Coolmore | Horse Racing Free Tips

Coolmore’s Japan Headlines ‘Win And You’re In’ Prince Of Wales’s Stakes At Royal Ascot

Derrick Smith, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Masaaki Matsushima's multiple Group 1-stakes winning 4-year-old Japan (GB) headlines Wednesday's (June 17) US$317,000 Prince of Wales's Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot, with the winner earning an automatic berth into the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) through the international Breeders' Cup Challenge.

The Breeders' Cup Challenge is an international series of stakes races, whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, which is scheduled to be held at Keeneland Race Course, in Lexington, Kentucky, on Nov 6-7.

As part of the benefits of the Challenge Series, Breeders' Cup will pay the entry fees for the winner of the Prince of Wales's to start in the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf, which will be run at 1 ½ miles over the Keeneland turf course. Breeders' Cup also will provide a minimum travel allowance of US$40,000 for all starters based outside of North America to compete in the World Championships. The Challenge winner must already be nominated to the Breeders' Cup program or it must be nominated by the Championships' pre-entry deadline of October 26 to receive the rewards.

The Prince of Wales's Stakes, for 3-year-olds and up at 1 ¼ miles, is the second of four Breeders' Cup Challenge “Win and You're In” races to be conducted during the Royal Ascot meeting. The Prince of Wales's will be televised by NBCSN and TVG on Wednesday at approximately 10 a.m. ET in the U.S.

Japan, a bay son of Galileo (IRE), trained by Aidan O'Brien, will be making his first start of the year after becoming one of Europe's top 3-year-olds of 2019. Following a third-place finish in the Investec Derby (G1) at Epsom, Japan began a three-race win streak with a dominant 4 ½-length victory in the 1 ½-mile King Edward VII Stakes (G2) at Royal Ascot. It was on to France next for the 1½-mile Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris (G1), the traditional Bastille Day (July 14) feature at ParisLongchamp. Japan took the lead inside 1 ½ furlongs and fought off Slalom (FR) to win by a half-length.

Back in Britain in September, Japan faced older horses for the first time in the Juddmonte International (G1) at York, where he engaged Crystal Ocean (GB) in a dramatic stretch drive and wore down his rival in the final 50 yards to prevail by a head under Ryan Moore. Japan returned to ParisLongchamp for the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Troimphe (G1) in October. He was in contention closing inside the furlong marker but was passed by Waldgeist (GB) on the outside, and wound up fourth. Moore has the mount again on Wednesday.

Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum's 6-year-old Addeybb (IRE), another returning Royal Ascot winner, scored Group 1 triumphs in Australia this year while racing was suspended in Britain due to the coronavirus outbreak. Addeybb, a gelded bay son of Pivotal (GB) out of the Kingmambo mare Bush Cat, and trained by William Haggas, captured the 1 ¼-mile Ranvet Stakes at Rosehill on March 21 and 1 ¼-mile Longines Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Royal Randwick in Sydney on April 11.

Sporting a solid record of nine wins in 17 starts, Addeybb won the listed 1 ¼-mile Wolferton Stakes by 2 ½ lengths over Magic Wand (IRE) last June at the Royal Meeting. He started next as the 11-8 favorite in the 1 3/8-mile Sky Bet Stakes (G2) at York on July 27, finishing second to Elarqam (GB), but rebounded on Aug. 10 at Haydock, winning the 1 3/8-mile Rose Of Lancaster Stakes (GB) by 2 ¼ lengths. He closed out the year chasing Magical (IRE) down the stretch in the 1 ¼-mile QIPCO Champion Stakes (G1) at Ascot, but finished second by three-quarters of a lengths. Tom Marquand has the mount on Addeybb.

Godolphin's 6-year-old gelding Barney Roy (GB), trained by Charlie Appleby and ridden by William Buick, is out for a bit of redemption this year after finishing eighth as the 5-1 favorite in the 2019 Queen Anne, which was his last race of the season. Like Addeybb, Barney Roy has been winning races outside of Britain this year. A bay son of Excelebration (IRE), Barney Roy was in Meydan this winter, taking the Al Rashidiya Stakes (G2) on Jan. 30 and Jebel Hatta Stakes (G1) on March 7, both at 1 1/8 miles on turf.

