'He'll be very hard to replace' - how Galileo became a Book 1 goldmine to the tune of £180 million

Good Morning Bloodstock is Martin Stevens' daily morning email and presented here online as a sample.

Here he presents the second half of a two-parter dedicated to the late great Galileo focusing on his history at Book 1, which is drawing to a close – subscribers can get more great insight from Martin every Monday to Friday.

All you need do is click on the link above, sign up and then read at your leisure each weekday morning from 7am.

Galileo was a three-time champion sire in Britain and Ireland and on his way to a fourth title, his roll of honour headed by the exceptionally gifted Frankel, by the time the 2012 yearling sales rolled around.

He was already established as an outstanding sire, who might match or even exceed his own sire Sadler’s Wells' extraordinary feats, and yet his offspring hadn’t thus far consistently raised the roof at auction.

Only two horses in his first eight crops had sold for seven-figure sums at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale between 2004 and 2011, with a top price of 1,700,000gns given by Charlie Gordon-Watson for Listen and Sequoyah’s three-parts sister Nazym.

But, as I wrote in part one of this in-depth look at Galileo’s history at the prestigious auction on Monday, there were a few significant barriers to larger numbers of his lots making serious fortunes: chiefly his first few outstandingly bred crops coming onto the market during the financial crisis, and the lack of other big-spending owners who were prepared to fork out for his lots during the Maktoum family’s boycott of Coolmore-sired young stock.

In 2012 those barriers were removed, as the global economy started to improve, and major new owners from the Middle East arrived on the scene. A deluge of money for Galileo yearlings at Book 1 followed.

2012: fever takes hold

Qatar’s ruling Al Thani family took racing by storm in the early 2010s, with Sheikh Fahad racing the likes of Melbourne Cup hero Dunaden and Cheveley Park Stakes winner Lightening Pearl through his own Pearl Bloodstock venture and later investing in stallions Harbour Watch, Havana Gold and Makfi with his brothers as Qatar Racing, and his cousin Sheikh Joaan buying Olympic Glory, Toronado and Treve in training and eventually launching the powerful Al Shaqab racing and breeding empire.

The Al Thanis stepped into the gap left by the Maktoums by taking on Coolmore in trying to secure the best Galileo yearlings at Book 1, and in 2012 they were successful on the two top sellers.

Hydrogen: half-brother to Authorized sold to Sheikh Fahad for 2,500,000gns but proved a flop on the trackCredit: Edward Whitaker

David Redvers had the final say on the half-brother to Authorized on behalf of Sheikh Fahad and his family with a bid of 2,500,000gns – unfortunately Hydrogen, as he was already named by breeder Paul Makin, became a notorious white elephant as he was injury-prone and well beaten on both his starts – while Nicolas de Watrigant, acting for Sheikh Joaan’s party, gave 1,500,000gns for a full-sister to Was, who was subsequently named Al Jassasiyah and never ran, but has produced a few useful winners.

Galileo fever really took hold of Park Paddocks that year, as he accounted for all of the six dearest lots, with Coolmore paying 1,300,000gns for the full-sister to Together, 950,000gns for a colt out of Alexander Goldrun and 925,000gns for a full-sister to Roderic O’Connor, and Waratah Thoroughbreds giving 900,000gns for a filly out of Witch Of Fife.

However, by far the best horse by the sire who was available that week was the slightly more ‘affordable’ colt out of Ouija Board bought by Demi O’Byrne on behalf of Coolmore for 525,000gns. That turned out to be dual Derby and Juddmonte International winner Australia.  

2013: records tumble

Things went a bit bonkers in Book 1 this year.In the first session, MV Magnier had to go to 3,600,000gns, thus breaking the 13-year-old European record price for a yearling, to deny David Redvers and Sheikh Fahad for a full-brother to Secret Gesture, who herself had been a 230,000gns vendor buyback in this sale only two years earlier but finished second in the English and German Oaks that season.

Sir Isaac Newton, as he was named, didn’t win the slew of Group 1s or cover the thousands of mares he would have needed to in order to recoup Coolmore’s outlay on him, but he did manage to take a couple of stakes races.

