Star Trio Take Up Residence at Coolmore Stud

The death of the mighty Galileo in 2021 left a chasm in the Coolmore Breeding operation. Some predicted the loss of the all-time great may see a downturn in fortunes for the enterprise behind the unprecedented Group 1 winning feats of Aidan O’Brien. However, early evidence suggests such predictions will prove wide of the mark.

Coolmore retains the services of a vast battalion of Galileo-sired mares and has tasted success when combining the lucrative bloodline with stars from the US Racing scene (Justify) and Japan (Deep Impact).

Each new year also sees a fresh squad of talent move on from their careers at the track to take up stallion duties at Coolmore. Given the talent to have passed through the Ballydoyle/Coolmore ranks over the years, there is never a poor crop of debut stallions. Nevertheless, 2025 boasts the potential to be a vintage year, with the following trio of stars moving into their second career.

City Of Troy

  • Sire – Justify
  • Dam – Together Forever (Galileo)
  • Group 1 Wins – Dewhurst Stakes (2023), Epsom Derby (2024), Coral-Eclipse (2024), Juddmonte International (2024)
  • Stud Fee – €75,000

Topping the pile, and likely the wish list of many prospective breeders, is the 2024 Cartier Horse of the Year. Sired by the sensational US Triple Crown winner Justify and out of the Group 1 winning mare, Together Forever, City Of Troy was always likely to be pretty good.

At the end of a brief but brilliant seven-race career, it’s fair to say that he delivered (almost) all that may have been hoped for. Unbeaten in three starts at two, culminating in a sensational Dewhurst Stakes success, he bounced back from 2,000 Guineas disappointment to deliver a scintillating summer hattrick of top-tier triumphs. A Breeders’ Cup Classic success would have been nice in his final outing, but by the time he trailed home in eighth at Del Mar, his legacy had long since been established.

Auguste Rodin

  • Sire – Deep Impact
  • Dam – Rhododendron (Galileo)
  • Group 1 Wins – Futurity Trophy Stakes (2022), Epsom Derby (2023), Irish Derby (2023), Irish Champion Stakes (2023), Breeders’ Cup Turf (2023), Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (2024)
  • Stud Fee – €30,000

Having tasted defeat only twice in 14 career outings and having picked up seven top-level victories, Japanese sensation Deep Impact was an obvious choice to pair with the Coolmore collection of Galileo mares. Thus far, that combination has given us talents such as Snowfall and Saxon Warrior, but the pick of the bunch is the enigmatic Auguste Rodin.

In common with City Of Troy, the lovable rogue also picked up a Group 1 win in his debut campaign when staying on determinedly in the Futurity Trophy. He then set a precedent for City Of Troy when bombing out completely in the 2023 2,000 Guineas. Inexplicably poor efforts would pepper his career, most notably in the 2023 King George and the 2023 Dubai Sheema Classic, but when he was good, he was sensational. At less than half the price of his much-vaunted stablemate, he seems sure to prove popular.

Henry Longfellow

  • Sire – Dubawi
  • Dam – Minding (Galileo)
  • Group 1 Wins – National Stakes (2023)
  • Stud Fee – €15,000

In his era of domination, the only stallion to come close to Galileo was the Godolphin flagbearer Dubawi. As such, any horse which combines those breeding lines inevitably catches the eye. That was particularly true of Henry Longfellow, whose dam Minding won no fewer than seven times at the highest level, including the 1,000 Guineas-Epsom Oaks double in 2016.

Immensely promising on paper, Henry Longfellow didn’t quite deliver on that potential. That said, the good-looking bay was electric during a perfect three-race juvenile campaign, which ended in a five-length romp in the National Stakes. Raced exclusively in Group 1 company as a three-year-old, the pick of his efforts saw him lose out by just a neck to Rosallion in the St James’s Palace Stakes.

Set to take up stallion duties in the coming months, the first offspring of the above trio will hit the track in 2028.