It tugged at my heart, as it must have for many whose lives have been impacted by Thoroughbreds, to read of Galileo’s passing at the age of 23.

Of course, he cemented his legend status long ago. Today I saw a replay of his first race, shared in honor of his brilliance that was evident from the start as he reached the wire ten lengths in front. It was almost too easy for him, and the heights he reached and the mark he left on racing and the lives of people who knew him, only grew from there. He excelled as a sire, as one could hope a horse from such a top-notch family would.

In May 2012, he was fourteen years old and well established as a stallion, in the midst of a seven-year run as Britain and Ireland’s leading sire. I point out this time frame specifically as it when I was fortunate to have my path intersect with his at Coolmore Stud in Ireland. I was there for a course, Horse Health and Management in the Emerald Isle, and part of the curriculum was visiting the renowned farm. Our instructor for the course had a professional background with horses and managed the itinerary and assignments, and another instructor who was not horse-oriented traveled with us to manage other aspects of the course that were not related specifically to what we learned, like travel arrangements and if there were any issues with those or with people in the course. It stands out in my mind that though she did not have a horse background, it awed her to be in Galileo’s presence. I think that alone speaks to what people saw in him.

I was naturally awed as well. He was led down a tranquil path and led back and forth several times near the stallion stalls which looked like individual barns, small, but not connected as one unit. He had a small protrusion from a colic surgery but it did not diminish his looks or the effect of his presence. In fact, it seemed a reminder of what he had endured and that is was good he was still alive and well. My primary impression of him besides the awe, which probably evoked it, was how he carried himself. Self-assured. Calm. Almost stately. I would say, like many great horses do, he almost sensed that he was a cut above many. And if horse herd hierarchy has anything to do with it and being descended from a multitude of superior horses that imparted that sense of dominance, he probably did sense that in the way a horse would, not with arrogance like a human may but just that unshakeable notion of his place in the world.

I will always be grateful that visit with Galileo was possible. And for that, I respect any request Coolmore made, but I couldn’t help but be curious why they told all present from my class not to share the photos of him we took that day, as I have seen others visit and share photos. And our instructor made it a condition of passing the course, to ensure we honored it, saying she would immediately fail anyone who did. Hearing the request directly from the stallion manager was all I needed to hear, and to this day I have kept those photos unshared publicly and likely will continue to do so. Yet as I look back on that it strikes me now if anyone did decide go ahead and share those photos, the consequences of failing a class that occurred in another country could well have been more significant than a bad grade on a college transcript. It could well have meant effectively unenrolling from the course and having to go home early and not via the flight already paid for. Not worth it!

A few years later, I went back to Ireland by myself for the first time, in a visit coinciding with Irish Champions Weekend, two stellar days of racing at Leopardstown and the Curragh. Galileo’s son Churchill won the Vincent O’Brien National Stakes, a Group 1 race for 2-year-olds. It was the colt’s first attempt at a Group 1 race, and as I look back at his race record, I think how amazing it was to be there one day to see a horse of his caliber. That type of runner is every bit of what people hope for and frequently got from Galileo.

Churchill won all but his maiden at age two, and burst through with a victory in his second career start. He was not quite the same at age 3, winning twice in seven starts, but he was a horse that anyone would be glad to have in a racing stable.

Not long after that trip to Ireland, I began freelance work editing the Stallion Register for BloodHorse. While the idea was to proofread as quickly yet as accurately as possible, the first time each year I worked there I came across a page featuring Galileo, it was a marvel at how long the list of current year’s stakes winners would be for him. For most stand-out stallions, 3 lines of black-type winners looked significant. Galileo’s list for the year would reach paragraph status, without fail. I think the way I paused to note that was a link back to seeing him in Ireland, and encapsulated a small bit of the awe I felt seeing him.

So one part of his story came to an end on July 10, 2021. And because of the awe he evoked in me on several levels, that is why I felt the tug at my heart that reading of his passing left. There is a void from such an ending.

