Bloodstock Heroes: Coolmore

BLOODSTOCK EROES H COOLMORE

Most people are familiar with the terms “thoroughbred” and “pedigree”. But did you know that the former means the horse is descended from one of just three stallions? Known as the foundation stallions, two of them performed their duties within twenty miles of York. The Darley Arabian stood at Aldby Hall near Stamford Bridge, whilst the Byerley Turk was at Goldsborough Hall, just outside Knaresborough. The trio was completed by the Godolphin Arabian, a resident just over the county line at Longsford Hall in Derbyshire. Over the intervening three hundred years some of the blood lines have become more successful than others and this genealogy gives every horse its pedigree, or family tree. Coming up to date and Coolmore, sponsors of today’s feature race continue the bloodstock tradition of great stallions. Originally, a relatively small farm, owner Tim Vigors, a famous fighter pilot in the Battle of Britain, began transforming it in 1968 and after going into partnership with Vincent O’Brien and Robert Sangster the three men built it up into the well-known stud farm it is today. Vigors sold his interest to O’Brien and his son-in-law John Magnier and it was Magnier who built the stud into a multi-national, multi-billion-Euro operation. On most occasions, the superstar stallions of their generation had proved themselves on the racecourse. Coolmore’s headline stallion Galileo destroyed his rivals in both the Epsom Derby and the Irish equivalent before completing an impressive hat-trick in the King George at Ascot. Since his retirement, he has been Champion Sire in eight different years having sired a staggering 80 individual Group 1 winners. If you were to glance at his most successful progeny, you would see that he has sired many of the best racehorses in recent years.

Picturesque surroundings These include Frankel, New Approach, Australia and Gleneagles - all now stallions in their own right but this is by no means a coincidence. As you can see, Galileo has already started to make his name as a sire of sires, with 15 of his sons having sired Group 1 winners in their own right, and that trait has no doubt been passed on from his sire Sadler’s Wells. He too stood at Coolmore and comes from the Northern Dancer line, regarded as one of the most productive bloodlines in the history of thoroughbred racing. As well as Galileo, Coolmore also stand numerous big race winners in Mastercraftsman, Camelot, Caravaggio, Churchill and Highland Reel. This festival produces champions and future stallions. Declaration of War won the Juddmonte International in 2013 and with Australia obliging in 2014, this pair are just two of the big names on the roster. The strength that they possess in the stallion department, as well as determination and knowledge of its founders, shows no signs of ceasing. Coolmore continue to produce Classic winners year on year and as a result continue to set a benchmark.