Galileo fires two bullets at the June 12 Tattersalls Irish Two Thousand Guineas (G1) as the perennial champion sire bids to become the most prolific source of group 1 winners in Thoroughbred history.
The Coolmore colossus, who supplied his first top-level winner of the delayed British and Irish season Sunday when Love claimed the QIPCO One Thousand Guineas (G1) at Newmarket, will be relying upon Armory or Vatican City to provide his 85th group/grade 1 winner, a tally that would see Galileo surpass the late, great Danehill, his former studmate.
The pair have been tied on 84 elite winners since Galileo’s globetrotting daughter Magic Wand landed the Mackinnon Stakes (G1) at Flemington in November.
Armory, the winner of the Futurity Stakes (G2) and a three-time group 1 place-getter at 2, would arguably be the more fitting of the pair to push Galileo past Danehill’s record, as he is out of After, a maternal granddaughter of Danehill through Danehill Dancer.
Armory after breaking his maiden at the Curragh
It should not be overlooked that so much of Galileo’s success can be attributed to his affinity for mares from the Danehill line, with 15 of his top-flight winners (18%) being out of Danehill’s broodmare daughters, namely Cape of Good Hope, Cima dTriomphe, Deauville, Frankel, Golden Lilac, Highland Reel, Intello, Japan, Maybe, Noble Mission , Roderic O’Connor, Romantica, Search For A Song, Tapestry, and Teofilo.
Danehill not only features in the second generation of 15 of Galileo’s group/grade 1 scorers, but also appears in the third and fourth generation of a further 14 of his elite level-winning sons and daughters, meaning Galileo has combined with Danehill in the pedigree of 29 (35%) of his group/grade 1 winners.
While Armory would rate a fitting winner given the respective achievements of his relations, Vatican City boasts a pedigree that looks tailor-made for the test.
He is the sixth foal out of Coolmore’s blue hen You’resothrilling, a Cherry Hinton Stakes (G2) winner and Storm Cat sister to Giant’s Causeway, making Vatican City a brother to Gleneagles, the winner of the 2015 Irish Two Thousand Guineas, and Marvellous, who struck in the Irish One Thousand Guineas 12 months earlier. Marvellous is also represented in the race by her second foal, the War Front colt Fort Myers.
You’resothrilling has supplied six winners from as many runners, with the lightly raced Vatican City the only member of the sextet without bold black type. His other siblings, all of whom are by Galileo, are Moyglare Stud Stakes (G1) scorer Happily, Park Stakes (G3) winner Coolmore, and the stakes-winning Taj Mahal.
Should Armory or Vatican City strike Friday, they would not only give Galileo his 85th top-level winner but would also supply him with his fifth success in the Curragh classic.
His first winner came in 2011 when Roderic O’Connor struck, followed two years later by Magician. Gleneagles was successful in 2015, and Galileo’s most recent winner is Churchill, who landed the 2017 running.
Armory and Vatican City are not Galileo’s only hopes of siring a new group 1 winner this week. He is also represented by Peaceful, the second choice in Friday’s Tattersalls Irish One Thousand Guineas (G1).
Moreover, Galileo’s impact is not merely confined to his sons and daughters contesting this year’s Irish Guineas as he is also the broodmare sire of four runners in the colts’ classic.
The shortest-priced of the quartet are Niarchos family homebred Free Solo, a son of Showcasing out of a sister to Yucatan, and Fiscal Rules, a son of Make Believe out of Gold Mirage bred and trained by Jim Bolger, the man who put Galileo on the map by breeding the likes of Teofilo and New Approach.
Galileo’s daughters are also responsible for Monarch of Egypt, a son of American Pharoah who became his sire’s first winner when he made a successful debut in April 2019, and Fort Myers. Monarch of Egypt is one of 18 stakes performers by American Pharoah and will give his sire a breakthrough top-level victory should he strike.
He is also the grandsire of Royal Lytham, who is by Gleneagles, and is represented by two sire sons in the Irish One Thousand Guineas, with New York Girl being by New Approach and Roca Roma by Australia.
Despite such a dominating impact over the opening classics of the Irish season, it comes as something of a surprise that Galileo is absent from the pedigrees of the favorites in both races. Juddmonte homebred Siskin, a son of First Defence out of an Oasis Dream mare, is around 9-4 for the Irish Guineas, and Albigna, by Zoffany out of Freedonia, a group 2-winning daughter of Selkirk, is around 15-8 for the fillies’ race.
Becoming the most prolific sire of top-level winners is not the only record that looks well within Galileo’s grasp, not least given the blue-blooded crops of youngsters he still has to come.
He has sired 314 stakes winners worldwide (207 group winners, 107 listed scorers), which leaves him trailing Danehill’s record of 347 by 33.
And Galileo was also crowned champion sire in Britain and Ireland for the 11th time at the end of 2019, which moved him closer to the record of his own sire, Sadler’s Wells, of 14 titles.
