Michael Sobell

His family owned factories in the Austro-Hungarian empire and oil interests at Limburg in Germany, but his parents moved to England in 1903 to escape antisemitism.

An owner and breeder of thoroughbred racehorses, Michael Sobell's first major racing winner was London Cry in the 1958 Cambridgeshire Handicap.

He hired Gordon Richards as his racing manager and in 1960, Sobell purchased Ballymacoll Stud, a breeding farm owned by Dorothy Paget in County Meath, Ireland.

Among Troy's wins were England and Ireland's most prestigious races, the Epsom and Irish Derbys, as well as the Benson & Hedges Gold Cup, and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

In 1982 he sold the stables to Queen Elizabeth II and thereafter his English-based horses were trained by Ian Balding at Kingsclere and also by Barry Hills.

The nature of Michael Sobell's business led him to become involved in educational and other institutions which advanced science and he served as chairman of the British Technion Committee.