text: naborr naborr ( april 3 , 1950 – november 9 , 1977 ) , originally named nabor , was a gray arabian stallion foaled in russia at the tersk stud . he was sired by negatiw , a russian - bred stallion with crabbet ancestry , out of the polish - bred mare lagodna . after establishing himself on the race track and show ring in the former ussr , naborr was exported to poland , where he lived for seven years , and from there was purchased for import to the united states by a wealthy arabian horse breeder from arizona , anne mccormick . upon her death , naborr was sold in 1969 to tom chauncey and wayne newton for $ 150 , 000 , which was at the time the highest price ever paid for an arabian horse at auction . he went on to become a leading sire of champion arabian horses in the united states and canada . life and career naborr was foaled at russia 's tersk stud on april 13 , 1950 , and was originally named nabor . he was sired by the russian - born stallion negatiw ( sometimes spelled ) and out of the mare lagodna . he was a homozygous gray , and was recorded by the russian arabian stud book as standing 150 centimetres ( 14 . 3 hands ; 59 in ) . as a two - year - old , nabor raced at and won two times out of eight starts . his highest recorded speeds were 1 , 500 metres ( 4 , 900 ft ) in 1 : 54 , 1 , 600 metres ( 5 , 200 ft ) in 1 : 55 , and 1 , 800 metres ( 5 , 900 ft ) in 2 : 10 . his accomplishments at the track qualified him to become a breeding stallion at tersk . at age four , he was awarded a " certificate of the first class " , equivalent to a reserve champion , at the all - union agricultural fair in moscow in a competition open to all breeds of horses . his sire negatiw was the champion . nabor sired nine foals in russia , but only one , a colt , was registered . in 1955 , nabor was sold to poland . the polish were rebuilding their arabian breeding program following world war ii , and wanted a stallion that would restore the ibrahim sire line to their national studs . ibrahim was a desert - bred stallion brought to poland in 1907 by count joseph potocki . the horse was killed in 1917 during the bolshevik revolution , and by the end of world war ii , the sire line had been lost to poland . it was preserved via ibrahim 's son skowronek , who had been exported to england in 1912 , and skowronek was the great - grandsire of nabor . in poland , nabor was first put to stud at the state stud , then in 1957 moved to the michalow state stud . while in poland , he was noted for his docile temperament , intelligence , soundness , and - style arabian beauty : " dry , fine head with expressive eye , swan neck and milk - white hair unusual for his age ... he resembled the arabian horses painted by juliusz kossak , the best painter of oriental horses . " in 1962 , the poles were also able to import his sire negatiw . nabor stayed at michalow until january 1963 , when he was purchased and imported to america by the heiress anne " fifi " mccormick . upon arrival in america , nabor 's registered name became naborr . naborr came to america via ship , along with 15 other polish - bred arabians , including bask . the voyage lasted 44 days and was rough because the ship encountered a storm at sea . they also ran low on hay . 13 - year - old naborr came through the trip fairly well but lost 50 pounds . one other horse , a mare , aborted her foal and died , and most of the other horses lost a great deal more weight than did naborr . mccormick only stood naborr to her own mares and those of a few select friends , and as a result , under mccormick 's ownership , he only sired about 10 foals per year , a total of 82 foals . because naborr 's stud book was closed to outside mares , breeders seeking his bloodlines returned to poland and purchased several of his offspring bred there , including the mare * and stallions * gwalior , * , and * aramus . a total of 27 of naborr 's offspring were imported from poland to the united states . when mccormick died at age 90 , in 1969 , the terms of her will called for her arabians to be sold at public auction . in october , 1969 tom chauncey , a television station owner , rancher and horse breeder in the phoenix area , agreed to team up with wayne newton and purchased naborr at the mccormick estate auction . chauncey paid $ 150 , 000 , which at the time was the highest price ever paid for an arabian horse at auction in america , and brought in newton as a partner on the horse a month later . chauncey had previously bred thoroughbreds and quarter horses , but already owned a few arabians that he kept on his ranch . he initially stabled naborr at newton 's more suitable barn , but built his own facility near scottsdale , arizona , and bought out newton 's share in 1971 . in the same period , newton formed a partnership with other arabian breeders to purchase * aramus , who was a son of naborr . when aramus was named national champion stallion in 1970 , naborr 's stud fee was advertised at $ 10 , 000 . that same year , naborr was brought to the u.s. arabian national championship show and honored before the spectators there as one of 10 " living legends " . in 1975 he was the fourth - leading sire of champions in the united states . under chauncey 's ownership , he sired another 260 foals . his high purchase price and coverage in mainstream national news outlets was credited as the beginning of a " bubble " of high auction prices paid for arabian horses . naborr had the distinction of being the first russian - bred arabian to have offspring registered in the united states . due to his importation from poland , he could be registered , as the russian arabian stud book was not approved by the world arabian horse association until 1978 . naborr died on november 9 , 1977 ; he was 27 years old . in his final year of life , he sired 36 foals , the last of which was born on october 1 , 1978 . offspring and legacy combining his imported offspring and american - born foals , naborr sired 365 horses registered in the united states . by the end of 1967 , 61 of his offspring had won 693 show championships among them . the number of wins later doubled . in 1981 , naborr was tied for third as the leading sire of u.s. and canadian national champions . by 1999 , statistics showed that 1130 championships had been won by 121 of his offspring . of these horses , 46 of them earned top ten or higher honors at the u.s. and canadian national arabian championships . naborr 's winning offspring included his son , who was a canadian national champion stallion in halter and western pleasure , and reserve u.s. national champion stallion as well as senior european male champion at the salon du cheval in france in 1979 . other sons and daughters had championship careers as well . the naborr son * aramus , foaled in poland and imported to the united states , became a u.s. and canadian national champion stallion in both halter and performance , showing in formal driving and as a park horse . naborr 's son gai - adventure was u.s. national champion stallion in 1974 . his daughter , * , was a u.s. and canadian national champion mare . other national champion offspring in performance disciplines included riffle , a park and formal driving horse , and ibn naborr , canadian national champion stock horse . pedigree through his sire negatiw , naborr was a grandson of the skowronek son naseem , who had been sold to russia in 1936 by lady wentworth of the crabbet arabian stud for a price estimated at ₤ 50 , 000 . his dam lagodna was foaled in poland and the russians captured her and a number of other arabians during world war ii and brought her to tersk . also amongst the captured horses were naborr 's ancestors , gazella ii , and bey . via his sire line to , as well as through lagodna 's sire , and the mare , naborr carries three crosses to the stallion ibrahim .