Sir Isaac Newton: another seven-figure yearling for Galileo and a classy performerCredit: Edward Whitaker

The new record stood for only 24 hours as De Watrigant and Sheikh Joaan, who was walking on air around Tattersalls after his filly Treve had bolted up in the Arc a few days before, outbid Magnier for a full-sister to Was with an offer of 5,000,000gns in an act of extraordinary sales-ring theatre. The price has still not been surpassed by any horse of her age in Europe.

Al Naamah went to Andre Fabre and won on debut by two lengths but never fulfilled the promise of that first run, although she did retire twice Group 3-placed. She has been no great shakes as a broodmare.

As was the case one year earlier, the best Galileo yearling in Book 1 in 2013 turned out to be a less expensively sourced colt who raced for Coolmore: the seven-time Group 1 winner Highland Reel, who was signed for by John Warren Bloodstock at 460,000gns. 

2014: offbeat bidding

Galileo topped the sale again, but in bizarre circumstances.

When Ashbrittle Stud’s half-brother to world champion Harbinger came into the ring a dutch auction ensued, with the auctioneer having to go all the way down to 5,000gns before a bid was struck.The colt eventually sold to Coolmore for 2,600,000gns, although it transpired that the opening price wasn’t as ludicrous as it had seemed, as he failed to win in three starts under the name Pietro Testa.

Coolmore did net a couple of crackers by Galileo this year, though, in the shape of Highland Reel’s full-brother Idaho, who cost 750,000gns, and the beautifully bred filly Alice Springs, who made 550,000gns.

Alice Springs: multiple Group 1 winner cost 'only' 550,000gns at Park Paddocks in 2014Credit: Edward Whitaker

White Hot and Sovereign Parade, the future dams of elite level-winning fillies Pizza Bianca and Commissioning, were also bought on behalf of Bobby Flay and Abdulla Al-Khalifa and Isa Salman for 1,250,000gns and 480,000gns.

Galileo’s average price at Book 1 couldn’t match the figure of 2013, when he had those lots sell for 5,000,000gns and 3,600,000gns, but his 450,000gns median was actually a year-on-year improvement. 

2015: more of the same

Business as usual as Galileo delivered four more millionaire yearlings, headed by the filly out of Frizette Stakes winner AZ Warrior who was bought by MV Magnier for 1,300,000gns and became Naas Listed winner Key To My Heart.

Douglas Macarthur, a full-brother to Was, was probably the classiest of not the best bunch of Book 1 offerings by the sire – he was purchased by Magnier for 1,250,000gns and won the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial – while Cercle De La Vie, a full-sister to Highland Reel, might just have been the best buy. She went the way of Peter and Ross Doyle and much later produced the dual Group 1-winning two-year-old Angel Bleu.

Key To My Heart: 1,300,000gns purchase and Listed winnerCredit: Patrick McCann

Galileo’s lots at Tattersalls’ premier yearling sale produced an excellent average of 545,882gns and median of 400,000gns that week, but for the first time in six years they didn’t include the bestseller.

That honour fell to Darley’s rising force Dubawi, who also came close to dislodging Galileo as Britain and Ireland's champion sire in 2015 thanks to the Group 1 exploits of Al Kazeem, Arabian Queen, Night Of Thunder and Postponed. His filly out of Quarter Moon and Yesterday’s full-sister Loveisallyouneed sold to Coolmore for 2,100,000gns, but never raced. 

2016: higher and higher

It scarcely seemed possible, with Frankel and seven sire titles already under his belt, but Galileo’s reputation soared even higher this year.

Minding, Seventh Heaven and The Gurkha won Classics; Alice Springs, Deauville, Mondialiste and Photo Call were also Group 1 winners; and Churchill and Rhododendron were top-class two-year-olds.

To cap it all, he supplied the first three home in Europe’s premier all-aged race, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, on the Sunday before Book 1, with Found beating Highland Reel and Order Of St George at Chantilly.

Hence: the sister to Alice Springs takes her turn in the ring before being sold to MV Magnier, the Mayfair Speculators and Peter and Ross Doyle for 2,100,000gnsCredit: Laura Green

Galileo’s average and median at the sale duly increased to new highs of 610,313gns and 512,500gns, hitting a peak of 2,100,000gns, given by Coolmore for a full-sister to Alice Springs who would subsequently become dual Listed runner-up Hence.

It was Dubawi who once again was responsible for the top lots, though, with his colts out of Group 1 winners Fallen For You and Zee Zee Top selling to Godolphin and Shadwell for 2,600,000gns each. Glorious Journey and Emaraaty, as they were named, both won Group races. 

