Galileo

“A THOROUGHBRED we will never see the like of again,” said Galileo’s trainer Aidan O’Brien, a man who has seen plenty of the world’s very best. Coolmore Stud announced that the stallion was euthanased on humane grounds on 10 July this year, aged 23, for a “chronic, non-responsive, debilitating injury to the near-fore foot” which had failed to heal after surgery earlier in the year. The stud’s John Magnier said: “It is a very sad day, but we all feel incredibly fortunate to have had Galileo here at Coolmore. He was always a very special horse to us”.

The record-breaking bay with the narrow blaze and single white sock (“keep him to the end”, as the saying goes) leaves a stellar, unprecedented legacy in his offspring – and his offspring’s offspring. He was champion sire for 11 consecutive years, among many other accolades. Without him there would be no Frankel. However,