But also there is the knowledge, as evident as the way Galileo carried himself that strongly suggested he knew his greatness, that such a being leaves a tremendous legacy that will endure beyond the time he physically existed. In fact, his son Bolshoi Ballet showcased that, as no doubt his descendants will for years to come, by winning the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes the day his sire passed.

I know that feeling of gratitude at being in Galileo’s presence will remain with me.

Having recently read Give A Man A Horse: The Remarkable Story of Patrick Hogan, by Dianne Haworth, I was struck by the somewhat parallel paths his professional ties to the Thoroughbred industry took with Alice Chandler’s, and that the link was even stronger for involving her stallion Sir Ivor.

Much has been written about Sir Ivor resulting from a breeding of Sir Gaylord to one of four mares Alice Chandler’s father left her, and how he went to become an Epsom Derby winner, marking a grand start for her taking the reins and adding to her father’s legacy admirably.

Patrick Hogan and his brother jointly managed the Thoroughbred farm their father had begun when the latter passed away, until their paths diverged and Patrick Hogan went on to start his own farm.

After securing his own farm where he took broodmares he owned, Hogan began looking for a stallion to syndicate. After a long search without finding a promising prospect, Sir Tristam, by Sir Ivor, came to his attention. The horse’s race record was modest but his pedigree caught Hogan’s attention.

Speaking of parallels to Alice Chandler and Sir Ivor, Sir Tristram left Europe to try to contest the 1974 Kentucky Derby, whereas his sire had been American-based and captured one of Europe’s most renowned Derbies. Rayond Guest, Sir Ivor’s owner, also owned Sir Tristram during his race career. Like many owners in a position to dream of top racing glory, having a Derby winner was a deep wish Guest had. Sir Tristram’s American race debut was not auspicious, as he ws not familiar with the layout of U.S. tracks, and he ran 11th in the Kentucky Derby.

Sir Tristram was a tough horse to handle, often attacking people, and when he arrived in New Zealand after quarantine, he had been through a barn fire that left marks on his coat. It didn’t sell him well to syndicate shareholders in his intriductory show to them. It was reflected in mares he covered being a smaller amount than was originally planned, and in the quality of mares sent being markedly insignificant.

Hogan’s faith in the horse did not waver, however, and he sent his best mares to his court. It didn’t take long to see that this faith would be rewarded as some of his first progeny to hit the track and do well amassed over 1 million Australian dollars in stakes earnings, though they had a combined price of $12,000. That success captured the eye of people who perhaps would not have given sir Tristram a second glance before, and he was a six-time champion Australian sire and four-time champion broodmare sire.

He sired Zabeel among his dozens of Group 1 winners, and Zabeel became his heir apparent at Hogan’s Cambridge Stud. Zabeel did not commence his stud career at Cambridge until it was clear Sir Tristram himself was nearing the end of his sire career, as Hogan held him in such esteem that he essentially wanted the stallion ranks of the farm to encompass only one horse, the horse he affectionally called “Paddy.” (As a side note, as Patrick Hogan began to look to the future beyond encompassing bringing in a new stallion, it seemed unusual to me, given the time frame was the late 1980s, that he noted he didn’t have heirs to pass the farm to, as his children are daughters and not sons).

Zabeel did indeed take up the mantle well of his own sire, producing such top horses as Octagonal and Might and Power, to name a few. Octagonal sired Lonhro, who became a champion Australian sire in his own right, carrying on the legacy of the mighty Sir Tristram, with his intriguing mix of European and American influences that marked the beginning of an incredible chapter for New Zealand’s Thoroughbred history.

I greatly enjoyed the well-written book by Haworth that recounted this story, and how it brought to life Sir Patrick Hogan, honored with a CBE in 1991 for services to racing, and Sir Tristram, stories I had never heard before and that I appreciated adding to my knowledge bank as one interested in racing history and how pedigrees weave their way through this and add to it. This is but a small glimpse of what Hogan did for the racing industry. He is a remarkable individual and I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in racing.

Churchill Downs marked the closing day of their spring meet with the Stephen Foster Stakes and a handful of other stakes races, attracting the likes of Letruska and Maxfield.

