by Nigel Pullen©

As Galileo cruised past the winning post for an impressive three and a half length victory in the G1 Epsom Derby, the spectre that had haunted his sire, Sadler's Wells, for so long was finally exorcised. The champion European stallion of the last decade had at last sired the winner of racing's Blue Riband.

In addition, it gave Sadler's Wells a world record, as his offspring have now won forty-six Group/Grade 1 races worldwide, eclipsing the total of forty-five held previously by himself and Sir Tristram. In fact, Sadler's Wells now has forty-seven G1 winning horses, since his sons Prince Of Dance and Scenic dead-heated for the 1988 G1 Dewhurst Stakes. That total comes from 13 crops, and each one has contained between three and five G1 winners, with the exception of the first two, which had six and one respectively.

Galileo's granddam, the mare Allegretta, is very much the mare of the moment, as just a week previously, another one of her grandsons, Anabaa Blue, won the Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby). Granddam of two European Derby winners in the space of seven days must be some sort of record too. Allegretta's pedigree was covered in detail the article on Anabaa Blue, but to briefly summarise, her genetic strength comes from two sets of closely related individuals appearing 3x2 and 3x3 in her pedigree. The first pair is Aralia and Almyra (both bred on a Alchimist/Aster cross) and the second Belle Sauvage and Espresso (reverse Hyperion/Bahram crosses).

Galileo's dam Urban Sea was a three quarter sister to last year's English 2,000 Guineas winner King's Best (by Kingmambo). She raced over four seasons, a career which saw her win eight of her twenty-four stars. At three she won a couple of listed events over 2,000 metres in France, and was third in both the German 1,000 Guineas (G3) and Prix Vermeille (G1), as well as runner-up in the E. P. Taylor Stakes (G2) in North America. The following season, Urban Sea gained her first Group successes by taking the Prix Exbury (G3) and Prix Gontaut-Biron (G3), before causing a surprise in the autumn by winning the prestigious Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe (G1) by a neck from White Muzzle and Opera House. She was kept in training as a five-year-old in a bid to repeat this triumph, but after winning the Prix d'Harcourt (G2) and being placed in both Prix Ganay (G1) and Coronation Cup (G1), was retired due to a fetlock injury.

Her sire, Miswaki, had been trained in France as a juvenile, where he scored in the listed Prix Yacowlef and Prix de la Salamandre (G1), in addition to finishing runner-up in the Prix Morny (G1) and third in the Dewhurst Stakes (G1). He raced in America as a three-year-old, winning four of his nine starts, the Charles Hatton Stakes, a six furlong allowance race at Saratoga, and two further allowance events at Belmont Park over six and eight furlongs.

Although he was basically a speed horse, Miswaki's offspring have won over a wide range of distances. His G1 performers range right across the spectrum, from sprinters Kistena (Prix de L'Abbaye 1,000 metres), Umatilla (Karrakatta Plate 1,200 metres) and Papal Power (Hopeful Stakes 6.5 furlongs); through Misil, winner of three G1 events in Italy between 1,600 and 2,400 metres, and Black Tie Affair, hero of the Breeders Cup Classic (10 furlongs); right up to Marvelous Crown who took the mile and a half Japan Cup, and of course, Urban Sea, winner of the Arc at the same distance. Perhaps this is not surprising given the appearance of stamina influences Buckpasser and Princequillo close up in his pedigree, which also featured the Nasrullah/Bull Dog/St James sources Gold Digger and Lea Lane 2x3.

A cursory look at Urban Sea's pedigree reveals her only close duplication to be the 4x4 cross of close genetic relatives Princequillo and Prince Chevalier; both by Prince Rose out of mares by sons or grandsons of Tracery. However, look a bit deeper and an interesting build-up emerges. The sire and dam of Miswaki are 4x5x7 and 5x5x6 respectively to the stallion Teddy.