As a 3-year-old, Barney Roy won the 2017 St. James's Palace (G1) at Royal Ascot, and was retired after that season. However, he proved to be subfertile at stud and was returned to racing in 2019 as a gelding.

Prince Khalid Abdullah's 4-year-old Headman (GB), making his Ascot debut, won three consecutive races last year trainer Roger Charlton. A bay son Kingman (GB), Headman took the ungraded London Gold Cup Handicap last May at Newberry, setting up a bigger score in June at Saint-Cloud in France, where he captured the 1 ¼-mile Prix Eugene Adam (G2) by three lengths. He was in the winner's circle again in France in August, finishing a head in front of Roman Candle (GB) as the 3-5 favorite in the 1 ¼-mile Prix Guillaume d'Ornano Haras du Logis Saint-Germain (G2) at Deauville. Headman stepped into Group 1 company for the first time on Sept. 14 in the QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown. After rearing at the start and trailing the field, he made a bid in mid-stretch but could not sustain the drive and finished fifth. Jason Watson will ride Headman.

Sheikh Zayed bin Mohammed Racing's 4-year-old gelding Lord North (IRE), trained by John Gosden and ridden by James Doyle, comes into the race off a win in the 1 ¼-mile Betway Brigadier Gerard Stakes (G3) at Haydock on June 7. A bay son of Dubawi (IRE), Lord North had two second-place finishes at Ascot last year in Class 2, 1-mile races. Following a runner-up placing in the Balmoral Handicap on Oct. 19, Lord North closed out the season with a victory in the listed 1 ¼-mile James Seymour Stakes at Newmarket on Nov. 2.

Frankie Dettori has the mount on the Gosden-trained 4-year-old filly Mehdaayih (GB). Owned by Emirates Park Pty Ltd., Mehdaayih has won four races in 10 starts, including the Group 2 Prix de Malleret last June at Saint-Cloud. She was second to Deirdre (JPN) in the Qatar Nassau Stakes (G1) at Goodwood in August. Continuing in Group 1 company, she finished 10th in the Prix de l'Opera Longines at ParisLongchamp in October and in fifth in the Champion Stakes later that month at Ascot.

King Power Racing has entered the 4-year-old Bangkok (IRE), who finished second to Japan in the last year's King Edward VII. Trained by Andrew Balding and ridden by Silvestre De Sousa, the bay son of Australia (GB) raced twice in Derby trial stakes on the all-weather surface at Lingfield in February, winning the listed event on Feb. 1 and coming in third in the Group 3 Derby Trial on Feb. 22.

The Prince of Wales's Stakes joins Tuesday's Queen Anne (G1) (TVG Mile), Friday's Norfolk Stakes (G2) (Juvenile Turf Sprint) and Saturday's Diamond Jubilee (G1) (Turf Sprint) as the four Breeders' Cup Challenge races to be run at the 2020 Royal Meeting.

The post Coolmore’s Japan Headlines ‘Win And You’re In’ Prince Of Wales’s Stakes At Royal Ascot appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

A Different Kind of Royal Meeting

It’s Royal Ascot once again, but not as we know it. No crowds, no fashion, no Queen. It is a case of “Royal Ascot At Home” for virtually everybody this year, even for the main players whose money makes it all possible. That said, at least there is still Frankie, Aidan O’Brien, Wesley Ward, Sir Michael Stoute and Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and all the other working equine and human cast and crew that make this week so special. One of Britain’s most brilliant racehorses of recent years, Battaash deservedly hogs the limelight on Tuesday in the

G1 King’s Stand S. on an opening card that has been reformed in light of the season’s delay. In 2020, we have the unheard-of situation of Derby and Oaks contenders prepping for the Epsom Classics which are normally behind us at this stage. While the Group 2 races, the King Edward VII and Ribblesdale, are traditionally elaborate compensation prizes for those who missed out on glory in Surrey on the first Saturday of June, this time the likes of Frankly Darling (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and ‘TDN Rising Star’ Mogul (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) are being fine-tuned ahead of the mile-and-a-half monuments.

