THERE are just two sons of the prolific champion sire Galileo (by Sadler’s Wells) taking up stallion duties in this part of the world this year, one of them being the outstanding miler whose classic performance was one of the most visually impressive victories in a European Group 1 contest in 2016.
The Gurkha was a runaway winner of the Poule d’Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas) at Deauville, beating a field from which several high-class performers emerged, notably Group 1 Prix Jean Prat star Zelzal, Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club runner-up Zarak, and the pattern scorers Attendu, Jimmy Two Times and Taareef.
He was then runner-up to Galileo Gold in the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes and to Hawkbill in the Group 1 Coral-Eclipse before taking his revenge on his Ascot conqueror with a neck victory in the Group 1 Sussex Stakes at Goodwood.
Timeform put The Gurkha on a figure of 127, making him one of the most highly rated horses of the year in Europe. He was unraced at two.
His sire’s achievements as a racehorse and as a prolific sire of champions are well known. He can also now be called a sire of sires, an accolade that differs from merely being a sire of stallions.
The latter just means sons at stud who may or may not have developed high profiles, but a true sire of sires is one who has a string of sons who have at least one Group/Grade 1 winner to their name and with several of those having achieved the feat on multiple occasions.
Counting only flat races that are listed in Part I of the International Cataloguing Standards, there are already nine sons of Galileo who have sired at least one Group/Grade 1 winner.
They are headed by the European classic sires New Approach and Teofilo, 2016 freshman Frankel added his name to the list when his recently crowned champion daughter Soul Stirring won at the highest level in Japan last month, and the others are Cima De Triomphe, Heliostatic, Rip Van Winkle, Roderic O’Connor, Sixties Icon and Soldier Of Fortune.
The Gurkha is out of the seven-furlong Group 3 scorer Chintz (by Danehill Dancer) and his grandam is Gold Dodger (by Slew O’ Gold), a stakes-winning half-sister to the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe heroine Solemia (by Poliglote).
The string of Group 1 stars in the family also includes Silasol (by Monsun), Okawango (by Kingmambo), Quijano (by Acatenango) and, further back, Authorized (by Montjeu), Green Dancer (by Nijinsky), Alhaarth (by Unfuwain) and Makfi (by Dubawi), each of that latter quartet also a Group 1 sire.
Won three races, £996,216, over 1 mile, at 3 years including, Poule d’Essai des Poulains, Deauville, Gr.1, Qatar Sussex Stakes, Goodwood, Gr.1, also placed second in Coral Eclipse Stakes, Sandown Park, Gr.1, St James’s Palace Stakes, Ascot, Gr.1.
Retires to stud in 2017.
Stands at: Coolmore Stud, Fethard, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, Ireland
Contact: Christy Grassick, David O’Loughlin, Eddie Fitzpatrick, Tim Corballis, Maurice Moloney, Gerry Aherne, Mathieu Legars or Jason Walsh
Telephone: +353 (0) 52 6131298
Email: info@coolmore.ie
Web: www.coolmore.com
Fee: €25,000