Coolmore

This time twenty years ago, Galileo (Ire) was a once-raced winning maiden gradually being honed to full fitness on the Ballydoyle gallops ahead of his Classic season. That debut outing at Leopardstown on Oct. 28, 2000, had started with the young son of Sadler's Wells and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine Urban Sea as evens favourite and ended, after a mile on heavy ground, with him 14 lengths clear of the Aga Khan's Taraza (Ire).  We've all seen 2-year-olds burn brightly in their maidens only to fizzle out...

Dolphins swimming in the Venetian canals may have been pandemic fake news, but that the world will have benefited environmentally is one of the few upsides to the coronavirus crisis. What is not fake news is that many heads and livers will have been feeling better on Sunday morning than would otherwise be the case following the annual ITBA Awards, but that is the only benefit to missing out on what is always one of the social highlights of the racing year. Attendance at this event is not for the...

As breeding sheds prepare to swing open their doors in the coming weeks, we bring you the final installment of our 2021 Value Sires series. Gone are the days of dissecting sales averages and speculating on the comments of the judges; these elder statesmen have proven their mettle on the racecourse, and a few of them are even available at their lowest ever fees. While value exists in all price brackets and for all budgets, we have chosen to limit the scope of this analysis to stallions standing in Europe...

Group 2 winner High Definition (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is doing well in advance of the 2021 Classics, however he is most likely to contest the G1 Epsom Derby instead of the G1 2000 Guineas, his trainer Aidan O'Brien revealed. A winner at The Curragh in August, the bay next took the G2 Beresford S. on Sept. 26 in good style. The decision was made to save him for his 3-year-old year instead of pressing on to juvenile Group 1s. "He's a big, rangy horse with an unbelievably long stride," O'Brien...

There were just 56 days between Tiz the Law's (Constitution) dazzling sophomore debut in the GIII Holy Bull S. on the first day of February to his next start in the GI Florida Derby. How much could change in that time? As it turned out, just about everything. So maybe that's why, during a dark time, this bay colt with the bright, white-blazed face was so easy to cheer for. During uncertain circumstances, the Sackatoga silks with the familiar connections brought a piece of near normalcy to the starting gate....

Coolmore has purchased the G1 Prix du Moulin winner Vadamos (Fr) (Monsun {Ger}) from Tally-Ho Stud and will stand him under its National Hunter banner at Grange Stud for 2021 at a fee of €6,000. In addition to the Moulin, Vadamos won the G2 Prix du Muguet and the G3 Prix Messidor. He is out of the listed-winning Celebre Vadala (Fr) (Peintre Celebre), who is a half-sister to the dual Group 1 winner Valixir (Ire) (Trempolino). Vadamos is represented by his first 3-year-olds in 2021 and has thus far had...

We kicked off our annual Value Sires series earlier this week with a look at the new class of sires entering stud in 2021, and today we move on to the group with their first foals set to hit the ground in the coming months. While it is not always a straightforward task to pinpoint value in unproven sires, the ripple effects of the global pandemic make the exercise a little more interesting this year. While it has become the norm for some young sires to get fee cuts in...

Zoffany (Ire) (Dansili {GB}-Tyranny {GB}, by Machiavellian), a Group 1-winning racehorse and sire, has died aged 13 at Coolmore Stud due to liver failure. "Zoffany was a great servant and he'll be a big loss," said Coolmore's David O'Loughlin. Bred by Epona Bloodstock, Zoffany was a 220,000gns Tattersalls October Book 1 yearling. He won on debut in April of his 2-year-old campaign and proved an honest and tough performer throughout the season, winning five of his six starts including the G3 Tyros S. and G1 Phoenix S. for the Coolmore...

The calendar has turned at last, with likely many more than usual looking for a fresh start in a new year. Even outside the midst of a global pandemic, the excitement of a new sire crop typically provides plenty of reason for excitement and optimism, despite the fact the very few of the 30-something young pretenders preparing to stand their first seasons in the UK, Ireland and France will truly 'make it.' But isn't that the point? Those made of thick enough stuff to be involved in the breeding and...

And so we come to the group standing on the brink. The group facing the moment of truth, when their most precocious stock enters the gate and offers some initial indication as to their competence for the task for which, ostensibly at least, they were bred. As such, this should perhaps be the moment we double down. That's what we would do, at any rate, if we had real faith in the choices we have made for our mares. If we have selected their mates well, then people will be...

While most American breeders are just now getting their first look at multiple Group 1 winner Caravaggio, who stood his first three years at Coolmore's headquarters in Ireland and now takes on the U.S. market for 2021, the son of Scat Daddy is not new to Ashford Stud. The speedy grey was born and raised at Ashford, having been bred by the farm's Director of Sales Charlie O'Connor and his in-laws' Windmill Manor Farms. "Caravaggio is a horse that's obviously very close to our hearts," Coolmore's Adrian Wallace said. "He...

Champion and MG1SW Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}-Halfway to Heaven {Ire}, by Pivotal {GB}) has been retired, Coolmore announced via Twitter on Tuesday. She will join the Coolmore broodmare band, but a 2021 stallion has not been decided upon. In her latest start, the 5-year-old finished third in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup on Dec. 13 for trainer Aidan O'Brien. "Brilliant seven-time Group 1 winner Magical (Galileo) has been retired and will join the broodmare band at Coolmore Stud," the tweet read. "Mating Plans [are] yet to be decided." Bred...