Saxon Warrior digs deep to give Impact a first British Group 1

The aptly named Saxon Warrior was made to fight tooth and nail to land the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy, but having overcome Roaring Lion inside the final furlong he not only gave Aidan O'Brien a record-breaking 26th top-flight winner for the season, but also became the first Group 1 scorer by Deep Impact to strike in Britain.

Saxon Warrior also became a 32nd Group/Grade 1 winner for Deep Impact, a 15-year-old son of Sunday Silence who stands at the Shadai Stallion Station. Understandably the majority of Deep Impact's success has come in his native Japan, where he has supplied the likes of Gentildonna, Satono Diamond and Real Impact.

Although Saturday's result gave Deep Impact a first Group 1 in Britain, his influence has been felt in Europe before, with both Beauty Parlour and A Shin Hikari having landed French Group 1s, the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and Prix d'Ispahan respectively.

Saxon Warrior's female line is no less illustrious, as he is the second foal out of Maybe, a daughter of Galileo who went unbeaten in five starts at two, a run that culminated with a ready success in the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes.

Maybe, a sister to Group 3-winning and Group 1-placed Promise To Be True, descends from Rain Flower, the dam of Oaks winner Dancing Rain, who is in turn the dam of promising juvenile filly Magic Lily, who was last seen finishing third to Laurens in the Fillies' Mile.

Maybe's other offspring include the Listed-placed three-year-old filly Pavlenko, a daughter of Deep Impact and sister to Saxon Warrior, while earlier this year she produced a colt by Triple Crown hero American Pharoah.

As well as topping the stallion charts for the eighth consecutive season, and ninth overall, Galileo has also played a leading role in the broodmare sire stakes, as he currently sits in a close third behind Sadler's Wells and Pivotal.

This year alone his daughters have supplied Group 1 winners such as Barney Roy and siblings US Navy Flag and Roly Poly.

The Deep Impact - Galileo cross may yet bear more fruit in the future, as Coolmore sent at least three more daughters of the perennial champion sire to Japan to be covered by the son of Sunday Silence in 2017. They are Kissed By Angels, a Group 3-winning sister to Minding; Best In The World, a Group 3-winning sister to Found, and Fluff, a winning sister to Saxon Warrior's dam, Maybe.

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