THERE are three new stallions on the roster at Coolmore this year, City Of Troy, Auguste Rodin and Henry Longfellow, and one of the things they have in common is that they are all out of daughters of the great Galileo (Sadler’s Wells).

The list of Group or Grade 1-winning sons and daughters out of Galileo mares is vast, as you might imagine, and three of them carry the JPN suffix, having been foaled in Japan. Each of the three is very familiar to us as they all were victorious outside their country of birth, the trio consisting of Saxon Warrior, Snowfall and Continuous. The first two were sired by Deep Impact (Sunday Silence), while the St Leger winner Continuous is a son of Heart’s Cry (Sunday Silence).

Last weekend, two daughters of Galileo were responsible for a pair of Group 3 winners in Japan, and both were Irish-bred mares whose families will be very familiar with readers of this column.

The stakes winner and Group 1-placed Delphinia was responsible for Lila Emblem (Kizuna), while the twice-raced Enticed bred the Group 3 Fairy Stakes winner, Erike Express (Epiphaneia). The pattern winners are both the second produce of their dams, and each of those producers was foaled in 2016.

When it comes to their race records, there could not be a wider disparity between Delphinia and Enticed. Let’s start with the former, Delphinia, bred by Orpendale and Chelston and raced by the Coolmore trio of Magnier, Tabor and Smith. She grew in stature during her two seasons racing, but for a time it looked as though she would not actually land a blacktype race, being too often the bridesmaid.

Having won a Galway maiden at two, Delphinia was a length off Tarnawa at Naas at three, fifth in the Oaks at Epsom, was beaten a short head in the Group 2 Park Hill Stakes, runner-up in France in the Group 1 Prix de Royallieu, and was edged out by a short head in the Group 1 British Champions Fillies and Mares Stakes at Ascot. On the very last of her 11 starts, eight of them at three, she won a listed race at Lingfield Park.

Exported

Delphinia’s first covering at stud was by No Nay Never (Scat Daddy), after which she was exported to Japan, ending in the ownership of Northern Fram. The resulting produce was a filly, Best Me Ever, and she raced just five times to date. Placed on both her starts at two, she won at three and placed on her remaining outings, running third in a listed stakes at Tokyo.

Next up was Lila Emblem, the now three-year-old son of Kizuna (Deep Impact). Sold as a foal for the equivalent of about €500,000, Lila Emblem won his only start at two, and, second time out last weekend, he progressed to landing the Group 3 Nikkan Sports Sho Shinzan Kinen at Chukyo. The race is well regarded in Japan as a springboard for future stars, and Lila Emblem could be another.

Winning Suguru Hamanaka was full of praise for his mount, saying: “Simply put, he was powerful. I think he can handle various distances, and with his limited experience, there’s still much room for growth. His turn-of-foot in the stretch is remarkable, and he’s shown exceptional speed in trackwork, even before his debut. Coupled with his strong mentality, I’m very excited about what lies ahead for him.”

A tilt at the classics is a possibility, and success at that level would come as no surprise given his breeding, while there is plenty of speed on the dam’s side too. Lila Emblem’s grandam, Again (Danehill Dancer), won the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes before adding the Group 1 Irish 1000 Guineas, and her stakes-placed sibling, Aria (Danroad), bred the Group 1 Prix de la Foret winner Aclaim (Acclamation).

Floripedes

That mix of speed and stamina is also evident under Lila Emblem’s third dam, Floripedes (Top Ville). A Group 3 winner who was runner-up in the Group 1 Prix Royal Oak, she bred the champion Montjeu (Sadler’s Wells), later to become an influential sire.

Also to be found under Floripedes are the dual Group 1-winning sprinter Goldream (Oasis Dream), and the dual Group 1-winning miler, Galileo Gold (Paco Boy).

The champion Kizuna will cover this year for €125,000 at Shadai Stallion Station. Last year his son Justin Milano won the Group 1 Japanese 2000 Guineas and was runner-up in the Group 1 Derby there, and these came from just four starts.

There is a very similar career trajectory for the three-year-old Epiphaneia (Symboli Kris S) filly Erika Express to that of Lila Emblem. Though he is the sire of seven Group 1 winners to Kizuna’s three, having had a season more at stud, Epiphaneia will stand this year at Shadai Stallion Station for €75,000. His first stakes winner of 2025 is Erika Express. In a field featuring two dual winners and 14 single-race winners, she claimed the Group 3 Fairy Stakes, starting as second favourite, and her winning time broke the race record set in 2011.

Bred by Mishima Bokujo, Erika Express, like Lila Emblem, won a newcomers race last October, and on just her second outing has progressed to become a pattern winner. Her year-old half-brother Danon K Two (Justify) won one of his three outings last year. They are the first two foals from Enticed, an 800,000gns yearling purchase from her breeders, Paul Shanahan and Timmy Hyde. She ran twice at two from Ballydoyle with no success.

Strong pedigree

What Enticed had in abundance, if not racing ability, was a strong pedigree. She is a full-sister to four flat stakes winners, including a dual classic hero, and one of her full-sisters is the dam of a champion two-year-old. Commissioning (Kingman) was unbeaten at two, with success in the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile the highlight, and she is a daughter of Enticed’s winning own-sister Sovereign Parade (Galileo).

Sovereign Parade is among the seven winners out of Dialafara (Anabaa), a winning Aga Khan-bred filly who was sold at Arqana as a three-year-old for €175,000 to Mags O’Toole.

All of Dialafara’s winners are by Galileo, and they are headed by the former Coolmore National Hunt sire Capri, winner of the Group 1 Irish Derby and the Group 1 St Leger at Doncaster. His first crop are four-year-olds, and he is about to embark on his second year at stud in England.

Other winners out of Dialafara include Group 3 winner and Group 1 Irish Oaks-placed Passion, Group 3 winner Cypress Creek, the Grade 3 Cheltenham Festival winning hurdler, Brazil, and Tower Of London, a Group 2 winner in Ireland and Dubai, and successful in a Group 3 in Saudi Arabia. Dialafara is a daughter of Diamilna (Linamix), runner-up in the Group 1 Prix Vermeille and a Group 2 winner. That mare’s half-brother, Diamond Green (Green Desert), was a Group 3 winner, but he was second on no fewer that three occasions in Group 1 contests in France.