How Galileo became the lodestone of world breeding and Darley sires came of age
The s belonged to Galileo. The Coolmore phenomenon was champion sire in Britain and Ireland in every year of the decade, supplying 72 Group/Grade 1 winners to go with the 12 he delivered between and , including the best racehorse many of us will ever see: the unbeaten dual world champion Frankel.
Galileo imbues his progeny not only with abundant class, as might have been expected of a brilliant Derby winner by a prolific champion sire in Sadler's Wells out of the Arc heroine Urban Sea, but with extraordinary mental fortitude too. His stock are generally an even tempered lot who give their all when the chips are down.
Throughout the last decade, Galileo's influence has deepened. His sons Frankel, Nathaniel, New Approach and Teofilo have delivered celebrity offspring, while Teofilo's son Havana Gold was a leading first-season sire of In an illustration of how quickly this dynasty is taking root, Havana Gold's Group 1-winning son Havana Grey retired to stud this year, so Galileo will have great-great-grandchildren through the male line on the ground in
Galileo has also, unsurpri
Galileo: A phenomenon who changed the face of the industry
When Sadler’s Wells died in , there was an assumption that we would never see his like again. We were wrong.
As news of Galileo’s death at Coolmore filtered out on Saturday, the racing world was united in its mourning for a horse who had changed the face of the industry over a relatively short period of time.
Every so often, a stallion rises above others to alter the course of the breed. The impact of Northern Dancer, grandsire of Galileo, changed the Thoroughbred forever. In Japan, Sunday Silence and the ambition of the Yoshida family alone propelled that industry to unseen heights.
Europe’s ‘Northern Dancer’ was the Coolmore behemoth Sadler’s Wells, whose immense success at stud consisted of 73 G1 winners and was a key component to the rise of the operation and its racing arm, Ballydoyle, as a result. His run of 14 British and Irish sires’ championships had surpassed the record set by Highflyer in ; to think back in that another record-breaker was around the corner would have been a far-fetched notion.
Yet in Galileo, here is a stallion in possession
Horse racing: Galileo, the world-leading sire to champions such as Frankel, dies at 23
Galileo, the world's most sought-after racehorse sire, has died at the age of
Winner of the Derby at Epsom, the horse was father to numerous champions including the legendary Frankel.
Owners Coolmore Stud announced he was put to sleep "on humane grounds owing to a chronic, non-responsive, debilitating injury to the left fore foot".
"It is a very sad day," said Coolmore owner John Magnier.
"We all feel incredibly fortunate to have had Galileo here at Coolmore.
"The effect he is having on the breed through his sons and daughters will be a lasting legacy and his phenomenal success really is unprecedented."
The most successful Group One sire of all time has produced 91 individual Group One winners, while 20 of his sons have sired Group One winners on the Flat.
Galileo's life and legacy to racing: The story of a champion
If Aidan O'Brien were primarily the human responsible for the greatness that Galileo and his sons and daughters achieved, his history would have never been written, were it not for Vincent.
It is a story often told, and no worse in the next telling. The mystery of life is that Galileo greeted Saturday morning without knowing that it would be his last, unaware that his incredible life and equine royalty was coming to a close. The mystery of the bond between human and animal is something tantalisingly less than tangible - but Vincent O'Brien had an eye like few others, if anyone.
Vincent, the Master of Ballydoyle before his namesake, liked to analyse a thoroughbred firstly by surveying his or her head, as an artist might the person he or she is painting.
The American industrialist Charles Engelhard was said to be the figure Ian Fleming based Goldfinger on, but what is certain is that he invited MV O’Brien to Canada to examine a yearling by the stallion Ribot.
No matter how beautiful you're told something is if you cannot see it yourself, you can't pretend. Vincent didn’t like the yearling much, so rather than waste
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