Today's Edition:  Record-Setting $1.4M Justify Filly Leads The Way at OBS · Baeza Set for Summer Showdown · Royal Ascot Coverage 2

Galileo (Ire)

Thursday's Racing Insights: Full-Sis to Sadler's Joy Debuts at Spa

5th-SAR, $100k, Msw, 2yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 3:21 p.m. ET Woodslane Farm homebred HAIL TO (Kitten's Joy), a full-sister to GISW Sadler's Joy, debuts for Tom Albertrani. Still going strong at age eight for these same connections, Sadler's Joy registered a career high over the Saratoga turf course in the 2017 GI Sword Dancer S. Bobby Flay homebred Pizza Bianca (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) gets her career underway for Christophe Clement. Flay purchased her unraced dam White Hot (Ire) (Galileo {Ire})--a half-sister to group winners Gagnoa (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) and Pour...

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Maggie Wolfendale Joins Writers' Room As Show Returns to Studio

It's been a long 16 months since the crew for the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland were all together in their actual studio to record the podcast, and they reunited at last Wednesday morning, welcoming Fox Sports and NYRA paddock analyst Maggie Wolfendale on the show to share excitement about the opening of Saratoga to fans once again and discuss how to pick winning horses based on physical appearances. "It's not even just the racetrack," Wolfendale, calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, said...

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Half to Novellist Debuts at Leopardstown

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Thursday's Observations features a daughter of the late Galileo (Ire). 5:30 Leopardstown, Mdn, €16,500, 2yo, f, 8fT MAGICAL LAGOON (IRE) (Galileo {Ire}) debuts for Zhang Yuesheng and Jessie Harrington and is a 305,000gns Book 1-bought half-sister to the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S., G1 Grosser Preis...

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Taking Stock: Galileo, Coolmore, O'Brien and the Derby

By now you've read some of the many excellent remembrances and obituaries of Galileo (Ire), who was euthanized at Coolmore on Saturday at age 23. Any way you look at it, the son of Sadler's Wells was one of the greatest stallions of all time, as were his sire and and grandsire Northern Dancer. This dynastic sequence is now in its fourth generation with Galileo's outstanding son Frankel (GB), who is well on his way to matching the iconic status he achieved on the racetrack as a stallion, and history...

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Weekly Wrap: A Legend Departs

One horse overshadowed all other news items of the past week as the bloodstock world came to terms with the death of Galileo (Ire) at the age of 23.  Fulsome tributes have been paid to him from across the globe with the overwhelming feeling being that we will never see his like again. It is worth bearing in mind, however, that many of us felt the same when his own extraordinary sire Sadler's Wells died 10 years ago. That colossus of the breeding world appeared in the third or fourth...

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Expensive Galileo (Ire) Filly on Deck at Killarney

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Monday's Observations features a 2.1-million daughter of Galileo (Ire). 18.45 Killarney, Mdn, €12,000, 3yo/up, f/m, 11f 35yT Coolmore and Westerberg's DRUMMER GIRL (IRE) (Galileo {Ire}) made a mark when knocked down for 2.1-million guineas at the Tattersalls 2019 October Book 1 sale and makes her belated debut in this...

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Bolshoi Ballet Pays Fitting Tribute to Late Galileo with Belmont Derby Win

'TDN Rising Star' Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), the beaten G1 Cazoo Epsom Derby favorite, paid fitting tribute to his late superstar sire with a 1 1/4-length success over Tokyo Gold (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}) in Saturday's GI Belmont Derby Invitational. The Coolmore connections and trainer Aidan O'Brien also delivered with Santa Barbara (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) in the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational on the undercard. The even-money favorite, drawn on the inside in post two, raced in seventh around the clubhouse turn and began to creep closer while racing in between...

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Galileo: A Force Majeure

"The lads had him as a king before he came here." So said Aidan O'Brien back in April when reflecting on Galileo's Classic season of 2001. Pedigree and physique were aligned and soon the third 'p', performance, would complete the holy trinity of the Thoroughbred.  Two decades on and Galileo has not only rewritten the record books but, in doing so, has surpassed his own remarkable sire Sadler's Wells, who in turn was the most influential son of Northern Dancer. And much in the way that those names are so...

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Breed-Shaping Sire Galileo Dies

Galileo (Ire) (Sadler's Wells-Urban Sea, by Miswaki), the brilliant winner of the Derby, Irish Derby and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. and revolutionary 12-time British and Irish champion sire, was euthanized on Saturday at Coolmore Stud at the age of 23 after battling a chronic, non-responsive, debilitating injury to the left fore foot. Galileo is the sire of 92 worldwide Group 1 winners-more than any other stallion in history and with the latest poignantly coming on Saturday evening courtesy of Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) in the Belmont Derby-and he...

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'Bolshoi' Gives O'Brien Strong Chance for Oaks/Derby Double

Aidan O'Brien will saddle the likely favorite in the GI Belmont Oaks in Coolmore's Santa Barbara (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) and also sends out the overwhelming morning-line favorite 'TDN Rising Star' Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the GI Belmont Derby a few races later for the same owner. Kicking off this term with a victory in the G3 Ballysax S. Apr. 11, the bay romped by six lengths in the G3 Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial May 9, but failed to fire when seventh as the favorite in the G1 Cazoo...

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Sisters to Expert Eye and Anthony Van Dyck Debut

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Thursday's Observations features full-sisters to Group 1 winners. 1.20 Newmarket, Mdn, £25,000, 2yo, f, 6fT INVIGILATE (GB) (Acclamation {GB}) is a notable debutante to open Newmarket's July Festival as a full-sister to Juddmonte's GI Breeders' Cup Mile hero Expert Eye (GB). Trained like that past luminary by Sir Michael...

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Arqana August Yearling Catalogue Revealed

The Arqana August Yearling Sale features a catalogue of 355 blue-blooded colts and fillies as it returns to its regular slot in the calendar from Aug. 14-16 in Deauville. The first two days will begin at 5:30 p.m. and the final day, Monday, will start at 1 p.m. The sale has produced many stakes winners over the years including G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe hero Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), and fellow Group 1 winners Skalleti (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}), Sealiway (Fr) (Galiway {GB}), Wonderful Tonight (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}),...

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