccable personal presentation and the expectations of the man known respectfully as The Boss.
Not only did they follow his example of preparing and showing off stud graduates to their best advantage, but so did rival breeders take note as the bar was continually raised through the influence of one man possessed with passion and vision par excellence.
"For me personally, and for so many other people who were mentored by Patrick, it's a very sad day," said Marcus Corban, whose association with Hogan spanned four decades in a career that grew to becoming Cambridge Stud general manager.
"He was a great mentor and to me he was like a father; he was a perfectionist, a great thinker, he was passionate, so methodical with his matings and everything he did."
Hogan was to freely admit in subsequent years that the best thing that ever happened to him and Cambridge Stud was Sir Tristram, but the contemporaneous point raised by others is whether anyone else could have achieved so much in molding the stallion into the breed-shaping champion of the late 20th century.
Sir Tristram sired top-class racehorses of virtually every description, from a Golden Slipper winner to a multitude of classic and cup winners, not forgetting numerous leading jumpers.
In all he left 45 individual group 1 winners, a figure that surpassed legendary North American stallion Northern Dancer's record. Among them was the horse that, through another inspirational Hogan call, was to continue his sire's legacy.
Australian Guineas (G1) winner Zabeel took up duties at Cambridge Stud in 1991, initially alongside Sir Tristram, who was to die aged 26 in 1997.
In a graphic illustration of the Hogan guile, Zabeel stood out among Sir Tristram's sire sons, quite incredibly matching his exact tally of group 1 winners as well as notching a raft of stallion premierships.
The legacy founded by Sir Tristram has continued to the present day, as witnessed by the number of class performers with his blood in their veins and now headed by his grandson Savabeel, New Zealand's dominant sire of the past decade.
"In my lifetime there has been no greater influence in the New Zealand breeding industry than Patrick Hogan," said New Zealand Bloodstock principal Sir Peter Vela.
"This country was so fortunate to have someone like him; he was a great horseman, his knowledge, what stallions to develop and how to grow the industry, so from every point of view his passing is just so sad.
New Zealand Bloodstock and the entire thoroughbred industry mourn the loss of legendary breeder Sir Patrick Hogan. We would like to express our sincere condolences to Lady Justine and the Hogan family. Sir Patrick was a true icon of our industry and his legacy will last forever. pic.twitter.com/milgFYeq4c
— New Zealand Bloodstock (@KarakaChat) January 6, 2023
Hogan's achievements earned induction to both the New Zealand and Australian Racing Hall of Fame, while Sir Tristram, Zabeel, iconic Cambridge Stud broodmare Eight Carat, and her Zabeel son Octagonal are also members of racing's most elite pantheon.
Sir Tristram and Zabeel were instrumental in Cambridge Stud's 31-year reign as the leading vendor at the National Yearling Sale, while Hogan's two-tone green (and very Irish) racing colors became a familiar and successful sight at racecourses on both sides of the Tasman.
With no heir apparent to take over the reins at Cambridge Stud, several years ago Hogan was faced with the very real likelihood that the nursery that defined his life's work would pass into foreign ownership.
His quandary was solved when Brendan and Jo Lindsay, with whom Patrick and Justine Hogan could draw familiar parallels as a self-made Kiwi couple, entered the picture and in 2016 bought Cambridge Stud as a going concern.
— Cambridge Stud (@CambridgeStud) January 6, 2023The news of Sir Patrick Hogan's passing leaves all of us with a great sense of sadness.
We consider it an honour to be allowed to continue the name Cambridge Stud that Sir Patrick and Justine, Lady Hogan developed into an NZ icon for over 40 years.
Brendan & Jo Lindsay pic.twitter.com/rMYHLctGtw
In a statement, Brendan Lindsay said he and Jo felt a great deal of sadness upon learning of Hogan's death.
"We spent many hours with Sir Patrick following the sale of the stud in 2018 and he was a regular visitor to the farm following the renovations," said Lindsay.
"His insight and humor was obvious to us in those informal chats and we enjoyed the time we spent together. We consider it a great honor to be allowed to continue the name Cambridge Stud that Sir Patrick and Justine, Lady Hogan developed into a New Zealand icon for over 40 years."
While the name Hogan would no longer be directly involved in the iconic nursery, it will forever be recognized that none of what has been achieved over nearly half a century would have been possible without the indelible imprint of one of our greatest visionaries.
Hogan is survived by his wife Lady Justine, daughters Erin and Nicola, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
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