The forecast originally called for thunderstorms but the temperatures soared up to the 90-degree range and the sun was out in force all day. The buckets of water poured over many of the horses post-race looked extra refreshing as my seat was not under a roof, but I still enjoyed the day immensely. It is wonderful to get back to race attendance and not miss all the big days. This could sound trivial to some in light of a pandemic, but when it is part of the fabric of who you are, it matters to have some normality to the rhythm of your days. I also enjoyed seeing two of Gun Runner’s progeny race, as not being able to go to sales last year meant I did not get to see any of the horses he sired. I do like to get a look at progeny of horses that were favorites on the track. so I appreciated that I had the chance during Churchill’s card.

I started my day in Louisville with a quick stop at Wagner’s, as I had arrived a few hours before the races began before moving on to the Derby Museum. In a typical, non-pandemic year, I attend the Derby and then don’t come back to Churchill until Stephen Foster day. But in 2019, if memory serves, I went to the Derby and no other race days at Churchill for that year’s spring meet. The gist of that is, I don’t know how soon after the Derby the horse model in the Derby Museum is repainted to look like the newest Derby winner, but when I was there on that day in late June, it was still painted like Authentic. The film about the Derby, which usually highlights the most recent Derby winner also, still most prominently featured Authentic’s victory. Later, at the track, I saw Medina Spirit’s name above the paddock and around the wall in the line with all the other Derby winners but it was not lost on me that they had not yet done anything to commemorate what at this time still stands as the official result that would be more time-consuming to do over if necessary, like updating the Derby Museum film or painting the horse there.

It did make me wonder how they showcased the 2019 Derby result in the film; naturally, the race call is very much of the moment but since that result did not stand, I wondered if they put text along the bottom of the screen to note Maximum Security was not the official victor or if they just played it as it was called during the running with no comment. I’ll be curious to see how they show that film if Medina Spirit is at some point disqualified.

Another point I wondered about during the showing of the film, as I listened to race calls echo through the years of a multitude of past Derbys was when it became possible to have race callers, as far as when sound systems that could carry sound to large groups of people were invented, and if prior to that attendees had to just try to see for themselves how the races unfolded. They must have had to.

I did a little research into that and figure one can only hypothesize how early race days were, and that the most likely conclusion is anyone in attendance just had to follow the action for themselves as best they could. But I did discover a little about sound systems:

“Up until the late 19th century, all forms of public address were done using architectural acoustics – there was no viable alternative to improve speech comprehension. However, the first step towards completely changing how people perceived sound came in 1875, when British-American inventor and music professor David Edward Hughes invented the carbon microphone…. The carbon microphone contained two metal boxes and worked by sound waves striking its diaphragm, causing the carbon granules contained inside to vibrate… Hughes coined the term ‘microphone’ to describe his invention, as he saw it as the audio equivalent of the microscope. Thus, the first component of a modern-day PA system was born.

A couple of decades later, the world’s first experimental moving coil loudspeaker was invented by British physicist Oliver Lodge. Known as the ‘bellowing telephone,’ this invention contained the same basic features as today’s loudspeakers – a diaphragm vibrated by a voice coil, the sound of which was then amplified by a flared horn.”

These inventions and an electrical component made it possible for people to address large numbers of other people by the early 1900s, and as a friend discovered, Churchill Downs had their first track announcer by 1940, Gene Schmidt, which means almost every Triple Crown winner has had the first step of that journey commemorated with a race call.

Before leaving the Museum, I took a little more time to see some parts of the exhibit about female jockeys I had missed last year. There were several interviews showing about aspects of their careers and two interesting points made I had never considered. One was when a jockey went to a trainer who was not giving her rides on his mounts, and she told him she would not have a strength disadvantage competing against male jockeys because she could eat substantial meals and still make weight, and not have to spend hours in the sweat box. Two others, including Rosie Napravnik, mentioned that when they had opportunities to step up and ride in more prestigious races or even just more renowned tracks that routinely had top jockeys ride there, it was a necessary step to advance their own skills by learning from the better jockeys and also learning in the moment how to become better. One of the jockeys mentioned that it was much more competitive than where she had been riding and the jockeys rode in tight quarters. That was something to mull over, and wonder if there were many more top female jockeys that may have been great at what they did but were not given enough opportunity to hone their craft to make the transition from good to great. Still, none of them complained about bias or missed opportunities. I gathered like any jockey of any gender they grabbed the chances they could to advance when they presented themselves and felt the track life was a calling and were glad to be part of it even on hard days.

