Sato

Thoroughbred of a Different Color

Thoroughbreds are a breed best-known for their speed and athletic prowess and their coats are most often chestnut or bay with some greys, browns and blacks in the mix.

Sato, however, is a Thoroughbred of a very different color, an extremely rare palomino pinto sabino. This 16-hand stallion is registered with The Jockey Club and the American Paint Horse Association. He has the flashy coloration of a Paint Horse and the sleek, elegant conformation of a Thoroughbred, making him one show-stopping piece of equine eye candy.

© Annya Miller

Sato is a potent sire. His genetic makeup enabled him to pass on his spectacular coloration as well as a few other rare colors to his offspring, all of whom also possess the refined Thoroughbred conformation and athleticism of their parents. Among those are a palomino pinto filly, a cremello pinto filly and an all-white cremello filly. Sato himself is out of Springtime Girl, a dappled gold palomino and is sired by a famous pinto Thoroughbred sire, Puchilingui. Puchilingui, who passed away in January of 2008, was one of the most prolific colored Thoroughbred stallions. He has been an influence, with his sabino gene, in changing the color of Thoroughbreds as we know them today. He has sired numerous colorful racing and show Thoroughbreds, and was bred to APHA mares as well.

Sato is owned by Canadian April Wayenberg of Blazing Colors Farm. She describes her beloved stallion as sweet and gentle. “He is the king of the farm and has a stall at the end of the barn where he gets to watch everything that goes on each day. He is the farm favorite and everyone who stops in for a visit loves to see him in person and get their picture taken with him,” she said. “He is the kind of horse young girls dream about as they grow up,” she added.

Indeed, with his beauty, grace and friendly disposition, Sato is a real, live dream horse. Now in his twilight years, Sato has retired from breeding, but his offspring continue to pass on his eye-catching pattern at Blazing Colors.

Sato's Breyer model was produced from 2011 to 2012.