Ulysses lands Coral-Eclipse to give Galileo a 66th top-level winner

If ever a horse was destined to win a Group 1 based on pedigree alone it was Ulysses, and in the Coral-Eclipse on Saturday that is precisely what the Sir Michael Stoute-trained four-year-old did.

The rangy colt looked the likely winner some way out as a motionless Jim Crowley manoeuvred his mount into the clear, but he had his mettle tested to the fullest as the three-year-old Barney Roy, a first-crop son of Excelebration, ran him to within a nose.

Owned and bred by the Niarchos family's Flaxman Stables, Ulysses is by the incomparable Galileo and is the third foal out of Light Shift, who carried the famous Niarchos silks to victory in the 2007 Oaks.

The daughter of Kingmambo has produced one other winner to date, the 1m3f and 1m4f scorer Dr Yes. She was covered by Frankel in 2012 but the mating did not produce a foal and Ulysees is the dam's final foal as she sadly died in 2014.

Light Shift was a half-sister to Shiva, a two-time champion European mare by Hector Protector and winner of the Tattersalls Gold Cup, and the Group 2 winner Limnos. She is also a sister to the dam of this year's Prix Ganay winner Cloth Of Stars, while four-time Grade 1 winner and Derby runner-up Main Sequence is another near relation.

Ulysses' third dam is Prix Vermeille and Prix de Diane winner and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe runner-up Northern Trick, under whose name the likes of Brazilian Grade 1 performers Nonno Luigi and Jeune-Turc appear, as well as Champion Chase hero Dodging Bullets appear.

Saturday's result also supplied the inimitable Galileo with his second new Group 1 winner within a week after Capri landed the Irish Derby on Sunday. Those results take the sire's record to a staggering 66 top-level performers.

Galileo has now sired 411 stakes performers, among which are 157 Group winners and 86 Listed scorers.

The Galileo and Kingmambo mare cross has now produced two Group 1 winners, with 2013 Derby winner Ruler Of The World being the other.

The nick is also responsible for the likes of Group 2 Beresford Stakes scorer Port Douglas and Irish Derby third Giovanni Canaletto.

Ulysses' victory in the Coral-Eclipse also propels Galileo even further ahead in the leading sires' table, with all bets now off over whether he will be winning a ninth championship stallion crown.