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Twenty Years On: Recalling Galileo’s Classic Season

This time twenty years ago, Galileo (Ire) was a once-raced winning maiden gradually being honed to full fitness on the Ballydoyle gallops ahead of his Classic season. That debut outing at Leopardstown on Oct. 28, 2000, had started with the young son of Sadler's Wells and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine Urban Sea as evens favourite and ended, after a mile on heavy ground, with him 14 lengths clear of the Aga Khan's Taraza (Ire).

We've all seen 2-year-olds burn brightly in their maidens only to fizzle out when put to the sword in Classic trials. History, of course, relates that this would not be the case for Galileo. Born to be a champion, he more than fulfilled that birthright on the racecourse, making the diverse challenges of Epsom and the Curragh look like Sunday afternoon strolls before being involved in two epic battles with the outstanding older horse of the time, Fantastic Light, at Ascot and Leopardstown.

Despite all the prowess displayed by the colt, those involved with him throughout his racing days could not have dared to imagine the level of success that would follow in his stud career. Or could they?

Aidan O'Brien, who trained Galileo for John and Sue Magnier and Michael and Doreen Tabor, is the man that knew the young horse best. He says, “Unusually with him, before he came to Ballydoyle the world was thought of him and I suppose that was because he is out of an Arc winner and he's by Sadler's Wells. Sue named him Galileo very early.”

There's no shortage of Ballydoyle horses with portentous names but it wasn't just Galileo's breeding that led his owners and trainer to dream that his destiny was written in the stars. Though medium-sized and not obviously physically imposing, the athleticism of the colt made an instant impression.

“He didn't walk, he prowled,” O'Brien continues. “It was a very unusual thing with a horse. Horses usually come up to walk but when he used to walk, he would get down to walk. When you'd ask him to go forward the first thing that would go out and down was his head. Most horses when you ask them to go forward, up goes the head and they walk up, but he used to walk forward and walk out. His walking stride was so long and there was so much power from his front and back, so I suppose the lads had him as a king before he came here.”

Just last week St Mark's Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr})—himself out of a mare by Galileo—was confirmed as the eleventh champion 2-year-old produced by Aidan O'Brien in his 28-year training career. Galileo, having just had that one outing, wasn't one of them, but he would soon atone for his later start.

“We got him ready a few times to run but there was a bit of coughing in the yard that season,” O'Brien recalls. “We thought he was going to be our Dewhurst horse but we never got him out, so he ran in a maiden at Leopardstown, Michael Kinane rode him and he won by 12 or 14 lengths. Everything about him was always very different but obviously we would never have expected what happened to happen.”

Galileo's road to the Classics was altogether smoother, navigated initially alongside another son of Sadler's Wells, Milan (GB), who would go on to win the St Leger.

“He did everything with Milan and went everywhere with him until we saw what Milan was,” says their trainer.

Indeed, Milan was runner-up to Galileo in the Ballysax S. on their first outing of the season, with subsequent four-time Irish St Leger winner Vinnie Roe (Ire) completing a classy trifecta. Galileo's final tune-up for Epsom came in the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial, the third run of his life and the third time that the horse with the big walk and bigger reputation would line up as favourite.

By the time Derby Day 2001 dawned, Sadler's Wells had already been champion sire ten times. Though his list of Oaks winners by that stage featured Salsabil (GB), Intrepidity (GB) and Moonshell (Ire), and Entrepreneur (GB) and King Of Kings (Ire) had both won the 2000 Guineas, there was a glaring omission from the great stallion's stud record: Epsom's blue riband. Galileo delivered not just his sire's first victory in the Derby but also the first of eight—and counting—for his trainer.

“I remember walking the track with Michael before the Derby and he said what he was going to do, and exactly where he was going to ride him and where he was going to have him at full stretch,” says O'Brien. “It was incredible really, he just turned in and [Michael] had him balanced and slowly let him go, and I remember that his stride just opened up and started getting longer and longer. He pulled up full of running, he didn't look anywhere near empty at the line.”

