Galileo in Group 1 sweep at the Curragh

If there was an air of business as usual about his two Classic winners over the weekend, both Churchill and Winter being short odds to follow up their Newmarket wins at the Curragh, then Galileo showed that Ballydoyle does not have a monopoly on his prowess when also taking the meeting's other Group 1 prize with Decorated Knight.

But really there should never be any sense of routine about a weekend like this. Having started the ball rolling with Churchill the previous day, the perennial champion sire was then blessed by an incredible performance from Winter - also trained by Aidan O'Brien - in the Irish 1,000 Guineas.

She is out of the Choisir mare Laddies Poker Two, who landed a famous gamble after a long lay-off in the 2010 Wokingham. The next dam, the unraced Favourite Trick mare Break Of Day, is a half-sister to Gimcrack Stakes second Ma Yoram; the pair being out of Prix Morny winner Ancient Regime.

Decorated Knight, likewise, was already one of Galileo's 64 top-level scorers, having won the Group 1 Jebel Hatta in Dubai earlier this year. And while his success in the Tattersalls Gold Cup was a triumph for Saleh Al Homaizi and Imad Al Sagar, and trainer Roger Charlton, even defeat brought good news to the Coolmore syndicates responsible for the second and third.

For the dam of Decorated Knight, Pearling, is a sister to You'resothrilling - who is responsible for the Classic-winning siblings Marvellous and Gleneagles. The latter is now standing at Coolmore and Decorated Knight is doing no harm at all to his page.

Pearling, who is also a sibling to iron horse Giant's Causeway, was carrying Decorated Knight when purchased by Tony Nerses for 1,300,000gns at the Tattersalls December Sale in 2011.

The Galileo show now moves on to Epsom, where Winter's performance has amplified the Investec Oaks prospects of Newmarket runner-up Rhododendron. In the Investec Derby itself, moreover, he still has eight hats in the ring.

War Front on song

Galileo's extraordinary success has made it imperative for Coolmore to find an outcross. Results with War Front have been mixed, but he excelled with his three-year-olds on Sunday's card.

Iron Mountain decisively beat an odds-on Frankel debutant in the 10f maiden, Roly Poly finished second to Winter, and Homesman won the Group 3 Gallinule Stakes.

Out of the Red Ransom mare My Annette, Homesman is a three-parts brother to Listed winner US Ranger. My Annette herself has a regal pedigree, sharing a dam as she does with the late Dynaformer, sire of Barbaro, Americain, Perfect Drift and Point Of Entry.