Cazoo Derby: Pedigree guide to the leading contenders
After a frantic period of Cazoo Derby trials, Laura Joy looks at the pedigrees of the big-race winners and finds a common theme running throughout.
In fitting style, all of the first six in the betting for the Cazoo Derby at the time of writing are either sons or grandsons of the King of Epsom, Galileo.
If there’s one thing we learned at Chester, it is to savour every remaining son or daughter of the great sire. They are a joy to watch, relishing a battle and sticking their necks out in the style we have become so accustomed to enjoying. With his last foals on the ground this year, time is running out to enjoy their exploits.
A maiden after three efforts at two, Changingoftheguard (Galileo x Lady Lara) announced his arrival on the Derby scene with a comfortable six-length success in the Chester Vase.
He is the third foal out of his talented dam Lady Lara who is by Excellent Art. Standing at Coolmore for five seasons, Excellent Art ultimately proved a disappointment at stud and was exported. However, were Changingoftheguard to win the Derby, Excellent Art’s short stint in Tipperary would prove worthwhile. A son of Pivotal, who himself has had much success with Galileo, Lady Lara is one of his most accomplished progeny. A Grade 2 winner, she descends from a family littered with Classic winners. From Guineas winners Footstepsinthesand and Power to St Leger winner Mahler, Changingoftheguard is a colt who had Epsom written into his destiny from the moment he was conceived.
Dee Stakes winner Star Of India (Galileo x Shermeen) is the eighth foal and seventh winner out of Group 3 winner Shermeen. Like Lady Lara, Shermeen began life in Europe showing good form as a two year old and continuing her progression Stateside.
Her sire Desert Style is also an influence for speed and Star Of India is further evidence that the decision to send fast mares to Galileo was shrewd. A half-brother to Group 1 winning juvenile Sudirman (Henrythenavigator), Star Of India had a perfect one win from one start as a two year old. Improving markedly from his seasonal debut over a mile, Galileo’s influence shone brightly on Chester’s ‘Roodee’ racecourse over the extended mile and a quarter trip. This colt has to find improvement to match Sudirman’s Group 1 winning accolades but as always when Galileo is involved, the step up to Epsom’s Derby trip might be the key to doing so.
The Lingfield Derby Trial had become somewhat unfashionable until United Nations' (Galileo x Christmas Kid) connections sent Anthony Van Dyck out to win en-route to Derby glory in 2019.
With it’s undulations and left-hand bend considered invaluable practice for Epsom’s unique test, United Nations has it all having also contested Epsom’s own trial where he could only manage fourth place. Don’t let that put you off though. He is the fifth Black Type scorer and fourth Stakes winner out of his Grade 1 winning dam.
Christmas Kid is a daughter of Lemon Drop Kid who is performing at a highly respectable 4% Stakes winners to foals of racing age – that comes as no surprise. Lemon Drop Kid is by Kingmambo who needs no introduction in his role as the damsire of current stars Baaeed and Addeybb among numerous others. Christmas Kid is the star of United Nations’ immediate pedigree and in adding Galileo to the mix, Coolmore have bred yet another genuine Derby contender by their much-missed Champion.
There are only so many superlatives one can attribute to Galileo before sounding like a broken record so we’re probably best to let the horses do the talking where possible.
On Sunday at Leopardstown, Stone Age (Galileo x Bonanza Creek) did just that. Blitzing the Group 3 Derby Trial field by over five lengths, accelerating his way to the top of the Derby betting with a dominating performance.
His dam Bonanza Creek stayed a mile-and-a-quarter despite her speed influence from sire Anabaa, and Stone Age is the third and best foal she has produced to date. However, his second dam Bright Moon was a Group 2 winner and Group 1 placed and produced Prix de Diane (French Oaks) winner Bright Sky amongst her eight winners.
Stone Age is bred on the same cross as last year’s Leopardstown Derby Trial winner Bolshoi Ballet who went on to finish seventh in the Derby following a rough trip. Bolshoi Ballet had to wait until the Belmont Derby Invitational to get his Grade 1, but this colt’s connections seem cautiously optimistic he can reach the pinnacle of the sport at Epsom on the first Saturday in June.
Piz Badile (Ulysses x That Which Is Not) has been analysed in detail here. Trainer Donnacha O’Brien made the decision to go straight from the Ballysax Stakes to Epsom, a move which shouldn’t concern given where he learned much of his trade. With Piz Badile’s form now franked by Buckaroo winning the Tetrarch Stakes by four lengths, it will be a case of arriving in peak form and recency bias should be avoided.
Make no mistake, this grandson of Galileo from a rich Niarchos pedigree has the bloodlines required to taste Epsom glory and don’t you forget it.
Finally, Sandown’s Classic Trial winner doesn’t need expert analysis to see where he gets his talent. A son of last year’s Derby winning sire Frankel and thus a grandson of Galileo, Westover (Frankel – Mirabilis) has done very little wrong.
A full brother to Group 3 winner Monarch’s Glen, he is another contender with a Prix de Diane winner featured in his immediate family. There are doubts over his stamina, he needed the line at Sandown. His dam was a miler and we know Frankel is capable of passing on as much speed as he does stamina. There’s no doubt he deserves his place in the field, but it wouldn’t come as a shock to see him relish a mile-and-a-quarter rather than the gruelling mile-and-a-half test of stamina that the Derby requires.