Galileo's three-and-a-half-length victory over Ballymacoll Stud's 2000 Guineas winner Golan (Ire) made him odds-on to bring up the Derby double back on his home turf at the Curragh. This he did with ease, his four-length victory delivering another first, this time for Kinane, who won his 'home' Derby at his 18th attempt. Galileo may have got noticeably warm at the start, but it was no sweat for Kinane throughout the Irish Derby as he unleashed his cruising mount two furlongs from home before easing him ahead of the line.

With the Breeders' Cup Classic, over ten furlongs on the dirt, nominated as Galileo's unorthodox end-of-season target as early as midsummer, the colt nevertheless remained at a mile and a half for arguably the best performance of his life. The regard in which the Derby winner was held was evident in the fact that he was chalked up as as the odds-on favourite for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. ahead of Godolphin's 5-year-old Fantastic Light, who arrived at Ascot on the back of wins in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup and G1 Prince of Wales's S.

In its Racehorses of 2001 annual, Timeform noted, “On a sweltering afternoon and before a record crowd of 38,410, Ascot, it seemed to some, was to be the scene not of a contest but of a coronation.”

'The King', as he had long been regarded by his co-breeders at Coolmore, was crowned. Galileo joined an elite group of horses to have won the Derby, Irish Derby and King George, adding his name to the illustrious sextet of Nijinsky, Grundy (GB), The Minstrel, Troy (GB), Shergar (GB) and Generous (Ire).

This sixth consecutive victory would prove to be Galileo's last but his following race, back to ten furlongs and again up against Fantastic Light in the Irish Champion S., would go down as one of the most memorable duels of the modern era. Once their respective pacemakers had cried enough, the Leopardstown straight was there for the taking, royal blue and dark blue locked in battle as Fantastic Light, getting first run up the rail when Galileo was forced wide around Give The Slip (GB), maintained his advantage to the line by a rapidly diminishing head.

“I think it's harder than we realise for the 3-year olds going up against the older horses in the summer,” says O'Brien. “A 3-year old against a 4-year old is very tough but a 3-year old against a 5-year old is even tougher. I think they need every bit of it [the weight allowance] and it's only the very good ones who can do it. Age at that stage—from three to four, four to five—age is an awful advantage, that toughness and the foundation. Really 3-year-olds are only babies, especially those middle-distance horses at that stage.”

With Galileo apparently never considered to be given the chance to emulate his mother's Arc victory, America beckoned, but not for the potentially easier and more obvious target of the Breeders' Cup Turf. Galileo became the greatest to gallop around Southwell's fibresand during an away day in preparation for his trip to Belmont Park for the Breeders' Cup Classic, a race which would see him take on the previous year's winner Tiznow and Arc winner Sakhee. Just a nose separated that pair at the wire with Galileo battling home in vain to take sixth.

“With the benefit of hindsight it was an unrealistic target to ask him to do that after having such a tough season and racing against the older horses, but it was the belief that was in him, the belief that everyone had in him, that we thought it could be possible that it could happen,” O'Brien reflects.

Timeform noted that Galileo returned from the race with swollen eyes and sore heels and his trainer recalls the effect the dirt kickback had on him.

He says, “I remember when he came in, he was after trying so hard he was almost crying. He was so genuine.”

If that at the time felt an inauspicious end to Galileo's career, in truth it was only the beginning of something far greater. His phenomenal run at stud continues apace: with 12 champion sire titles he is closing in on his own outstanding sire's record of 14. He has already surpassed Sadler's Wells's tally of Group 1 winners and last year set a new record of 85, passing another Coolmore great, Danehill, when Peaceful (Ire) won the Irish 1000 Guineas. Moreover, the Derby winner of 20 years ago is now the most successful Derby sire of all time, with Serpentine (Ire) becoming his fifth winner of the Epsom Classic in 2020.