For Frankly Darling and Mogul, read Gosden and O’Brien. The following five days are set to provide the customary see-saw of success between these two master trainers and their respective distinctive riding talents Dettori and Moore. While there will be swings of fortune in other directions, the main core of the action will almost revolve around the now king of Newmarket and the peerless premier of Co. Tipperary. Between them, they have amassed a combined total of 119 winners at this meeting with 104 of those coming since O’Brien really clicked into gear with his first Group 1 in the millennium year.

Frankie Dettori, who requires six more Royal winners to tie with the legendary Pat Eddery on 73, will be without the buzz of the audience close-at-hand that spurned him on to his famous four-timer on Gold Cup last year, but he feels the importance of the stage just as keenly. “I don’t think the standard of racing is any different. It is pure quality as always,” commented the six-times leading jockey at the meeting. “It is the Olympics of Flat racing, but it will be weird if you do win a race and there is only yourself and the trainer and not thousands cheering you on as you walk back. I thrive on a big crowd so I will miss it, but I can’t change it.”

Day one sees the Italian ride two hot favourites in Anthony Oppenheimer’s Frankly Darling in the Ribblesdale and Shadwell’s Daarik (GB) (Tamayuz {GB}) in the opening Buckingham Palace H. Both are housed at Clarehaven Stables and the outcomes of their races will help to set the tone for the week. “With John everything he runs has got a chance,” he commented. “Ascot has never let me down before and though it will be different, I’m very excited.” Leading Ryan Moore by nine winners overall, he upset that rival’s momentum when reclaiming the leading rider title in 2019. Nevertheless, he is fully respectful of Moore, who holds the post-war record of nine winners in a single Royal Ascot meeting and who had topped the table eight times in the last 10 years. “I think it will be a lot tougher this year,” Dettori added. “Ryan Moore always sets the standard, as he is guaranteed four or five winners and you have to match him or get more.”

It is impossible to focus on Ascot without honing in on Dettori and his rides on day one offer a real insight into his current status as the world’s number one jockey. In the G1 Queen Anne S., he teams up with Godolphin on the strongly-fancied John Gosden-trained 4-year-old filly Terebellum (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) and if she is successful she will be his first Royal winner in the royal blue since Tha’ir (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) in the 2012 Listed Chesham S. Just over an hour later, he dons the Michael Tabor silks on Ballydoyle’s Arthur’s Kingdom (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) in the King Edward VII. Commanding these two bookings harmoniously, he is the man in deserved demand at the very apex of his sport. He even sports the colours of one-time employer Al Shaqab Racing for the ride on Wasmya (Fr) (Toronado {Ire}) in the G2 Duke of Cambridge S.

The unexposed Daarik and Mutamaasik (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) kick off a big day for Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s operation in the Buckingham Palace, the seven-furlong handicap which was shed from the meeting in 2015 but is revived to cater for the category which has lost so many opportunities in recent weeks. The Queen Anne sees a trio racing in the royal blue-and-white headed by the Marcus Tregoning-trained 2019 G3 Greenham S. winner Mohaather (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), while in the Duke of Cambridge the Gosden-trained Nazeef (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) is looking likely to start favourite after her impressive June 3 Listed Snowdrop Fillies’ S. success at Kempton. Of the latter, Gosden said, “She is back on grass, but she is a lovely, game filly that is improving all the time. I thought she was very impressive the other day. If she can transfer that level of form to the Duke of Cambridge, I expect her to run another big race.”

It is the King’s Stand that those connected to Shadwell await with the keenest interest as, despite being twice denied by the now-retired Blue Point (Ire) (Shamardal) in the past two years, Battaash is the clear standard-setter this time. Again handed his favoured post position towards the extremes of the field, drawn 10 of 11, the 6-year-old fireball can enjoy relative racing freedom with all options open to Jim Crowley. Next door in nine is the high-class 3-year-old filly Liberty Beach (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire}), who looked like a true five-furlong specialist when just lasting the extra distance of the June 7 Listed Cecil Frail Fillies’ S. at Haydock. Whether John Quinn’s G3 Molecomb S. winner can keep tabs on the favourite is another matter, but she at least offers some opposition to the division leader alongside another Northern-based sprinting filly in Glass Slippers (GB) (Dream Ahead). Bearstone Stud’s lightly-raced homebred may not have reached her ceiling and as the three-length winner of the G1 Prix de l’Abbaye in which Battaash was a notable flop, she commands respect.

