Ahead of a visit to Coolmore Stud on Saturday, Adam Houghton casts his eye over the glittering roster of stallions to see how they've been shaping up in the post-Galileo era.
It’s been three years since I last set foot on the hallowed ground of Coolmore Stud in Fethard, County Tipperary, but Saturday morning will see that wait come to an end thanks to the return of the Irish Stallion Trail, an opportunity to visit as many of the 35 stallion farms opening their doors as is humanly possible in two days.
As ever Coolmore promises to be the highlight, though there will be at least one major difference this time compared to when I last visited in 2020.
No longer will the sight of Galileo poking his head over the stable door be the star attraction following his death in July 2021. Little did I know when I snapped the video below that it would be the last time I’d see him in the flesh, the dual Derby and King George winner who has arguably had a bigger influence on the breed than any other stallion in the modern era.
Crowned the leading sire in Britain and Ireland for the twelfth time (and eleventh in a row) in 2020, Galileo has now produced a total of 97 individual Group/Grade One winners – an all-time record previously held by Danehill (84) – after the two-year-old Proud And Regal won the Criterium International at Saint-Cloud in October last year.
Galileo’s penultimate crop of juveniles will hit the track in the spring and few would bet against him reaching a remarkable 100 individual Group/Grade One winners by the time their racing days are done, but it’s the thought of what happens after that which will be focusing the minds of John Magnier and co at Coolmore HQ.
No Nay Never steps up a notch in 2022
I addressed the topic of who might be Galileo’s successor at Coolmore – if there could possibly be such a thing – in this article just a few months after his death in October 2021. Another 15 months later and it's fair to say that a lot of water has passed under the bridge in the interim, particularly for No Nay Never.
Put simply, 2022 was a hugely significant year for No Nay Never as he consolidated his position among Europe's elite in the stallion ranks with some spectacular results among his two-year-olds, headed by the Group/Grade One winners Little Big Bear (Phoenix Stakes), Blackbeard (Prix Morny and Middle Park Stakes) – who has joined his sire on the Coolmore roster since his Newmarket success (replay below) – and Meditate (Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf).
Unlimited Replays
of all UK and Irish races with our Race Replays
Discover Sporting Life Plus Benefits
No Nay Never is now Coolmore's most expensive stallion at a fee of €175,000 for 2023 – up from €125,000 in 2022 – though it probably won't be long before he faces competition at the top from Wootton Bassett, who was once again among the busiest stallions at Coolmore in 2022 when he covered 249 mares at a fee of €150,000 (unchanged for 2023).
Wootton Bassett has clearly been well supported since arriving from Haras d’Etreham in the summer of 2020 and the team around him will have been encouraged by Al Riffa's victory in the National Stakes at the Curragh last September. The first horse by Wootton Bassett out of a Galileo mare to win at the top level, Al Riffa's achievement could be a portent of things to come when Wootton Bassett's first bumper crop of two-year-olds conceived at Coolmore hits the track in 2024.
It won't be until 2025 that the first runners by St Mark's Basilica appear on a racecourse, but he'll certainly be well represented when the time comes having covered 176 mares in his first season at Coolmore Stud in 2022.
Previously described by Coolmore's David O’Loughlin as "the most exciting prospect we’ve retired from Ballydoyle since his late grandfather Galileo", St Mark's Basilica is perhaps the horse I'm most looking forward to seeing in the flesh on this year's Irish Stallion Trail having failed to make it to the racecourse on any of the five occasions that he won at the top level in a glittering career for Aidan O'Brien.
A few new names to note
St Mark's Basilica is joined on the Coolmore roster by his half-brother, the 2000 Guineas winner Magna Grecia, who is set to be represented by his first runners in just a matter of weeks from now, a comment which also applies to studmates Calyx and Ten Sovereigns.
The biggest crop of two-year-olds belongs to Ten Sovereigns (149) – a son of No Nay Never who won the Middle Park at two and July Cup at three – though both Magna Grecia (113) and Calyx (104) should have enough ammunition of their own to make an impact if good enough.
This time last year Saxon Warrior and Sioux Nation were in the same boat and both ended up enjoying plenty of success with their first runners in 2022. It was mostly about quantity for Sioux Nation, who was behind only Havana Grey among the most prolific first-season sires last year, with the fillies Lakota Sioux (Sweet Solera Stakes) and Sydneyarms Chelsea (Prix Six Perfections) providing the highlights when winning in Group Three company.
As for Saxon Warrior, he achieved what very few stallions do by producing a Group One winner in his first crop, namely the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf hero Victoria Road. With the Prix Marcel Boussac runner-up Gan Teorainn and the Group Three winners Lumiere Rock (Staffordstown Stud Stakes) and Moon Ray (Prix Miesque) also featuring in that first batch of two-year-olds, it's fair to say that Saxon Warrior could hardly have made a more promising start to his stud career.
Similar comments apply to Churchill, who was the first of three successive winners of the 2000 Guineas for Ballydoyle – closely followed by Saxon Warrior and Magna Grecia – when landing the spoils in 2017.
Churchill's first crop of two-year-olds hit the track in 2021, but it wasn't until last year that they really started to blossom. Just look at Vadeni, who proved a totally different proposition in 2022 having shown only useful form in three starts at two. He ended the last campaign as Timeform's highest-rated three-year-old in Europe, notably winning the Prix du Jockey Club and Eclipse before later hitting the frame in the Irish Champion Stakes and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
For good measure, Churchill also sired a Group One winner in his second crop of two-year-olds as Blue Rose Cen dismissed her rivals to win the Prix Marcel Boussac by five lengths, while The Foxes looked another potential classic prospect for 2023 when winning the Group Two Royal Lodge Stakes.
Fee drop for pair of Derby winners
Of the longest-serving residents at Coolmore Stud, the dual Derby winner Australia endured a slightly underwhelming year by his own high standards in 2022. Ocean Road became his fifth individual Group/Grade One winner when landing the Gamely Stakes in the US, but Group Two wins for the battle-hardened trio of Broome (Hardwicke Stakes), Mare Australis (Grand Prix de Chantilly) and Order of Australia (Minstrel Stakes) was the best he could muster on European soil.
Australia has had his fee reduced for 2023 to €25,000 (from €35,000), while the fee for the 2000 Guineas and Derby winner Camelot has also dipped to €60,000 (from €75,000) despite him being responsible for a pair of Group One-winning three-year-olds in 2022, namely Luxembourg (Irish Champion Stakes) and Sammarco (Deutsches Derby and Grosser Dallmayr Preis).
It was a case of what might have been last year for Luxembourg, who was the ante-post favourite for the Derby after finishing a close-up third in the 2000 Guineas but was then ruled out of Epsom due to injury. Still, he is set to stay in training as a four-year-old and should be a major player in the big middle-distance prizes in 2023.
Beyond that, Luxembourg already has the credentials to be considered a worthy addition to the Coolmore stallion ranks for 2024, though there could be competition for places on that hallowed ground should an exciting crop of three-year-olds at Ballydoyle sweep all before them in the classics.
Little Big Bear and Auguste Rodin – a son of the late Japanese phenomenon Deep Impact – look primed to spearhead that challenge in 2023, while another classic victory for a son or daughter of Galileo is by no means out of the question. After all, he produced a pair of Oaks winners in 2022 alone, namely Tuesday and Magical Lagoon, successful at Epsom and the Curragh, respectively.
That proud head might not be poking over the stable door at Coolmore on Saturday, but it's clear that Galileo is far from finished yet as he closes in on 100 individual Group/Grade One winners, setting the bar higher still for those trying to fill his shoes.
More from Sporting Life
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.