Galileo Continues to Eclipse Rivals

Galileo (Ire), like just about every Thoroughbred, has a male line tracing to Eclipse, the legendary horse whose name lives on in the phrase “Eclipse first, the rest nowhere.” I have recounted before how this phrase came about, on the day that Eclipse made his debut in May 1769. Contesting a race scheduled to be run in three four-mile heats, the son of Marske and Spiletta won the first heat so impressively that the famous gambler Dennis O'Kelly claimed he could predict the exact result of the second heat. For his prediction of “Eclipse first, the rest nowhere” to prove correct, Eclipse needed to “distance” the opposition by finishing more than 240 yards ahead, which he duly did.

This year it is fair to say that Galileo has totally eclipsed his rivals. According to the Racing Post's statistics after the weekend, his progeny earnings in Britain and Ireland stood at £9,333,156, which put him nearly £6.5 million ahead of his nearest rival. Extend the statistics to include the rest of Europe and it becomes an even more vivid example of Galileo first, the rest nowhere, as his lead stretches to nearly £9.9 million following his Arc 1-2-3.

There can be no doubt now that Galileo will shortly record his eighth sires' championship in the space of nine years. He owed the latest boosts to his phenomenal total to his daughters Rhododendron (Ire) and Hydrangea (Ire), who took first and second places in the G1 Fillies' Mile, and to his imposing son Churchill, winner of the G1 Dewhurst S. (on the day that Galileo's daughter Photo Call (re) shocked Tepin at Keeneland).

Rhododendron follows Together Forever and the excellent Minding as Galileo's third consecutive winner of the Fillies' Mile., whereas Churchill is his fourth winner of the Dewhurst, after Teofilo, New Approach and Frankel. Of course, Teofilo and New Approach have also sired Dewhurst winners, meaning that sons or grandsons of Galileo have taken six of the last 11 editions of this championship race.

Although Galileo could never have been described as a one-trick pony, there was a time when his success as a stallion depended heavily on his partnership with Danehill mares, with Teofilo and Frankel helping set the trend. This nick is still very much alive and kicking, with the likes of the G1 King George winner Highland Reel and the GI Belmont Derby winner Deauville adding to its highest-level successes in 2016. Equineline credits it with 40 black-type winners from a total of 240 foals, which equates to 17%.

And the number of black-type winners looks set to soar even higher. No fewer than 26 members of Galileo's current yearling crop have dams by Danehill, as do at least 16 members of his 2016 foal crop. One of those 26 yearlings recently sold for 1,350,000gns and this crop also contains brothers or sisters to five of the nick's Group 1 winners: Intello, Deauville, Highland Reel, Roderic O'Connor and Tapestry. There's a brother to champion 2-year-old filly Maybe among the 2016 foals.

Fortunately, the last couple of seasons have reminded everyone that Galileo is by no means dependent on just one narrow set of bloodlines. Admittedly, one of the success stories has concerned mares by Danehill's son Danehill Dancer. They have already produced those notable three-year-olds Minding, The Gurkha and Alice Springs, winners of 10 Group 1 races between them. Once again the tally looks set to soar, as 15 of Galileo's yearlings have dams by Danehill Dancer, as do at least 10 of his foals. The yearlings include sisters to Minding, The Gurkha and Alice Springs, with the sister to Alice Springs selling for 2,100,000gns last week. I should add that the GI First Lady S. winner Photo Call has a dam by Rock of Gibraltar, another of Danehill's sons.

But, as last week's Group 1 2-year-old events at Newmarket demonstrated, there are other options capable of producing truly formidable results with Galileo. Rhododendron has a dam by Pivotal, while Churchill is out of a Storm Cat mare.

Daughters of the veteran Pivotal have a very eye-catching record with Galileo. Twelve of them have produced 26 Galileo foals of racing age. Twenty-one have raced, 17 have won and Rhododendron is the fifth to become a Group winner. That's 19% Group winners, not black-type winners. Another member of the quintet, The United States, won the G1 Ranvet S. in Australia earlier this year. It is worth mentioning that most of the Pivotal mares involved were themselves well above average. Rhodedendron, a sister to the Group 3 10-furlong winner Flying The Flag, is out of Halfway To Heaven, winner of the Irish 1,000 Guineas and two other Group 1 races. The United States–a brother to Fillies' Mile runner-up Hydrangea–is out of Beauty Is Truth, a Group 2-winning French sprinter. The Group 2 winner Gospel Choir is out of Chorist, winner of the G1 Pretty Polly S., while the fifth Group scorer, the Jebel Ali Mile winner Silver Galaxy, is out of a Listed winner.