Battaash’s trainer Charlie Hills is relishing Tuesday’s opportunity for the star of his stable. “We have a good team and they are very happy with him–we’ve had no hold-ups and I couldn’t be more pleased with him,” he said. “I’m very excited with his work and he has definitely shown me he’s as good as he was last year. He’s put in some fantastic performances in his career and when he’s on song he’s fantastic to see. The Abbaye run was on bad ground and we had a really terrible draw, but otherwise he’s been pretty much consistent throughout his career. He’s run two great races at Ascot beaten for stamina by a very good horse and if Blue Point hadn’t been there he’d already have won two of these.”

Glass Slippers’s trainer Kevin Ryan is not daunted by the task ahead of the 4-year-old filly and said, “She’s a high-class filly and has done fantastic from three to four. In a normal year, she’d have had a run before but I’m not worried that she hasn’t. She travelled great in the Abbaye and put it to bed very quickly.” Liberty Beach’s jockey Jason Hart, who is looking for a dream first Royal winner, said of the year-younger filly, “She won well at Haydock, but was a bit free early doors. She’s got a lot of natural pace, so the boss has decided to drop her back to five.”

Ballydoyle’s meeting gets underway with Circus Maximus (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the Queen Anne, where he bids to emulate the 2010 winner Canford Cliffs (Ire) and the following year’s hero Frankel (GB) in adding this to his G1 St James’s Palace S. success a year previously. Also successful in the G1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp in September, he will be bringing up Royal Ascot winner number 71 for his stable if proving as effective over this straight mile. “We’re very happy with him,” O’Brien said. “We would have liked to have given him a run before, but he’s in good form. He’s a lazy worker who has physically done well and we think the tempo of mile races suits him better than further as he concentrates a bit more when running a bit stronger. We tried different things with him last season, but we are looking forward to keeping him at a mile this year.”

With a record eight successes in the Queen Anne behind them, it is safe to say that whatever Godolphin target at the contest has to be respected. It was therefore necessary to take extra heed last week when the decision was made by John Gosden to point the aforementioned Terebellum at the race following her success in the G2 Dahlia S. over 10 furlongs at Newmarket last Saturday. Campaigned solely at that trip so far, last year’s G2 Prix de la Nonette winner is a perfect fit for this race which favours those who stay further than a mile. “Terebellum won well at Newmarket and has a lot of speed. I think a straight, stiff mile will suit her and she has been in great form since the Dahlia Stakes,” commented her trainer, who is looking to record a first winner at the meeting with one from this operation.

Sir Michael Stoute remains the winningmost trainer for this year at least, with his tally of 81 nigh-on impossible for Aidan O’Brien to equal in just five days. His best chances seem to come in the Duke of Cambridge, which he won in 2010 and 2014. Both ‘TDN Rising Star’ Jubiloso (GB) (Shamardal) and Queen Power (Ire) (Shamardal) have solid claims, with the former finishing third in the G1 Coronation S. here last year and the latter a promising second to Terebellum in the Dahlia.

Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager for owner-breeder Khalid Abdullah, is looking forward to seeing Jubiloso back on the track. “She ran a super third in the Coronation and we thought we were set up for a real bumper year with her, but she had a few niggling little feet problems. She’s come back and wintered well. She’s a very strong-bodied filly and we’re hopeful. Prince Khalid kept her in training in the hope of targeting these type of races. I think she will be competitive.”

For all the thrill of witnessing these great and potentially great thoroughbreds in flight once more, there is undeniably a shadow over the 2020 renewal. Trainer Mark Johnston, a perennial winner at the meeting over the past 25 years with 45 successes in total, feels it more than most as he actually contracted COVID-19 in the Spring and was one of the fortunates to come through the ordeal unscathed. “It is hard to feel it is as special this year,” he commented. “It is not the same. Weird is the word. My team will be depleted in numbers, as I am simply not going to throw darts at a board this year like I might do when it is the usual Royal Ascot.”

Nick Smith, director of racing and public affairs at the track, is putting the situation in a historical context. “We’ve had Black Ascot [in 1910], the year of Foot and Mouth and all the challenges that presented, as well as moving the Royal meeting to York, but it’s fair to see we’ve never seen anything quite like this,” he said. “It’s certainly a bit strange, but we’re now embracing the situation we’re in and getting excited about the week ahead.”