Galileo's success is far from restricted to his own former stable but he has had an extraordinary influence on the fortunes of Ballydoyle as well as the rampant training career of Aidan O'Brien, with whose name he will forever be entangled. That his own athletic genes have been imparted so successfully is beyond question but the trainer knows that preparing racehorses goes beyond just getting them fit. Young Thoroughbreds must be mentally equipped to deal with the challenge and it is in this sphere which Galileo's own natural blend of talent and fortitude gives his offspring an edge.

“The mental attitude is vital. That's what makes them different to others,” says the man who has trained more of Galileo's stock than any other. “You can't see it physically when you see a Galileo, because it's in their mind, but when you start working them and galloping them, then you see it. It's that will to win and that absolute genuineness. It's the way they move and that action which makes them get down and gallop and it doesn't allow them to give up. Most horses when they're starting to get tired, they come back and curl up, but Galileos, their movement and their determination doesn't allow them to do that. It's very rare and I think that's why his influence will continue for a long, long time.”

Of Galileo's contribution to Coolmore and Ballydoyle over the last two decades, he adds, “It's incredible really, and to have that for John, Sue, Michael and Doreen, it was incredible. I suppose what made it very different was because they had called it all the way with him. John was so sure about his pedigree and the way he was bred, and John and Michael had it in their heads, the mares that were going to suit him, even before it happened really. It's incredible the amount of individual Group 1 winners by him that we've had, from six furlongs to two-and-a-half miles.”

In Galileo's Classic season, O'Brien also trained Imagine (Ire) to win the Oaks, the filly leading home a 1-2-3 for Sadler's Wells, while Galileo's erstwhile workmate Milan went on to win the St Leger. Of course, with Galileo, Sadler's Wells is only one half of a heady combination. His dam Urban Sea already looked a special broodmare by the time he won the Derby and her extraordinary development into a true blue hen has been aided especially by Galileo's half-brother, Sea The Stars (Ire), whose superior racing versatility saw him win the Guineas as well as the Derby and retire in a blaze of glory following the Arc. When discussions turn to the best racehorses of the recent era, opinion is usually divided between Sea The Stars and Galileo's own masterpiece, the outstanding Frankel (GB).

Inevitably, though, the son will always be measured against the father in the pantheon of champion sires and Galileo will not be found wanting.

“I don't think anyone could have believed that there was ever going to be another horse even anywhere close to Sadler's Wells,” says O'Brien.

For we fortunate followers of breeding and racing in the 21st century, it has been a privilege to watch history in the making.

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Laura Pearson Hits Pause on Riding Career to Preserve Claim

Apprentice Laura Pearson is taking a break from riding until the start of the Flat season in March. Pearson, who currently has a five-pound claim, announced the news at Wolverhampton on Sunday. On top of the apprentice jockeys' title race with 22 winners, Pearson has 23 winners left before her claim is reduced to three pounds. Pearson made the call after discussing the issue with trainer Tom Clover and her agent Steve Croft.

“We've had a good chat about it, myself and the governor [Clover] and my agent–and you've got to look at the bigger picture and save my five for those nice handicaps on the Turf,” Pearson told Sky Sports Racing. “I'm going to be 'box-walking' … but in the long run, it's the right thing to do.”

“I always had my blinkers on for it,” she added of the all-weather championship. “We'll see if I can keep my nose in front, and come back and bounce a couple more out if I do get a little bit short.”

“It's been absolutely incredible,” she said. “I've just got to keep my feet on the ground and keep my head straight. The amount of different trainers who have given me the opportunity to ride for them [means] every day I'm coming out and riding more, and everybody's helping me.”

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Journalist Paul Haigh Dies at 76

The British racing press room has lost one of its legends with the passing of former HWPA Racing Journalist of the Year Paul Haigh, who has died aged 76.

