If today’s Derby were a film, it would be called Fathers and Sons, or maybe Family Values. Six of the 19 runners are trained by Aidan O’Brien, of which one will be ridden by his son, Donnacha, another by his daughter, Ana. His other son, Joseph, now a trainer himself, also has a horse in the race.
Yet all of this is arguably a subplot to the afternoon’s most enthralling family rivalry: that between Frankel, the finest thoroughbred of the modern era, and his father, Galileo, who may well be the most successful sire of all time. Neither horse will be running, of course, although Galileo won the Derby in 2001. But for the first time in Britain’s most valuable race, colts sired by Frankel will take on sons of Galileo. As Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager at the Juddmonte Stud where Frankel is based, puts it: “Can the young stag overcome the big buck?”
Galileo, now 19, is undoubtedly some big buck. He is father of five runners in the Derby field, and has another five grandsons taking part, two of whom — Eminent and Cracksman — were among Frankel’s first crop when he went to stud four years ago. Galileo’s extraordinary success means that Coolmore Stud, in Ireland, can charge about £300,000 to anyone who wants their mare covered by him.
Frankel, who commands a fee of £125,000 at Prince Khalid Abdullah’s Juddmonte Stud in Newmarket, is still to prove whether he can build a reputation as a stallion to compare to his legendary status on the track, but the early signs are encouraging. Victory today for either Eminent or Cracksman would be a huge stride in that direction, a swing of the bloodstock pendulum back England’s way. When people say that horses such as Frankel and Galileo are worth their weight in gold, it is an understatement. Frankel’s weight in gold is worth around £12.5 million — he can expect to earn that much in a single year at stud; Galileo even more.
The latter’s influence on today’s race, which is worth £1.625 million, stretches to more than half of the field. He is the sire of five of the six Aidan O’Brien entries: Cliffs Of Moher, Capri, The Anvil, Douglas Macarthur and Venice Beach. As well as Eminent, trained by Martyn Meade, and Cracksman, from John Gosden’s yard, he has a further three grandsons in the race: Glencadam Glory, Permian and Salouen.
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Galileo’s success as a sire is staggering. His offspring have won 28 classics in Great Britain and Ireland alone, including three Derby wins, through Australia, Ruler Of The World and New Approach. He has been champion sire in eight of the past nine years and started 2017 with a bang, with a Guineas double in England and Ireland courtesy of Churchill and Winter, an unprecedented achievement.
Nick Craven of Weatherbys, who produce the “mother stud book”, said: “This year has shown that the influence of Galileo, both directly through his own progeny and indirectly through his sons’ progeny, continues to grow.”
Many of last year’s luminaries, such as Found, Highland Reel and Order Of St George, the first three in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, and the champion filly, Minding, are his offspring. In the northern hemisphere his progeny have won more than 2,000 races and earned over £100 million in prize money.
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What makes him so special? After Churchill’s 2,000 Guineas triumph, Aidan O’Brien spoke of a quality of relentlessness, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to win. Paul Gleeson, senior stallion crew member at Coolmore, added: “Galileo has the most remarkable temperament, which largely he would have inherited from his father, Sadler’s Wells. He is very straightforward in every way, kind, very quiet and very professional, and thankfully he too passes those traits on to his offspring, making handling them so much easier.
“Many thought for years that Sadler’s Wells was the best of all time, but this guy is well on his way to emulating him and if he continues as he has been in recent times, he most likely will be the best we have ever had.”
Could Frankel ever emulate his father? There is never a guarantee that brilliance will be passed on. There have been plenty of examples where the best racehorses have covered the best mares but produced uninspiring offspring. Yet with Frankel there is the sense of something special brewing.
“He has inherited the great will to win,” Grimthorpe said. “They have also got the giant stride he had, a very good stride that was a big factor in Frankel’s success. Like everything to do with Frankel, you always want more. Everybody always wanted more
from him.
“He has set off pretty well. He has excited people around the world. It doesn’t matter where it is, he is really beginning to make his mark. But he still has to deliver at the highest level in this country and in Europe because that is where the majority of the mares he covers will come from.”
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In shorthand, that means winning the Derby.
“Part of it is managing expectations,” Grimthorpe continued. “He has been a huge flag bearer. Interest in him is huge. When a horse goes to stud, the interest tails off markedly. It doesn’t seem to have with him. I hope it is Frankel who takes on the baton from Galileo, although he does not look like giving up anytime soon.”
Victory today for Eminent would be an intriguing story, given that he was not initially considered among the best of Frankel’s first crop. Two years ago, Meade — not one of the leading trainers in British racing — took a chance and bought him privately for a relatively modest £165,000 after he had gone through the sales ring unsold.
Something about the way he looked captured Meade’s eye, but at the time there were no guarantees that Frankel’s offspring would succeed, nor what the successful ones would look like.
Grimthorpe said: “It is all very well saying, ‘Oh he’s by Frankel so he must be all right.’ Martyn Meade was brave enough to take a punt and it has paid off in spades already.”
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At 69, Meade finds himself with the finest horse he has trained, and his first runner in the Derby. “To be part of it is a privilege and beyond my wildest dreams,” he said. “It makes you tingle to think about it. All that background and history, all those wonderful winners over the years and how they’ve all gone on to make wonderful stallions. All the pageantry and support for it. There cannot be anything better.
“I have to pinch myself because there’s no standout horse in the race this year and the more you look at it, the more it looks like he has a good chance. After his disappointment in the 2,000 Guineas, where he finished sixth, he’s bouncing again now and has got Derby written all over him for me.”
Should Eminent triumph, it will also be Frankel’s triumph. But the great thing for Coolmore is that it will ultimately also be another triumph for Galileo.
Coolmore’s David O’Loughlin said: “It’s an interesting time here for us, because Galileo is 19 years of age now, so we’re looking to the future. The future is in the back of our minds, and we have four of his sons here: Australia, Gleneagles, The Gurkha and Ruler Of The World. We’re doing our best to get them good mares and we’re very much supporting them ourselves.” In essence, do not write us off just yet.
As for Frankel, Grimthorpe knows how significant an afternoon it could be. “For Frankel to get a Derby winner in his first crop would be sensational,” he said. “Given what we have seen so far there is only one way he can go now and that is upwards. I will be yelling until I’m blue in the face for Eminent and Cracksman. To have that sort of horse reaching for the sky is something very special.”