Galileo was 23 when he was euthanized due to a chronic foot injury on July 10, but even though that is not a particularly short lifespan for a horse, the consensus of the bloodstock world is that he departed far too soon. The sire of a record 92 Grade/Group 1 winners (and counting) and the owner of multiple sire titles in England, France, and Ireland, he proved himself a more than worthy successor to the great stallion Sadler's Wells, taking his sire's mantle as Europe's greatest progenitor.
It will take decades to be able to fully assess the impact of Galileo on Thoroughbred breeding around the world, and perhaps even longer to gain a similar perspective regarding his dam, the great matriarch Urban Sea. Already worthy of being acclaimed as the 21st century's first truly breed-shaping mare, the 1993 CIGA Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (FR-G1) winner is assured a lasting presence in pedigrees through Galileo and his sons and daughters, but there is far more to her story as a producer than that.
One of a handful of mares to produce four or more Grade or Group 1 winners, Urban Sea produced an even better racehorse than Galileo in Sea the Stars (by Cape Cross), voted the 2009 Cartier European Horse of the Year after winning six Group 1 races including the Two Thousand Guineas (ENG-G1), the Derby Stakes (ENG-G1), and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (FR-G1). While not Galileo's equal as a sire, Sea the Stars is no slouch in that department and is doing his part to maintain the Green Desert branch of Danzig's male line. Already the sire of over 80 stakes winners, his 13 Group 1 winners include dual Derby winner Harzand and the magnificent stayer Stradivarius, and it is only a matter of time before breeders start using Urban Sea's two great sons as vehicles for inbreeding to her.
None of Urban Sea's three other stakes-winning sons (including multiple Group 1 winner Black Sam Bellamy, a full brother to Galileo) have done much at stud, and her Grade 1-winning daughter My Typhoon (by Giant's Causeway) has a disappointing broodmare record thus far. Three other daughters are stakes producers, however, and all three have added Group winners to their profiles in the last few years. Group 1-placed stakes winner Melikah (by Lammtarra) added her fourth stakes winner in 2019 when her Dubawi son Royal Line won the September Stakes (ENG-G3), and her stakes-winning daughter Hidden Gold is the dam of 2021 listed stakes winner Creative Flair (by Dubawi). Group 3 winner All Too Beautiful (by Sadler's Wells), the dam of two listed stakes winners, is now the second dam of 2020 W. S. Cox Plate (AUS-G1) winner Sir Dragonet
Cherry Hinton, a Group 3-placed daughter of Urban Sea and Green Desert, has been the most active of all in recent years. Already the dam of 2011 Rockfel Stakes (ENG-G2) winner Wading (by Montjeu, by Sadler's Wells) and 2014 Irish Oaks (IRE-G1) winner Bracelet (by Montjeu), she has since produced two more classy stakes winners by Montjeu's champion son Camelot: Athena, winner of the 2018 Belmont Invitational Oaks Stakes (USA-G1), and Goddess, winner of the 2019 Snow Fairy Stakes (IRE-G3). Wading, in turn, is the dam of 2018 Rockfel Stakes (ENG-G2) winner Just Wonderful, who also placed in two Group 1 races.
Cherry Hinton and a slew of Urban Sea granddaughters still have foals who have yet to race, and it will not be long before royally-bred great-granddaughters will be adding to the tally. Thus, in addition to being a dam of two major sires (though "major" seems a bit weak when applied to Galileo), Urban Sea stands at the head of an expanding female family that seems likely to keep adding stars to the great mare's legacy for a long time to come.
It will take decades to be able to fully assess the impact of Galileo on Thoroughbred breeding around the world, and perhaps even longer to gain a similar perspective regarding his dam, the great matriarch Urban Sea. Already worthy of being acclaimed as the 21st century's first truly breed-shaping mare, the 1993 CIGA Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (FR-G1) winner is assured a lasting presence in pedigrees through Galileo and his sons and daughters, but there is far more to her story as a producer than that.
One of a handful of mares to produce four or more Grade or Group 1 winners, Urban Sea produced an even better racehorse than Galileo in Sea the Stars (by Cape Cross), voted the 2009 Cartier European Horse of the Year after winning six Group 1 races including the Two Thousand Guineas (ENG-G1), the Derby Stakes (ENG-G1), and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (FR-G1). While not Galileo's equal as a sire, Sea the Stars is no slouch in that department and is doing his part to maintain the Green Desert branch of Danzig's male line. Already the sire of over 80 stakes winners, his 13 Group 1 winners include dual Derby winner Harzand and the magnificent stayer Stradivarius, and it is only a matter of time before breeders start using Urban Sea's two great sons as vehicles for inbreeding to her.
None of Urban Sea's three other stakes-winning sons (including multiple Group 1 winner Black Sam Bellamy, a full brother to Galileo) have done much at stud, and her Grade 1-winning daughter My Typhoon (by Giant's Causeway) has a disappointing broodmare record thus far. Three other daughters are stakes producers, however, and all three have added Group winners to their profiles in the last few years. Group 1-placed stakes winner Melikah (by Lammtarra) added her fourth stakes winner in 2019 when her Dubawi son Royal Line won the September Stakes (ENG-G3), and her stakes-winning daughter Hidden Gold is the dam of 2021 listed stakes winner Creative Flair (by Dubawi). Group 3 winner All Too Beautiful (by Sadler's Wells), the dam of two listed stakes winners, is now the second dam of 2020 W. S. Cox Plate (AUS-G1) winner Sir Dragonet
Cherry Hinton, a Group 3-placed daughter of Urban Sea and Green Desert, has been the most active of all in recent years. Already the dam of 2011 Rockfel Stakes (ENG-G2) winner Wading (by Montjeu, by Sadler's Wells) and 2014 Irish Oaks (IRE-G1) winner Bracelet (by Montjeu), she has since produced two more classy stakes winners by Montjeu's champion son Camelot: Athena, winner of the 2018 Belmont Invitational Oaks Stakes (USA-G1), and Goddess, winner of the 2019 Snow Fairy Stakes (IRE-G3). Wading, in turn, is the dam of 2018 Rockfel Stakes (ENG-G2) winner Just Wonderful, who also placed in two Group 1 races.
Cherry Hinton and a slew of Urban Sea granddaughters still have foals who have yet to race, and it will not be long before royally-bred great-granddaughters will be adding to the tally. Thus, in addition to being a dam of two major sires (though "major" seems a bit weak when applied to Galileo), Urban Sea stands at the head of an expanding female family that seems likely to keep adding stars to the great mare's legacy for a long time to come.
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