In truth, Haigh, who received his crowning accolade at the Derby Awards ceremony in 1993, was never much seen in the press rooms of British racecourses even at the best of times because he was a feature-writer rather than a reporter. And when he chose to make race-meetings the subject of his features, he would be as likely to watch the action on television in his living room (or in a betting shop) as from the stands through binoculars. But it was this detachment that made his writing so special: he wrote from the point of view of someone more at home throwing his pencil at the TV in disgust as the horse which he has backed starts to weaken than rubbing shoulders with grandees in the Committee Room.

Haigh's entrée into the game came via a route no longer available, as a boardman in a betting shop, marking up the prices before the races and the results afterwards, with the Extel commentaries the sound-track to his working days. His passion for the game and his command of the language came to the attention of Pacemaker editor Michael Harris, who signed him up as one of the magazine's feature-writers. That he took to this like a duck to water was shown by the fact that in 1984 he won an award as specialist columnist of the year for a trade publication in the Magazine Publishing Awards. When the Racing Post was founded in 1986, he was hired by founding editor Graham Rock to write a column (which could and would be on pretty much any subject) two or three times a week. He filled this role until 1993. Thereafter he became a freelance writer but still contributed to the Racing Post intermittently until 2009.

Haigh's political persuasions—ie left-wing, anti-establishment—underscored his output, his belief in the importance of fairness and natural justice under-pinning his work to at least the same extent that his passion for the sport did. Overall, though, the principal ingredient in his work was humour. A Paul Haigh column would probably enthuse the reader and very possibly get him thinking—but, most of all, it would almost certainly make him laugh.

Michael Harris, under whom Haigh worked both at Pacemaker and a few years later at the Racing Post, said in that newspaper's tribute to his former colleague, “His writing was as good as anything I've ever read on horseracing. Not necessarily from the point of view of his opinions, but certainly from his wonderful style of writing and the humour it conveyed.

“He consistently showed all the attributes of a great columnist in that he was controversial, irreverent and often very funny. He was a wonderful raconteur but along with that he was also obstinate and difficult to control. He would say what he thought and to hell with the consequences.

“The genius of Paul Haigh was in his writing ability and journalistic skills. He wrote with an Orwellian clarity to the point where even his great nemesis, the late John McCririck, once said that Haigh was always a good writer and sometimes a great writer.”

As well as for his many memorable Racing Post and Pacemaker columns, Paul Haigh will perhaps be best remembered for his books, most notably The Racehorse Trainer, which was published by Partridge Press in 1990 and contained profiles of 21 of the world's leading trainers at the time, the words written by Haigh and the photographs taken by George Selwyn. For anyone looking to compile a time-capsule of the racing world in the final quarter of the 20^th century, this book would have been an automatic selection.

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ITBA Awards Honour Todd Watt Among Top Breeders

Dolphins swimming in the Venetian canals may have been pandemic fake news, but that the world will have benefited environmentally is one of the few upsides to the coronavirus crisis. What is not fake news is that many heads and livers will have been feeling better on Sunday morning than would otherwise be the case following the annual ITBA Awards, but that is the only benefit to missing out on what is always one of the social highlights of the racing year.

Attendance at this event is not for the faint-hearted or the early-to-bedders. Traditionally, gongs are still being handed out past midnight and then the celebrating begins, on the dance floor, in the residents' bar and often through to the breakfast table. Like pretty much every other event of the past year, the ITBA Awards, celebrating the best performances by Irish-bred horses on the Flat and over jumps, was forced into a virtual format, but that didn't stop it being a memorably emotional evening.

Ireland's reputation as a country of Thoroughbred breeders of the highest calibre has long been a cause for celebration but before we toast the best in show for 2020, the award which will have lightened the lockdown gloom the most among the tight-knit breeding community was the Rathbarry Stud-sponsored ITBA Special Recognition Award for Todd Watt. The masterful Tattersalls auctioneer has been absent from the sales for the last few years since suffering a stroke but, with the awards presentations posted in individual video segments across social media channels throughout the evening, viewers and followers were able to see Todd receive his award from Niamh Woods. That he is missed as much as he is loved was clear from the many deserving tributes from his friends and colleagues, both in the moving film and subsequently on Twitter.

