How Galileo's superstar daughters will ease painful changing of the guard

The king is dead, long live the king! So goes the seemingly contradictory phrase that for centuries has been deployed to give the impression of a seamless transition of power from a deceased monarch to his heir.

It could justifiably have been proclaimed by Coolmore when its all-powerful patriarch Sadler’s Wells died aged 30 in April 2011, three years after he had been retired from the covering shed.

By that stage his son Galileo had already established himself as a phenomenal influence, with seven British and Irish Classic winners to his name, along with three unbeaten champion two-year-old colts and two leading sire titles.