There will be no pre-racing parade and no flag-waving and hat-lifting. What there will be is an enhanced global watching audience in their homes due to the new partnership with HBA Media. As soon as the stalls burst open for the Buckingham Palace at 1:15 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time, that familiar outpouring of magic will still be there for the ultimate five-day-long distraction for all.

The post A Different Kind of Royal Meeting appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Circus Maximus, Terebellum To Vie For Breeders’ Cup Berth In Tuesday’s Queen Anne At Royal Ascot

Flaxman Holdings, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith's Circus Maximus (IRE) and Godolphin's Terebellum (IRE), lead a field of 16 entered for Tuesday's US$317,000 Queen Anne Stakes (G1) on opening day of the Royal Ascot meeting. The Queen Anne winner will secure an automatic berth into the TVG Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) through the international Breeders' Cup Challenge.

As part of the benefits of the Challenge Series, Breeders' Cup will pay the entry fees for the winner of the Queen Anne to start in the TVG Breeders' Cup Mile, which will be run at 1 mile over the Keeneland turf course. Breeders' Cup also will provide a minimum travel allowance of US$40,000 for all starters based outside of North America to compete in the World Championships. The Challenge winner must already be nominated to the Breeders' Cup program or it must be nominated by the Championships' pre-entry deadline of October 26 to receive the rewards.

The Queen Anne, run over a straight mile, is the first of four Breeders' Cup Challenge “Win and You're In” races to be conducted during the Royal Ascot meeting. The race will be televised by NBCSN and TVG on Tuesday at approximately 8:50 a.m. ET.

Circus Maximus, trained by Aidan O'Brien and ridden by Ryan Moore, will be making his first start since a fourth-place finish in last November's TVG Breeders' Cup Mile at Santa Anita. In 2019, Circus Maximus established himself among Europe's top milers when he captured the St James's Palace Stakes (G1) at the Royal Meeting, holding off King of Comedy (IRE) by a neck. That win came after a sixth-place finish in the 1 ½-mile Investec Derby (G1). After a second-place finish in the Qatar Sussex Stakes (G1) at Goodwood, and a seventh in the Juddmonte International (G1) at York, Circus Maximus earned his second Group 1 score in September by taking the Prix de Moulin (G1) at ParisLongchamp by a nose over Romanised (IRE).

In the Breeders' Cup Mile, Circus Maximus, the 7-2 third choice, made a bold move from eighth place in the stretch but was edged out for third.

“I think he ran a good race at the Breeders' Cup,” said Alan Cooper, Flaxman Holdings' racing manager. “There was a thought he might have finished third with a slightly clearer run but that's history. We need to focus on going forward and hope he is going to have a good 4-year-old career.”

Flaxman Holdings and the Niarchos Family have won the Breeders' Cup Mile six times, with Miesque (twice), Spinning World, Domedriver (IRE), Six Perfections (FR) and Karakontie (JPN).

Leading the challengers confronting Circus Maximus is the 4-year-old filly Terebellum (IRE), who will be taking on male rivals for the first time after five starts against her own gender. Trained by John Gosden, this brown daughter of Sea the Stars (IRE) out of the Elusive Quality mare Marvada (IRE), began her season on June 6 with an impressive win in the 1 ¼-mile Dahlia Stakes (G2) at Newmarket. Ridden by Frankie Dettori, Terebellum won last year's Group 2 Nonette Stakes at Deauville. She closed out 2019 with a very good effort against older fillies and mares in the 1 ¼-mile Prix de l'Opera Longines (G1) at Paris Longchamp, fighting for the lead inside the final 200 meters before winding up fifth, beaten 1 3/4 lengths.

Sheikh Abdulla Al Khalifa's Skardu (GB), trained by William Haggas, finished fourth behind Circus Maximus at Royal Ascot last year. A 4-year-old chestnut son of Sharmadal, Skardu, ridden by James Doyle, ran just once more in 2019, finishing fourth as the 2-1 favorite behind Duke of Hazzard (FR) in the Celebration Mile (G2) at Goodwood in August.

