THERE are plenty of middle-distance sons of Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) around, but if you want one of his milers then you have a more select group of sires to choose from. The Gurkha is on that list.
A nine-length maiden winner a month before trouncing a dozen rivals in the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains-French 2000 Guineas, he chased home Galileo Gold in the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, was a half-length runner-up to Hawkbill in the Group 1 Coral-Eclipse Stakes on his sole attempt at 10 furlongs, and returned to the mile to take his revenge on Galileo Gold in the Group 1 Sussex Stakes.
He evidently had the speed of his Group 3 C L Weld Park Stakes-winning dam Chintz and her sire, Danehill Dancer (Danehill). His full-sister Queen Nefertiti finished third in the Group 3 Brownstown Stakes over seven furlongs. Their dam’s siblings include two notable broodmares.
Fleece (Daylami) is the dam of the 10-furlong Group 2 winner Needle And Thread (Makfi) and Group 1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas runner-up Savile Row (Makfi), whereas Artful (Green Desert) is responsible for the juvenile stakes-winning sprinter Duplicity (Cadeaux Genereux) and Buckhurst (Australia), a triple 10-furlong pattern winner for Joseph O’Brien.
The Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe heroine Solemia (Poliglote), her Group 1-placed middle-distance half-brothers Prospect Wells (Sadler’s Wells) and Prospect Park (Sadler’s Wells) plus the classic-placed dual Group 1-star Silasol (by Monsun) appear under the third generation of the pedigree.
The Gurkha, however, represents what is emerging as a speedier branch of the family. He had two six-figure breeze-up lots in 2020, his yearlings made up to 72,000gns, and his string of freshman winners featured Best Of Lips, a Group 3 winner and leading classic prospect in Germany. This is an eye-catching first season for a horse who did not race at two.
His 2020 foals included a relation to the classic stars Desert Prince (Green Desert) and Fairy Footsteps (Mill Reef), a son of Red Feather (Marju), who is the Group 3-winning dam of the six- and seven-furlong stakes winner Rose Bonheur (Danehill Dancer), a half-brother to the pattern-winning miler Party Goer (Intense Focus), and a daughter of Wild Storm (Dubawi), that mare being a three-parts sister to the mile Group 1 star and late Group 1 sire Poet’s Voice and already the dam of Addosh, a Hugo Palmer-trained daughter of The Gurkha who was runner-up at Newcastle and Yarmouth in the autumn. Best Of Lips won’t remain his only pattern winner for long.
THE GURKHA (IRE), Bay 2013. Jt Champion 3yr old miler in Europe in 2016. Won three races, £996,216, over 1 mile, at 3 years including, Poule d’Essai des Poulains, Deauville, Gr.1, Qatar Sussex Stakes, Goodwood, Gr.1, also placed second in Coral Eclipse Stakes, Sandown Park, Gr.1, St James’s Palace Stakes, Ascot, Gr.1.
Retired to Stud in 2017, and sire of the winners of 19 races, and £267,335, including BEST OF LIPS (IRE)
Stands at: Coolmore Stud, Fethard, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, E91 XK26, Ireland.
Contact: Christy Grassick, David O’Loughlin, Eddie Fitzpatrick, Maurice Moloney, Gerry Aherne, Jason Walsh, Tom Miller, Mark Byrne, Neil Magee, Kevin Buckley, or Hermine Bastide
Telephone: +353 (0)52 6131298
Email: sales@coolmore.ie
Web: www.coolmore.com
Fee: €5,000