GALILEO, the greatest sire of the modern era, and one of the greatest stallions in the history of the thoroughbred, is dead. The sire of a staggering 91 Group or Grade 1 winners had just completed his 20th season at Coolmore.

“Regretfully our world-renowned champion sire Galileo was put to sleep earlier today on humane grounds owing to a chronic, non-responsive, debilitating injury to the left fore foot,” was the comment from Coolmore on the passing of the 23-year-old.

He took over the mantle of the greatest living stallion from his own sire, Sadler’s Wells, and he was bred to be a champion. Galileo was the third foal of his dam Urban Sea, the champion older mare in Europe in 1993 following her success in that year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

The grandson of Northern Dancer would become the first of Urban Sea's four foals to win at the highest level, followed by Sea The Stars, Black Sam Bellamy and My Typhoon. The Tsui family’s great mare is one of just nine broodmares in history to breed four or more Group 1 winners. The latest to join that group is You’resothrilling, thanks to the success of Joan Of Arc in last month’s Prix de Diane-French Oaks.

In winning that French classic, Joan Of Arc became Galileo’s 91st Group or Grade 1 winner, and they have amassed 192 victories at that level. With his final crop due to make their racecourse debuts in 2024, those numbers are certain to grow to levels that may never be bettered.

Galileo is a stallion who has excelled in every area of his life, as a racehorse, a sire, a sire of sires, and as a maternal sire. He has extended his influence also to the National Hunt sector.

A maiden winner of his only juvenile start at Leopardstown, he won five of his seven starts at three, providing Aidan O’Brien with the first of his eight wins in the Derby at Epsom. That day he had Golan in arrears, and he later added the Irish equivalent at the Curragh before beating Fantastic Light in the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

Galileo suffered a rare defeat in a memorable Irish Champion Stakes, going down by a head to Fantastic Light, before finishing out of the frame for the only time in his career in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

However, his mix of exceptional race record and pedigree meant that he had all the credentials to become a success at stud, though the level of his achievements could hardly have been imagined.

Any list of his best horses will inevitably omit some greats, suffice to say that his influence will forever live on through the likes of his sons Frankel, one of the greatest racehorses in history and now one of the world’s most exciting sires. St Mark’s Basilica, the best three-year-old of 2021, is out of a Galileo mare.

A comprehensive tribute to Galileo will feature in next Saturday’s The Irish Field.