“He is in good shape but I am just a bit worried he might be underdone,” said Haggas. “We have had a lot of time with him but he is taking some getting fit. He is fit enough to run. James Doyle has been very happy with his work but my feeling is I am not sure whether he is quite there yet.”

Mrs. Fitri Hay's 4-year-old Duke of Hazzard, trained by Paul and Oliver Cole, has five wins in 15 starts, including his last three races, all at the one mile distance. Prior to taking the Celebration Mile, the chestnut son of Lope de Vega (IRE) won the listed Sir Henry Cecil Stakes at Newmarket and the Bonhams Thoroughbred Stakes (G3) at Goodwood. Duke of Hazzard will be ridden by P.J. McDonald.

One of the veterans in the Queen Anne field is the Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum-owned 7-year-old Mustashry (GB). Trained by Sir Michael Stoute and ridden by Dane O'Neill, Mustashry, eight for 18 lifetime, finished seventh in last year's race after being bumped in the stretch. Prior to the Queen Anne, the bay or brown gelding by Tamayuz (GB), won the 1-mile Lockinge Stakes (G1) at Newbury. He finished 2019 by capturing the 7-furlong Godolphin Stud & Stable Staff Awards Challenge Stakes (G2) at Newmarket in October.

Lightly-raced 4-year-old Fox Chairman (IRE), trained by Andrew Balding and ridden by Silvestre De Sousa, has not been off the board in four starts. Owned by King Power Racing, the Kingman (GB) colt was second last year to Sangarius (GB), as the 7-2 favorite, in the Hampton Court Stakes (G3) at Royal Ascot. He followed that performance by winning the listed Bet 365 stakes at Newbury in July.

Another group stakes-winning female entered for Tuesday is Mrs. R.J. McCreery's Billesdon Brook (GB), who won three races last year including the Group 1 Sun Chariot at Newmarket for trainer Richard Hannon. Ridden by Sean Levey, the 5-year-old daughter of Champs Elysees (GB) comes into the race off a second-place finish in the listed 1-mile Snowdrop Fillies' Stakes over the all-weather surface at Kempton on June 3.

Mrs. R.F. Johnson Houghton's 6-year-old gelding Accidental Agent (GB), the 2018 Queen Anne Stakes winner, also has been entered for trainer Eve Johnson Houghton and rider Charles Bishop.

The Queen Anne is the fourth race to award a Breeders' Cup Challenge berth this year for the TVG Breeders' Cup Mile. In January, Kantor, Blank, Sarkis & Yutar's 4-year-old gelding Vardy (SAF) won the L'Ormarins Queen's Plate (G1) at Kenilworth Racecourse in South Africa to gain the first berth in the division. Peter M. Brant's 5-year-old Raging Bull (FR) captured the Shoemaker Mile (G1) at Santa Anita Park in California on May 25, and on June 7, Sunday Racing Co.'s 4-year-old filly Gran Alegria earned an automatic starting position into Mile by taking the Yasuda Kinen (G1) at Tokyo Racecourse.

The post Circus Maximus, Terebellum To Vie For Breeders’ Cup Berth In Tuesday’s Queen Anne At Royal Ascot appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Record Enshrines Legend Of Galileo

And still the arrow holds its course: that perfect blaze, tapered down from the fletching between his eyes until opening into the neatly pointed tip above his nostrils. His whole life has seemed to obey the inexorable momentum implied in that warpaint. Ever onwards, ever upwards. Sure enough, with perhaps the most telling of all his records secured outright by his daughter Peaceful (Ire) in the G1 Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas on Saturday, Galileo (Ire) maintains his unwavering trajectory even into the evening of his career.

With another spring of undiminished virility behind him, at 22, Galileo could well elevate this latest benchmark–the 85th elite scorer of his stud career–beyond the reach of any future paragon. Even if pensioned tomorrow, Galileo would have four crops still to enter the fray; all, naturally, produced by mares of due eligibility. As such, even a century of Group 1 winners seems perfectly within his embrace.

The breed, then, can already count a relative longevity among the many Galileo assets to which it is indebted. Danehill, with whom he had previously shared the record, died in a paddock accident at 17. And Montjeu (Ire), the son of Sadler’s Wells who contested the succession most ardently with Galileo, was lost through septicaemia complications at 16. Happily, their sire set a more hopeful example, having been retired from stud duty only at 27.

