Galileo is Gone

Northport · Sat Jul 10, 2021 10:35 am

From Coolmore's Facebook

"Regretfully our world-renowned Champion Sire Galileo was put to sleep earlier today on humane grounds owing to a chronic, non-responsive, debilitating injury to the left fore foot.
“It is a very sad day,” said John Magnier, “but we all feel incredibly fortunate to have had Galileo here at Coolmore. I would like to thank the dedicated people who looked after him so well all along the way. He was always a very special horse to us and he was the first Derby winner we had in Ballydoyle in the post M V O’Brien era. I would also like to thank Aidan and his team for the brilliant job they did with him. The effect he is having on the breed through his sons and daughters will be a lasting legacy and his phenomenal success really is unprecedented.”

Following Galileo’s strikingly impressive Epsom Derby success the front-page headline in the Racing Post was the single word ‘PERFECTION.’ It could not have been more apt.

Bred in the purple by Sadler’s Wells out of ‘Arc’ heroine Urban Sea and unbeaten in his first six starts, Galileo proved an immediate success at stud siring Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Nightime from his first crop. Appropriately he became the most successful Group 1 sire of all time when his daughter Peaceful won the same race in June of last year.

His total of individual Group 1 winners now stands at 91 while no less than 20 of his sons have sired Group 1 winners on the flat, headed by Frankel and Australia."

A devastating loss for Coolmore and the entire industry. I had always hoped of being able to see him in the flesh one day on a visit to Ireland. 23 a fine age for a horse, but I kind of thought he would always be around, a bit like Sadler's Wells.

TapitsGal · Sat Jul 10, 2021 10:42 am

Ughh first Came Home now Galileo...what a great,huge, tremendous loss this is to not just coolmore but the industry

HB1994 · Sat Jul 10, 2021 10:48 am

Such terribly sad news. May he rest in peace. What an amazing legacy he leaves behind.

Retrospectiv · Sat Jul 10, 2021 10:52 am

Just read on Coolmore's FB page, rather a shock to see this morning. What a change that will bring for Coolmore, O'Brien and UK racing in the coming next few years.

HB1994 · Sat Jul 10, 2021 11:03 am

Video from Racing TV.

https://twitter.com/racingtv/status/141 ... 33602?s=21

flytpthestars · Sat Jul 10, 2021 11:06 am

Huge loss. He literally was like Northern Dancer.

I would think he will join Sadlers Wells in the Legacy room.

HB1994 · Sat Jul 10, 2021 11:34 am

Simply amazing:

https://www.racingpost.com/profile/hors ... eo/progeny

BaroqueAgain1 · Sat Jul 10, 2021 11:58 am

My heart felt like it stopped when I saw "Galileo is gone."

Beautiful, breed-shaping wonder. Twenty-three years is not enough time, but he has left us a tremendous legacy.

tachyon · Sat Jul 10, 2021 12:00 pm

That’s a huge loss to the turf racing worldwide.

The great sire was a wonderful sire of sires, too.
In Japan, Galileo didn't have any group winner, but his son Frankel has been increasing his presence by siring several group winners recently (three of whom are G1 winners).
And I look forward to seeing more Sunday Silence-line x Galileo-line cross going forward, after seeing the success of Deep Impact x Galileo cross in Saxon Warrior and Snowfall in Europe.
May he rest in peace.

Mylute · Sat Jul 10, 2021 12:08 pm

What a headline

Slewfan2 · Sat Jul 10, 2021 12:13 pm

Oh no....such heartbreaking news. To modify Secretary of War Stanton’s famous quote after Abraham Lincoln died...”now he belongs to the stars” (really, “ages”).

Squeaky · Sat Jul 10, 2021 12:19 pm

He will be missed greatly- RIP. Did he breed any mares this year? Wonder if it was laminitis?

TapitsGal · Sat Jul 10, 2021 12:42 pm

Squeaky wrote: ↑Sat Jul 10, 2021 12:19 pm He will be missed greatly- RIP. Did he breed any mares this year? Wonder if it was laminitis?

He covered 120 mares last year and was standing for a private fee this year. I read an article dated back to January 2021 that mentioned Sotsass entering stud this year and standing alongside Galileo.

Falinadin · Sat Jul 10, 2021 1:51 pm

What a loss. Like AP Indy, Galileo was a horse who did everything right: he had the breeding, he had the looks, he had the abiltiy, and he could pass it onward. He was breed-shaping, and that is a statement that doesn't come lightly. What a legacy he has left. RIP Galileo.

Sat Jul 10, 2021 2:09 pm

What an immense loss.

I also have to think back again to Urban Sea. Without her there wouldn't be a Galileo and no Sea The Stars. It's incredible what that mare did.

Flanders · Sat Jul 10, 2021 7:08 pm

Squeaky wrote: ↑Sat Jul 10, 2021 12:19 pm He will be missed greatly- RIP. Did he breed any mares this year? Wonder if it was laminitis?

Yes he covered mares this year, at least part of the year anyway. Deirdre was bred to him twice but didn't get in foal so was sent to Wootton Bassett.

Treve · Thu Jul 15, 2021 7:57 pm

23 is not that old... I was so shocked when I saw the news and it took me a few days to process before I could come here.
It was Galileo's world, and the loss will send shockwaves through the industry... still, if one horse's legacy is safe, it's his.

Farewell to the emperor of the world!