Galileo Gold sibling and 1.2m gns Dubawi colt go head to head

Well-bred newcomers owned by Sheikh Mohammed and wife Princess Haya of Jordan go head to head in the second division of the 1m½f two-year-old maiden at Nottingham on Wednesday (1pm).

In the blue corner, for Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin operation, is Ispolini, a son of Dubawi who cost 1,200,000gns as a yearling.

In the green corner, bearing the silks of Princess Haya that have also been carried by the likes of New Approach and Raven's Pass, is Petit Palais, a half-brother to Classic hero Galileo Gold.

Stock by Dalham Hall Stud flagbearer Dubawi often improve with age but he has enjoyed a good year with his juveniles, albeit they were bred from exceptional mares. He has sired four Group winners aged two in 2017, headed by Prix Marcel Boussac heroine Wild Illusion.

The Charlie Appleby-trained Ispolini is another very well-related representative of the sire, as he was bred by Newsells Park Stud out of Giants Play, a Grade 2 winner over 1m2f in the US by Giant's Causeway out of Fillies' Mile and Lancashire Oaks winner Playful Act.

Playful Act, a half-sister to Nathaniel and Great Heavens, was a then-world record $10.5 million broodmare purchase by Sheikh Mohammed at Keeneland in 2007, while daughter Giants Play was bought by Newsells Park for $850,000 as a yearling in the same ring in the following September.

The interplay between the different parties involved in this family continued last year, when former Godolphin chief executive John Ferguson paid Newsells Park 1,200,000gns for Ispolini at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

Petit Palais, meanwhile, is by Champs Elysees - sire of the likes of Trip To Paris, Jack Naylor and Barsanti - out of the unplaced Galileo mare Galicuix.

Galicuix may not have been any great shakes on the track herself but she proved a fine broodmare from the outset of her career, as her first foal, by Paco Boy, is Galileo Gold - winner of the 2,000 Guineas and St James's Palace Stakes and runner-up in the Irish 2,000 Guineas and Sussex Stakes. He is due to start his stallion career at Tally-Ho Stud in 2018.

This family - that of Montjeu - is buzzing with relevance, as Galicuix is a half-sister to dual Group 1-winning sprinter Goldream, and close relations include this season's Prix de la Foret winner Aclaim and Beresford Stakes runner-up Delano Roosevelt.

Petit Palais went through the ring at Book 1 just four lots before Ispolini and was bought by Blandford Bloodstock for 220,000gns before entering training with John Gosden.

The husband and wife-owned Ispolini and Petit Palais are set to take on eight rivals at Nottingham and their sternest opposition may be provided by the Sheikh Mohammed Obaid-owned Dubawi colt Rich Identity, who has finished placed on both his starts.

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