Those names, among very few of the modern era eligible for the same pantheon, all attest to the presiding genius behind Galileo. For Sadler’s Wells, Danehill and Montjeu were three other bastions of the revolution in commercial breeding inspired by John Magnier and his partners at Coolmore.

Magnier’s acumen as a breeder and dealer, of course, has been consecutively complemented by two other horsemen united by a comparable genius, the same surname, and the same stable. His father-in-law Vincent O’Brien was integral to the original transfusion of dynamic American blood into a stagnant European gene pool, most notably through Northern Dancer–sire and grandsire, respectively, of Sadler’s Wells and Danehill. In Ballydoyle’s modern epoch, of course, Peaceful’s trainer Aidan O’Brien has proved no less relentless an achiever.

Posterity, in absorbing the impact on the Stud Book of Sadler’s Wells and then Galileo, will have a convenient brand for the respective O’Brien eras. On the track, admittedly, Sadler’s Wells did not seem to belong to the very first echelon of Ballydoyle champions. Indeed, Jim Bolger remembers getting into the lift at The Curragh after the horse had just won the Irish 2,000 Guineas, finding Vincent O’Brien there, and detecting a hint of bemusement in response to his congratulations.

And it was Bolger himself, of course, who later played a pivotal role in the Galileo story. Quite apart from his contribution as mentor to Aidan O’Brien, Bolger famously bet the bank on Galileo even as the early vibes were so discouraging that his opening fee of €60,000 had been cut to €37,500. When duly coming up with Teofilo (Ire) and New Approach (Ire), moreover, Bolger also sold access to Coolmore’s most precious bloodline to the farm’s habitual antagonists in Dubai. And that, in turn, has opened new branches of the Galileo dynasty–as in the case of 2018 Derby winner Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}).

In fact, we have reached the point where lines through Galileo, Montjeu and Galileo’s half-brother Sea The Stars (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) have almost saturated the Classic endeavours of elite European operations. Certainly it has become incumbent on Coolmore, with so many of Galileo’s daughters in their paddocks, to renew precisely the kind of overseas experiments that produced Sadler’s Wells and company in the first place. Their search for a viable outcross has, once again, brought benefits for many others in Europe. War Front and Scat Daddy duly made their names as international influences, much like Storm Cat before them; and the early signs are that American Pharoah will transfer his ability to carry dirt speed onto grass.

Others, equally, have been able to share the formula evolved by Coolmore to sharpen Galileo’s genetic preponderance towards stamina. With faster and faster mates, Galileo has increasingly broadened his repertoire to the extent that contributors to this new record include many juveniles, milers and even a Group 1 winner at six furlongs in Clemmie (Ire). In demanding ground, moreover, his son Gustav Klimt (Ire) came within a length of landing an elite sprint for older horses when third in the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup in 2018.

The ultimate dividend from sprinting mares, however, has obviously been Frankel (GB)–whose own spectacular start at stud suggests that Coolmore, having kept the premier heir to Sadler’s Wells inside the corral, may not have managed to repeat that trick. Frankel, of course, is out of a Danehill mare and Juddmonte, to be fair, probably felt that his advent represented a courteous reciprocation after the sale of his damsire, at the end of his racing career, to stand at Coolmore.

This is not the place to debate the substance or otherwise of “crossing” sire-lines. It goes without saying that the Danehill mares sent to Galileo could only have been talented and/or well-bred, and the input of another great stallion should pretty reliably produce plenty of good runners as a result. Whether or not any specific affinity should be implied, it is not hard to accept that a little bit of Danzig pep could logically bring useful equilibrium to the staying power associated with Sadler’s Wells.

Regardless, as things stand 15 of Galileo’s 85 Group 1/Grade I scorers are out of daughters of Danehill. Of the dozen best on official ratings, however, only Frankel represents this supposedly alchemical formula.

There are, of course, manifold other genetic strands entwined in every pedigree. When Magnier bought him, for instance, the appeal of Danehill himself was doubtless heightened by the replication of Natalma on both sides of his pedigree: as third dam, and also as the mother of Danzig’s sire Northern Dancer.