2017: back on top

Galileo reclaimed his crown as the sire of the Book 1 top lot this year, with his filly out of Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf heroine Dank selling to Godolphin for 4,000,000gns.

The identity of the buyer would have been unthinkable only a few years earlier, but Sheikh Mohammed had relaxed his embargo of Coolmore-sired stock as part of a personnel change.

Godolphin bought three other Galileo yearlings that week, including the colt out of 1,000 Guineas first-past-the-post Jacqueline Quest for 400,000gns who became Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Line Of Duty. The fresh source of expenditure on the sire's stock helped push his sale average to another new high of 816,176gns.

Line Of Duty: Breeders' Cup winner was bought by Godolphin, previously unthinkable in years pastCredit: Edward Whitaker

The Maktoum-adjacent Rabbah Bloodstock also signed for three Book 1 yearlings by Galileo, including the cheapest of the 17 who made just 100,000gns but turned out to be dual Group 3 scorer Nayef Road.

Coolmore once again snared the best of the lot, though, with Japan – a 1,300,000gns full-brother to Secret Gesture and Sir Isaac Newton – going on to win the Grand Prix de Paris and Juddmonte International. 

2018: extraordinary scenes

Japan's year-younger full-brother, who was bought by Coolmore for 3,400,000gns and became Grand Prix de Paris and Hong Kong Vase winner Mogul, spearheaded some almost surreally good results for his sire at Book 1 this year.

Our hero somehow managed a 100 per cent clearance rate, with 18 out of 18 lots finding new homes, and average and median prices just shy of seven figures, at 993,056gns and 900,000gns.

Mogul: brother to Japan knocked down to MV Magnier for 3,400,000gns Credit: Laura Green

It says it all that future Group 3 winner and Irish Oaks third Passion, a full-sister to St Leger victor Capri, cost 800,000gns and yet was only the 12th most expensive of those 18 offerings. 

2019: consistent success

Galileo couldn’t maintain the furious pace he set at Book 1 in 2018 but it was another solid set of results, with 15 lots sold at a clearance rate of 79 per cent, for an average of 646,667gns and median of 500,000gns.

Drummer Girl, a filly out of the Grade 2-winning Oasis Dream mare Quiet Oasis, was the sire’s best seller this year at 2,100,000gns, although she raced only once, unsuccessfully, for buyers Coolmore and Westerberg.

Lone Eagle: high-class performer was among the highlights of Galileo's 2019 Book 1 resultsCredit: Getty Images

Pick of the bunch turned out to be Pattern winners Higher Truth (bought by Mike Ryan for 500,000gns), Lone Eagle (Aquis Farm, 500,000gns) and Free Wind (Blandford Bloodstock, 325,000gns). 

2020: crisis? What crisis?

Galileo defied Covid to record a 93 per cent clearance rate for 14 lots who sold for an average of 829,286gns and median of 450,000gns at Book 1 in the year the pandemic first struck.

He was responsible for the top two lots – Skylark, a full-sister to Japan, Mogul and co who sold to Coolmore for 3,400,000gns, and History, a filly out of the Grade 2-winning Showcasing mare Prize Exhibit who also fell to that operation, for 2,800,000gns.

Skylark: sister to Japan and Mogul was another stonking result for her dominant sireCredit: Laura Green

BBA Ireland and Yulong Investments bagged themselves something of a bargain, relatively speaking in the world of Galileo yearlings, when they gave 305,000gns for the half-sister to King George hero Novellist. She became the Ribblesdale and Irish Oaks winner Magical Lagoon. 

2021 and 2022: winding down

Galileo achieved 100 per cent clearance rates in the last two renewals of Book 1, with 11 out of 11 sold in 2021 and 14 out of 14 sold in 2022, but prices came down quite dramatically.

His average fell by around a third to 557,727gns in 2021 and by a similar amount to 387,500gns last year – the lowest since 2010. His median plummeted from 600,000gns to 365,000gns in the same period.

The Galileo brother to Arc hero Waldgeist at Park Paddocks Credit: Laura Green

His top lot last year, a full-brother to Arc winner Waldgeist, was bought by Jill Lamb for ‘only’ 725,000gns. That left Gulf Of Mexico, the colt out of Anthem Alexander who sold to Coolmore for 1,100,000gns in 2021, as the last of his 33 – yes, that's 33 – seven-figure yearlings to sell at Book 1.

