19th July 1983

There really was not much happened that day in human history that had the potential to rock the world off of its axis.

A couple of searches on the Internet yielded one event. The first 3D reconstruction of a human head in CT was published. Some thirty years later it's use is commonplace and used every day to examine heads and other parts of the body for tumours and other conditions.

That same day in Keeneland in Kentuckey the warm sunshine illuminated the emerald green lawns and surrounding countryside as staff prepared for the 'Annual Selected Yearling Sales'. Groundsmen put the finishing touches to the pristine leans and walk ways that would soon be graced by the footsteps of potential racehorse champions over the next couple of years. Stable staff walked their charges out for a leg stretch before the air became too hot and humid for comfort. Then they would return to the stables in the shade where already spotless manes, tails, withers, flanks and quarters would be brushed so clean there would not be a speck of dirt or a whisper of dust to be seen anywhere.

As always with thoroughbred auctions there is no knowing what is going to happen with sales prices.  It is best described as 'anticipation'. Much like on the racecourse.  Even though one horse may stand out in the paddock and on the card with its form there is absolutely no guaranteed way of knowing how it is going to perform on the day.

Horses racing is often described as the 'great glorious uncertainty'.

Into auction ring flooded with bright lights enters one majestic looking chestnut yearling colt with a blue blooded pedigree.  Into the bidding ring enter two leviathans of the racing industry.  Not just in America but across the world.

One bidding protagonist, Robert Sangster, a self made millionaire.  The other one, Sheikh Mohammed, a royal prince from Dubai. Both of them equipped with enormous egos and bank balances to support them.

Bidding starts at $1m.  Less than a minute later Snaafi Dancer is worth $4.25m.  The Sheik's stud manager keeps egging the Sangster team on to keep bidding.  Egos took over and the Sangster team put in a bid of $10m.  This caused a big problem.  The pricing board at Keeneland was only able to show $9,999,999 so a $10m bid had to be shown as a series of zeroes. The Sheikh bid $10.2m which showed as $200,000.  He had won the battle of the egos and bank balances now it was up to Snaafi Dancer to justify his new owners leap of faith.

Snaafi Dancer went off to John Dunlop's yard in Sussex to be trained for turf glory.  Flying in the face of expectations Snaafi Dancer just did not show the turn of foot that should have been passed down to him in his genes from his sire, Northern Dancer.

'A nice horse but no bloody good' was John Dunlop's summation of his charge.

So, it was off to an alternative career at stud.

'At least we showed them we've got the balls' Robert Sangster was reported to have said after the bidding war at Keeneland.

Snaafi Dancer had some as well but he was only able to sire four foals.  All of whom achieved even less success than their sire.

On the same day as the Keeneland sales it became possible to obtain a CT image of a human head to detect internal abnormalities.  If Robert Sangster and Sheikh Mohammed had undergone this procedure would it have been possible to detect any abnormalities in their heads?