Before leaving the Museum, I paused to see foal registrations for Black Toney and Regret, fascinating to one who loves pedigrees and the history of horses who left their marks on the annals of the Turf. That was where, after the breedings and successful foalings, what they may become all began. With the names they would turn out to have echo through the years.

• 

• 

Slight digression, so on to the races!

It was good to get back to the track. (This sentiment was echoed on the Churchill program for the spring meet, as the cover said, “The Track Is Back!”) I’ve been careful even after vaccination about resuming activities around large groups of people, and any of those I have been part of involved being at racing, so it still feels amazing to get to do this again. I never took it for granted before, but definitely time away from even a favorite activity can give it extra resonance when resumed.

Early on in the day, I saw Pat Day near the paddock, wearing a suit. The synchronicity of that struck me as just a short distance away was the statue of him and I had not seen him attending a race day there before.

I witnessed Gunite, the first starter for his sire Gun Runner, break his maiden in his third start. Gun Runner. Gun Runner’s progeny clearly impressed at the sales with an average sales price of $267,750, which made him the leading-first crop sire at two major sales, and have continued to live to up to that impression so far, as he is currently the leading freshman sire by earnings.

The stakes races began with the Fleur de Lis, with Letruska making a start three weeks after her Odgen Phipps victory at Belmont Park. On-site handicappers discussed her chances of continuing her winning ways in that quick turnaround, expressing doubt as she was conceding weight to each of her opponents in the Fleur de Lis, and wondering if it had been too soon since her last race, opining that the “Win and You’re In” status of the race was too compelling to her connections to pass up. My thought was she clearly had been the best on the day in the Odgen Phipps, and probably on a lot of other days. Not being that familiar with the mare or her connections, it was mere speculation on my part, but at the same time seeing that Letruska seems like a star ascending steadily in the distaff ranks, I’d have to surmise her connections were following a path the horse indicated she was able to take and wouldn’t run her back in three weeks if she wasn’t ready. At the wire, Letruska further burnished her status as she was 5 3/4 lengths ahead of the rest of the field. In the winners’ circle, trainer Fausto Guiterrez indicated she may at some point run against colts and thoughts of being in the running for Horse of the Year were not far behind.

A few races later, in the War Chant Stakes, the 3-year-old colt Next by Not This Time, gave me an impression of a little rocket as he surged to victory.

The race day for me concluded with the Stephen Foster, though there was one race to go on the card afterwards. Maxfield further proved his class as he won by 3 1/4 lengths. I had heard of him of course, but had not realized until this race what a near-perfect record he has, victorious in all but one start.

At some point during the race day, I heard a patron near me comment to the people he was attending with about which Kentucky track would race next and speculate that it would be Keeneland “in a week or so.” That stuck in my mind a bit as I know the sequence of Kentucky tracks and their race meets pretty well and it was not Keeneland’s turn, and a while after I wondered if he had been thinking of last year when they did have a July meet. Fortunately, so far the race calendar has been in its normal order and attendance possible too.

Speaking of Keeneland, this year’s October meet will mark the track’s 85th anniversary and they mentioned that soon they will announce protocols for spectators. With several tracks allowing attendance at full capacity, time will tell if they will follow suit. If not, I’ll certainly join the throngs trying to get tickets in advance as was required for the April meet. Looking forward to getting back there either way, likely to be the next time I get to the track.

Sources:

“A History of the PA System.” https://www.insure4music.co.uk/blog/2017/09/27/a-brief-history-of-the-pa-system/

“Three Chimneys Lowers Majority of Stud Fees for 2021.” http://www.truenicks.com/articles/244127/three-chimneys-lowers-majority-of-stud-fees-for-2021

Sire rankings: http://www.equineline.com/dotCommonTopFreshmanSiresDisplay.cfm