Unlike the Danehill and Danehill Dancer crosses, the Pivotal nick doesn't have a lot of ammunition for the future, with just three yearlings and two foals. However, they include a brother and a sister to The United States and Hydrangea and a sister to Rhodedendron.

Moving on to the Storm Cat cross, this too is rather under-represented, with just five yearlings and three foals. Fortunately the yearlings include sisters to the star colts Churchill and Gleneagles and the foals feature a brother to Churchill.

The total statistics for the Galileo-Storm Cat alliance are that 23 daughters have 49 foals of racing age. Thirty-nine have started, 26 have won and 10 have enjoyed black-type success. These 10 are headed by five Group 1 winners, a Group 2 winner and two Group 3 winners, which equates to over 16% Group winners. This figure sounds even more impressive when I add that the classic winners Gleneagles, Misty For Me and Marvellous are among the five Group 1 winners, which also include Ballydoyle, runner-up to Minding in this year's 1,000 Guineas.

Churchill clearly has a lot to live up to when he lines up for next year's 2,000 Guineas, for which he was priced at 2-1 immediately after his Dewhurst victory.

It is going to be fascinating to see how much improvement there is in Churchill. His trainer Aidan O'Brien is in no doubt that Churchill still hasn't revealed the full extent of his talent. In the role of devil's advocate, I should mention that, with a Jan. 31 birthday, Churchill is the eldest of the seven Dewhurst runners by a margin of at least six weeks, and is nearly four months older than Seven Heavens. Will some of the others close the gap over the winter? Aidan O'Brien described Churchill as a big and physically very imposing–“probably more imposing a 2-year-old than we've ever trained. He's massive, he's big, powerful with a great mind.”

Churchill has now won his last five starts, successfully negotiating each step of the Pattern Race ladder. Having won at Listed, Group 3 and Group 2 levels, he was at his most impressive in gaining his Group 1 victories in the National S. (by more than four lengths) and the Dewhurst. He is clearly very progressive and the same could be said for the female line which produced him.

Churchill's dam Meow also exhibited plenty of precocity during an all-too-brief career, She led for much of the way when beaten only a neck in the G2 Queen Mary S. and then was never headed when she took a five-furlong Listed race at the Curragh. Possibly something went wrong with her in the G2 Flying Childers S., as she dropped out quickly and never raced again.

Meow represented the first major dividend from the 550,000gns paid for her dam, the G1 Cheveley Park S. winner Airwave, as a 4-year-old. Rather like Red Evie, a fellow Group 1 winner who produced the recent Arc winner Found, Airwave arguably offered much more performance than pedigree. By Air Express from a family which used to be in the Non-Thoroughbred Register, Airwave had cost only 12,000gns as a yearling at Doncaster.

By the time of her sale as a 4-year-old Airwave had raced

19 times, exclusively over five and six furlongs, and she had done extremely well, often holding her own against the males in the top sprints. She won the G2 Temple S. at three, when she was also a close second to Choisir in the G1 Golden Jubilee and a fine third behind Oasis Dream in the G1 July Cup. Her new owners tried her over longer distances as a mature 5-year-old and she justified the move with a victory in the G2 Ridgewood Pearl S. over a mile.

That victory reinforces the view that Churchill will have no trouble staying a mile next year. However, it is hard to envisage him as a Derby colt, even though Galileo sired the Irish Derby winner Cape Blanco from a five-furlong specialist. Churchill is closely related to Aloof and Orator, two stakes winners by Galileo out of Airwave. Both won at around a mile and a quarter, with the tough Aloof scoring at Group 3 level. Aloof was later sold for $3,900,000, carrying a filly by War Front.

On the whole, this family is noted for its speed. Jwala, Airwave's half-sister by Oasis Dream, won the G1 Nunthorpe over five furlongs. Churchill's third dam Kangra Valley was a five-furlong two-year-old winner and the next dam, Thorner Lane, was a dual five-furlong winner. Fifth dam Spinner was a half-sister to the very speedy Clantime, a winner of nine races over the minimum trip.