As one of the few mares in the breed’s history to stand comparison with Natalma, Galileo’s dam Urban Sea (Miswaki) must also be staunchly defended against any clumsy inference that he inherited the Sadler’s Wells dominions simply by paternal succession.

For Urban Sea, not Galileo, is the true monarch of Epsom in the 21st Century, having divided her influence there through her other great son Sea The Stars (Ire); not to forget her great-granddaughter Khawlah (Ire), who is by the same sire as Sea The Stars and gave the family another Derby winner a couple of years ago in Masar.

Masar’s luminous distinction, in being inbred 3×4 to Urban Sea, was predictably given less attention than the fact that he carries exactly the same imprint of Ahonoora (GB). By the same token, it surely behooves us to ask whether less familiar genetic strands behind Urban Sea may have contributed to her legacy. The German family is by now well familiar, decorated as it also is by the likes of King’s Best (Kingmambo) and Tamayuz (GB) (Nayef); but even Bolger has professed perplexed curiosity as to the sire of Galileo’s third dam, a forgotten grandson of Tesio’s charismatic Donatello (Ity) named Espresso (GB).

Enough dredging the past; let’s look ahead. Even the greatest empire has its frontiers. Are there still uncharted deserts Galileo can colonise?

Well, of course. Most obviously, his perennial multiple representation in the Derby makes Galileo highly eligible to claim outright the record of four winners he currently shares with Montjeu, as well as Blandford, Cyllene, Waxy and Sir Peter Teazle. And there is unfinished business, also, with his own sire. Sadler’s Wells was champion sire of Britain and Ireland 14 times; Galileo has so far managed 11 titles. As we’ve already said, however, he has plenty of ammunition still to be unloaded.

It is the horse from whom he claimed this latest record, however, who perhaps makes Galileo look to his laurels. Danehill, in addition to his three domestic titles, was champion sire of Australia nine times; and the dynasties he founded there, as a shuttling pioneer, make him one of the breed’s all-time game-changers.

Galileo, notoriously, made less of an impression after five sojourns in the Hunter Valley early in his stud career resulted in three locally-bred Group 1 winners, but a further six imports from the North have thus far brought his tally in Australasia to nine. Nor has he matched the diverse reach of El Prado (Ire), the principal conduit of their sire in America. Though El Prado and his son Kitten’s Joy conform to the Sadler’s Wells profile as unequivocal turf stallions, and Galileo ran that way when rolling the dice on dirt at the Breeders’ Cup, Medaglia d’Oro has parlayed his inheritance onto dirt both as a runner and a sire; and the El Prado line has also diversified to produce sprinters as fast as Astern, Artie Schiller and Bobby’s Kitten.

Frankel, it must be said, had a running style tailor made for dirt. Perhaps his own stock, who have shown a similar tendency to carry speed, may yet be given that chance. (His brother Noble Mission already has a top-class dirt runner in Code Of Honor.) As it is, however, the single deficiency in Galileo’s historic career might be a failure to translate his breed-shaping influence beyond a known, congenial environment. He has not matched the geographical reach of Danehill, nor straddled disciplines like El Prado’s sons.

But these are the imperfections sewn into the Persian carpet, against any presumption of divinity. Galileo has been an impeccable influence, giving a priceless glamour to attributes–stamina, constitution, courage and sheer Classic quality–that were falling perilously out of favour. What that would have meant, without him, is easy to see. Just look at the ostensible “commercial” sector in Europe: it is dominated by precocious sprinting blood, generally without the faintest pretension to breeding a Classic racehorse.

To that extent, Galileo and his clan have actually profited from an increasingly clear run, above all at Epsom, a target in effect renounced by any breeder favouring “commercial” types over stallions eligible to challenge the Derby/Oaks hegemony. The same is largely true even of the mile Classics, but Kitten’s Joy has reminded us all–from severely limited opportunities in Europe–that there are alternatives to defeatism.

As it is, however, let’s celebrate an emperor who remains gloriously in his pomp. For so long as people still breed Thoroughbreds, the legacy of Galileo will be honoured. And whatever else Peaceful goes on to achieve, her name will be preserved in the annals primarily for this latest seal on the prowess of her sire. For Galileo has redefined the very nature of the elite European racehorse–and immeasurably for the better.

The post Record Enshrines Legend Of Galileo appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post