There is an important genetic link between the stallions Teddy, Bayardo, Dark Ronald and Blandford centring round the mare Black Duchess. This mare was dam of the stallion Bay Ronald, as well as third dam of Blandford. Now, Bay Ronald was the maternal grandsire of Teddy and the sire of both Bayardo and Dark Ronald. This means that when Blandford, Teddy and Bayardo/Dark Ronald are brought together in a pedigree, we have a daughter strain of Black Duchess via Blandford's granddam, together with a balancing son strain via Bay Ronald; who himself appears via a daughter (Teddy's dam) and a son (Bayardo and Dark Ronald).

We have already seem that Miswaki's pedigree had six strains of Teddy, so does the pedigree of Urban Sea's dam Allegretta have multiple strains of Teddy, Bayardo, Dark Ronald and Blandford close up? The answer is "yes."

Earlier, we mentioned the key ancestors in Allegretta's pedigree being Aralia, Almyra, Belle Sauvage and Espresso. Aralia is 3x4x4 Dark Ronald; Almyra is 4x4x5x6x6 Dark Ronald/Teddy; Belle Sauvage is 3x4 Blandford/Bayardo; and finally Espresso is 4x5x3x4 Blandford/Bayardo/Teddy. Note, too, that Urban Sea's closes duplication, Prince Rose, is out of a mare by Bayardo's son Gay Crusader.

So what a first appears to be an unrelated cross between the speedy Miswaki and the stoutly bred Allegretta, is in fact woven together by the common thread of the mare Black Duchess.

Galileo was Urban Sea's third foal. Her first two were certainly above average as well, with her son Urban Ocean (by Bering) winning the Gallinule Stakes (G3), and her filly Melikah (by Lammtarra) a listed winner who was placed in both English and Irish Oaks.

Moving on to Galileo himself, a look at Sadler's Wells pedigree reveals that he also has strong concentrations of the above strains. His sire Northern Dancer is 4x5 to Teddy's close genetic relative Gainsborough (by Bayardo) together with a strain of Blandford. Meanwhile Sadler's Wells dam Fairy Bridge is 6x6x6x7x7x8x8 to Teddy backed up by more Blandford, Bayardo and Dark Ronald.

It is also instructive to compare the backgrounds of Fairy Bridge (dam of Sadler's Wells) and Miswaki who appear 2x2 in Galileo's pedigree, since they provide many genetic equivalents. In fact, Fairy Bridge's grandsire Hail To Reason and Miswaki's sire Mr. Prospector are bred on very similar lines, with pedigrees featuring Royal Charger or his three quarter brother Nasrullah, Blue Larkspur, Sir Gallahad or his full brother Bull Dog and Blue Swords or his very close relative Lady Glory.

Furthermore, Fairy Bridge's strains of Be Faithful (by Bimelech out of a Blue Larkspur mare) and Nantallah (by Nasrullah out of a Flares mare) are matched in Miswaki by the mare Businesslike (a half sister to Bimelech by Blue Larkspur) and Nashua (by Nasrullah together with Flares's near full relative La France).

This Sadler's Wells/Miswaki cross is responsible for another G1 winner in the shape of Johann Quatz, successful in the Prix Lupin. However, it is also worth noting that Tobougg, the horse that finished third behind Galileo at Epsom, is by Sadler's Well's son Barathea, while his granddam is a half sister to none other than Miswaki.

The strength of this cross probable centres round the relationship between the respective granddams of Sadler's Wells and Miswaki, namely Bold Reason and Buckpasser, via their common strains of Blue Larkspur, La Troienne, Man O'War, Plucky Liege and Teddy. The Mr. Prospector/Hail To Reason combination found in Galileo has been a fruitful source of winners too; with just a few of the G1 performers bred on this cross being Coup De Genie, Fusaichi Pegasus, Machiavellian, More Than Ready, Surfside, and Victory Gallop.

There are ambitious plans afoot for Galileo, who is certainly one of the most exciting Epsom Derby winners of recent years. Next on the agenda is the Irish Derby, with an end of season target of the Breeders Cup Classic, and a possible mouth watering clash with Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner Point Given.

Copyright by Nigel Pullen 2001.