 Turtle Island's sire, Fairy King, who was full-brother to Sadler's Wells, failed to win a race after being injured on his debut, but sired the winners of over five-hundred races, including Helissio and Oath.His dam, Sisania, was descendant of the French mare Batika, making her a distant relative of the three-time Grand National winner Red Rum.In September 1992 the yearling colt was sent to the sales at Doncaster where he was bought for 23,000 guineas by Frank Barry.