THERE are family ties all over the place in today’s Derby. Five of the 16 runners are by super-sire Galileo, three of them are by Galileo’s brother Sea The Stars, and two of them are by sons of Galileo, one by New Approach and one by Teofilo. Also, one is by Sea The Stars’ sire Cape Cross.

The relatives are not only on the sires’ side either. Ulysses, by Derby winner Galileo, is out of Oaks winner Light Shift, while Cloth Of Stars is by Galileo’s brother Sea The Stars and he is out of a full-sister to Light Shift, so he is by Ulysses’ sire’s brother out of Ulysses’ dam’s sister. You still with this?

And the dam of Port Douglas – who is by Galileo – is also by Kingmambo, like Ulysses’ dam and Cloth Of Stars’ dam.

And as if that wasn’t enough, Moonlight Magic is by Sea The Stars’ sire Cape Cross, and he is out of Melikah, who is out of Urban Sea, and is therefore a half-sister to both Sea The Stars and to Galileo.

The Derby family lines are a bit like the Derby form lines this year: the longer you study them, the more complicated they get.