“All through his career in Tatts, he was our go-to guy, not just for me but for all the Irish,” said Eddie O'Leary of Lynn Lodge Stud, summing up the regard in which Watt is held by many vendors at the sales.

Fellow Tattersalls auctioneer John O'Kelly added, “Todd Watt is the great ambassador. A lovable character; everybody in the industry has huge respect for him. He sold horses with a smile on his face, he made people feel good, and no stone was unturned to ever get somebody an extra bid for a horse.”

Horseracing and breeding are not immune to the financial concerns generated by the Covid pandemic but in Ireland some comfort must be taken in the close links between the industry and government, which is doubtless the envy of other racing nations. This was evident in the fact that the Taoiseach Micheal Martin gave a video address at the start of awards evening, recognising the major contribution of the bloodstock world to Ireland's economy.

“The tumultuous events of 2020 and the continuing pandemic have had a significant impact on your industry,” he said. “An important pillar of government policy is to ensure that the horseracing and Thoroughbred industry achieves its maximum potential and, in so doing, continues to contribute to economic and social development across a wide geographic swathe of the country. It is estimated that the Thoroughbred industry has an annual economic impact of €1.9 billion, with direct and indirect employment of up to 29,000 people. Additionally the industry brings a high level of international investment into Ireland. The Irish racing and breeding industry is extremely competitive at a global level. We are the third-biggest producer of Thoroughbred foals in the world and estimates place Ireland behind only the United States as the biggest public seller of bloodstock globally.”

Three of those foals produced in 2018 led to Derek and Gay Veitch's Ringfort Stud being named Breeder of the Year. The Co Offaly-based farm had a year to remember with its 2-year-olds in particular, with Minzaal (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) and Miss Amulet (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}) winning the G2 Gimcrack S. and G2 Lowther S. at York's Ebor meeting, followed by the G2 Flying Childers S. win of Ubettabelieveit (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}). The latter and Miss Amulet both went on to be placed at the Breeders' Cup, and Minzaal was the second consecutive Ringfort-bred winner of the Gimcrack following Threat (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}).

“The best 2-year-olds that we had in 2020 were all by stallions out of Tally-Ho. I love it because they were cheap horses to produce, just farm costs and running costs, and they've ended up great racehorses which has helped us immensely with the mares,” said Derek Veitch. “The couple of days in York was amazing. To have the Lowther winner and then the Gimcrack winner for the second year in a row was just incredible and very satisfying for us.”

Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) was the toast of the Longines World's Best Racehorse ceremony last week and he was recognised again in the award to his breeder Dermot Weld's Springbank Way Stud in the Older Horse of the Year category. Ghaiyyath's former stable-mate Pinatubo (Ire) (Shamardal) earned the Three-Year-Old Colt of the Year award for his breeder Godolphin, while the Two-Year-Colt of the Year was the G1 Middle Park S. winner Supremacy (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), bred by The Hon. Kenneth Lau of Kangyu International Racing at John Tuthill's Owenstown Stud.

“It is very exciting to have bred Supremacy from one of the first mares I have owned,” said Lau. “Thank you to Owenstown Stud for raising Supremacy and to Ed Sackville for buying [his dam] Triggers Broom (Ire). We sold her very good Cotai Glory (GB) colt at Book 1 to King Power and we have a lovely Cotai Glory filly to race. Tiggers Broom now visits Frankel (GB).”

It is overseas that the best Irish-bred fillies excelled in 2020. Trained at Ballydoyle by Aidan O'Brien, the Coolmore-bred Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was unbeaten in her three starts, all in England, in the 1000 Guineas, Oaks and Yorkshire Oaks. Farther afield, the 2-year-old Aunt Pearl (Ire) was also unbeaten in three races in America, culminating in her becoming the second daughter of Lope De Vega (Ire) to win the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf after Newspaperofrecord (Ire). Aunt Pearl was bred in partnership by Ballylinch Stud and the French-based Ecurie Des Charmes.