In total, Galileo has generated a quite incredible 171,650,000gns in receipts at Book 1 since his first yearlings appeared on the market in 2004 – more than £180 million in layman’s terms. 

The total spent might be less due to foal share arrangements, but it would still be a remarkable figure even with that taken into account. 

2023: the last hurrah

That figure should increase with Galileo’s last ever Book 1 yearling due to go under the hammer at Tattersalls this week.

The horse in question, one of only 12 offspring in the great sire’s final crop born in 2022, is a half-sister to Listed winner Method out of the winning Iffraaj mare Darsan set to be offered by Glenvale Stud as Lot 310 at Park Paddocks on Wednesday.

The consignor has sold three millionaire Galileo yearlings at this sale in the past, including smart fillies Hence and Zagitova, as well as the brilliant filly Alice Springs and Racing Post Trophy third Altruistic.

Glenvale Stud’s Ciaran Conroy, known almost universally in the industry as Flash, says it will be “an honour” to present the last Galileo yearling at Book 1. “She’s a lovely, quality filly, and a good mover," he continues. "She’s very well bred so could make a foundation mare for someone eventually.”

A special offering: Glenvale Stud's filly is the final Galileo to go through the sales ring at Tattersalls Book 1 Credit: Tattersalls

Having sold a first-crop son of Galileo in the auction 19 years ago, the subsequent classy handicapper Lake Poet, and having worked with countless other progeny of the sire since then, he is better placed than most to comment on his history.

“He was always exciting, as he was a brilliant horse by Sadler’s Wells out of Urban Sea, and so had a beautiful pedigree, and he got quality, good-looking stock from the outset,” he says.

“With that in mind it was a bit of a surprise that he started off a little slowly in that first season, but of course it didn’t take him long to show that he was able to get those very good two-year-olds as well as the milers, Classic horses and stayers.

“The main thing with the Galileos is that they all have such great temperaments. Each and every one I’ve ever had anything to do with has been like that: they’re straightforward, they work with you, and they try. He was a wonderful horse, and will be very hard to replace.”

There might not be another Galileo any time soon, but his sire sons are doing pretty well – as shown at Longchamp on Sunday, when Ace Impact, by Frankel’s son Cracksman, beat two other Frankel sons in Westover and Onesto into the places in the Arc; Kelina, a daughter of Frankel, took the Prix de la Foret; and Blue Rose Cen, by Churchill, returned to her best with a decisive victory in the Prix de l’Opera.

Kelina: Prix de la Foret winner continued a mighty day for Galileo's best son Frankel at LongchampCredit: Edward Whitaker

“You see Galileo’s will to win come through in the next generation all the time,” says Flash. “Gleneagles is a very underestimated stallion son, I would say. He has potentially the best two-year-old filly in Ireland in One Look and a load of other good horses. Churchill is also a bit underrated in the ring. He’s had a brilliant Classic winner in each of his first two crops with Vadeni and then Blue Rose Cen. That’s remarkable, really.”

Galileo’s daughters are also pretty nifty, having produced numerous Group 1 winners and upgrading a few duff sires in doing so. They have produced another eight Book 1 millionaires since 2017.

Food for thought for prospective purchasers of the filly who will be the sire’s last Book 1 yearling in the ring on Wednesday, perhaps. She doesn’t just mark the end of an era, she holds considerable value on her own terms. 

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“He looks anything but an old mare's foal, he's got a lot of strength and substance,” says Newsells Park Stud general manager Julian Dollar as the operation prepares to sell the final produce of sales queen Shastye at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

Pedigree pick

Blue Point, anointed as a Group 1-producing sire when first-crop son Rosallion won the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at Longchamp on Sunday, is represented by an interesting debutant on Tuesday.

Beneath The Sand, who contests the six-furlong maiden at Ayr (2.12), is out of the dual Group 3-winning Dubai Destination mare Alanza, which makes him a half-brother to Listed second Alashar. Granddam Alasha, by Barathea, finished placed in the 1,000 Guineas and EP Taylor Stakes.

He cost €60,000 as a foal at Goffs but was withdrawn from sale as a yearling. He is now trained by Alice Haynes for Amo Racing.

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