Coolmore's Galileo euthanized at age 23

International titan Galileo, considered one of the greatest sires the world has seen, was euthanized on Saturday at age 23 at his longtime home, the international Coolmore outfit's headquarters in Fethard, County Tipperary, Ireland.

The stallion, who holds a world record with 91 career Grade/Group 1 winners, had been suffering from "a chronic, non-responsive, debilitating injury to the left fore foot," according to a statement from the farm.

“It is a very sad day,” Coolmore’s John Magnier said in the release, “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 [trainer Aidan O’Brien] 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.”

The Irish-born Galileo was bred by the Coolmore entity Orpendale, in partnership with David Tsui. He was bred in the purple, being by the great Sadler’s Wells and out of Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Urban Sea, a blue hen who would finish her career with six graded/group stakes winners, with four Grade/Group 1 winners including Galileo’s fellow classic-winning champion Sea the Stars.

Galileo won six of eight starts during his racing career, with three Group 1 victories including the 2001 Epsom Derby and Irish Derby, and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes at Ascot. He was honored as Europe’s champion 3-year-old colt despite ending the year with a pair of losses, finishing second to Fantastic Light by a head in the Group 1 Irish Champion and then sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Belmont Park while trying dirt for the first and only time.

In a stud career that began in 2002, Galileo was officially the leading sire in Ireland 12 times, England four times, and France twice. According to Equineline statistics, the stallion was the sire of 367 stakes winners - 235 of those graded/group winners - worldwide through Friday, for total progeny earnings of $283,136,680. As he was still an active sire, standing for a private fee purported to be one of the highest in the world in his later years, those figures are likely to rise. Galileo's 91 Grade/Group 1 winners are an all-time record, as he last year surpassed the mark of 84 previously held by the great Danehill.

The stallion's 16 champions crowned worldwide were led by two-time Cartier European Horse of the Year Frankel. Unbeaten in 14 career starts, including 10 Group 1 events, Frankel is considered one of Europe's all-time greatest racehorses. He has gone on to a decorated career at stud in his own right, siring 76 stakes winners to date for owner-breeder Juddmonte's Banstead Manor Farm in Newmarket, England, including Japanese champion Soul Stirring, as well as this year's Epsom Derby winner Adayar and Irish Derby winner Hurricane Lane.

Galileo's son New Approach was twice a European champion, with five Group 1 victories including the 2008 Epsom Derby. Australia emulated his sire by winning both the Epsom and Irish Derby in 2014. Galileo's staggering tally of Group 1 winners also included a bevy of European classic winners, including additional Epsom Derby winners Ruler of The World (2013), Anthony Van Dyck (2019), and Serpentine (2020). His five winners of that race are a record, with previous joint record-holders Sir Peter Teazle, Waxy, Cyllene, Blandford, and Montjeu each siring four winners of the event.

Galileo is also the sire of Irish Derby winners Soldier of Fortune (2007), Cape Blanco (2010), Treasure Beach (2011), Capri (2017), and Sovereign (2019); French Derby winner Intello (2013); Epsom Oaks winners Was (2012), Minding (2016), Forever Together (2018), and Love (2020); Irish Oaks winners Great Heavens (2012) and Seventh Heaven (2016); and French Oaks winners Golden Lilac (2011) and Joan of Arc (2021).

Galileo also sired two winners of France's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, considered one of the world's greatest races, in Found (2016) and Waldgeist (2019). Found had previously won the 2015 Breeders' Cup Turf and finished third in her repeat tilt in 2016, narrowly missing in her bid to become the first horse ever to win the Arc and a Breeders' Cup race in the same year - a feat that would later be accomplished by one of Galileo's granddaughters.

Galileo's Irish Derby winner Cape Blanco went on to win three Grade 1 races in the U.S. to earn the 2011 Eclipse Award as outstanding turf male. Globe-trotting runners such as Found and Cape Blanco helped the European-based Galileo make an impact in the U.S., where he is the Breeders' Cup's all-time leading sire by earnings, with a bankroll of $13,876,287 through the 2020 edition to $10,922,400 for the late Unbridled's Song.

Galileo's other Breeders' Cup winners included Highland Reel, whose multiple Grade 1 wins in the U.S. included the 2016 Turf; he was third in the 2017 edition. A well-traveled career saw him earn more than $10.5 million, making him his sire's leading earner, while also winning Group 1 races in England and Hong Kong and placing in major events in France and Australia. Galileo's other Breeders' Cup winners were Red Rocks (2006 Turf), Magician (2013 Turf), and Line of Duty (2018 Juvenile Turf).

Galileo's legacy is continued on by 21 sons worldwide, led by Frankel, who is on pace for a stellar season. In addition to his two Derby winners this year, Frankel sired three winners at last month's renowned Royal Ascot meeting, leading a big week for his sireline. Frankel was one of five sons of Galileo with at least one winner at the meeting, with Coolmore residents Australia and Gleneagles, Nathaniel, and Teofilo rounding out the quintet. Teofilo’s son Havana Gold and New Approach's son Dawn Approach also sired winners.

Nathaniel, standing at Newsells Park Stud, is a leading sire in France and emerged with a blockbuster in his champion daughter Enable, who pulled off the Arc de Triomphe-Breeders' Cup Turf double in 2018. Her 11 Group 1 victories also included the Epsom Oaks, Irish Oaks, and Arc in 2017.

Giving Galileo representation in the U.S. is Treasure Beach, standing at Pleasant Acres Stallions in Florida. Noble Mission, a full brother to Frankel, stood his first six seasons at Lane's End in Kentucky, siring Grade 1 winner Code of Honor in his first crop. He moved to Japan for 2021.

Galileo's legacy will also continue through his daughters, who have produced 231 stakes winners worldwide to date; he is the reigning leading broodmare sire in Ireland and France. Galileo's best daughters in this regard include Starlet's Sister, dam of Eclipse Award champion Sistercharlie, French Derby and Arc de Triomphe winner Sottsass, and multiple graded/group stakes winner My Sister Nat. His other multiple stakes-producing daughters include Cabaret, dam of European classic winners and multiple Group 1 heroes Magna Grecia and St Mark's Basilica; Greenery, dam of multiple Grade 1 winner Lea and two other stakes horses for Claiborne Farm in the U.S; and Misty For Me, dam of Group 1 winners Roly Poly and U S Navy Flag, along with Grade 3 winner Cover Song.