A highlight of Saturday's afternoon's racing was the success of Shishkin (Ire) (Sholokhov {Ire}) in the G2 ITM Lightning Novices' Chase but it was his victory in last March's G1 Supreme Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival which sealed his Best Novice Hurdler award for breeder Clive Bennett.

Philip and Jane Myerscough received the award for the Best Novice Chaser, another Cheltenham winner in Champ (Ire) (King's Theatre {Ire}), while Hurdler of the Year was Paisley Park (Ire) (Oscar {Ire}), who won the title for the second year for breeder Michael Conaghan. The Chaser of the Year was another multiple winner, the great Altior (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}), bred by Paddy Behan who has now won five consecutive ITBA awards.

One of the most popular prizes given at this event is the annual Wild Geese Award which recognises the success of Irish men and women overseas. Recent recipients include bloodstock agent Mags O'Toole, Keeneland's Geoffrey Russell and the late Gerry Dilger of Dromoland Farm.

As awards host Leo Powell said, this year's winner has ventured just about as far from home as it is possible to be: New Zealand. Gordon Cunningham may have settled a long way away but his Irish roots are not forgotten, as the name of his successful Curraghmore Farm in Waikato suggests.

The Waterford native is a grandson of legendary Irish trainer Michael Collins, and thus cousin to current trainer Tracey Collins, who succeeded her father Con at Conyngham Lodge on the Curragh.

“We were always excited to go to the Curragh for the summer and of course Uncle Con was an icon for our family and we were inwardly very proud of just being in his presence or being able to visit Conynhgam Lodge, where mum was raised,” said Cunningham in a video made at last week's Karaka yearling sale.

He added, “I know there are many people around the world who are worthy of this award and I feel very privileged to be considered worthy of it. I'm very grateful to the ITBA and would like to congratulate all the other recipients of awards thought the evening. I would like to acknowledge my late Uncle Dick Collins and my Aunt Bernie, who took my younger brother and I under their wing when our father passed away when I was pretty young. They brought us up to the Curragh every summer. From my first summer at Lisieux [Stud] I knew horses were going to be my life.”

Among the notable graduates of Curraghmore Farm are Melbourne Cup winner Efficient (NZ), Australian champion 3-year-old Fairway (NZ) and Hong Kong champion stayer Liberator (NZ).

Andrew Seabrook of New Zealand Bloodstock said, “Gordon takes it to another level. He's more focused on breeding quality and good horses than getting the top price in the sale ring. He's so focused on just getting the very best out of a horse and he reads the market so well.”

The wide world of bloodstock boasts many graduates of the Irish National Stud breeding course, which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary. Further celebration is due in that the government-owned stud itself has now become the first organisation to be inducted to the ITBA Hall of Fame.

“The Thoroughbred industry in Ireland is something which we are justifiably proud of as world leaders, and having an organisation like the Irish National Stud that essentially belongs to the people is very important,” said Goffs Group chief executive Henry Beeby.

In accepting the award, the Irish Minister of Agriculture John McConalogue acknowledged the stud's “continued determination for excellence” and said, “I am delighted to be accepting the 2020 Hall of Fame award on behalf of the National Stud. This is in recognition of the stud's invaluable contribution to the Irish Thoroughbred industry over many decades, from the stallions it stands to the world-renowned breeding course and the impact it has as a national tourist attraction. This award sees the Irish National Stud join an august group which includes JP McManus, David and Diane Nagle, Jim Bolger, Sadler's Wells and Michael Osborne.”

While Ireland and Britain remain under strict lockdown, with racing continuing behind closed doors and sales online, there are currently few opportunities for the industry's participants to meet in person. What the ITBA successfully pulled off on Saturday night was bringing people together, albeit virtually, in recognition and celebration of one of Ireland's best attributes: its deserved reputation as a centre for equine excellence. Congratulations to the ITBA team and to all the award winners.

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