Galileo Chrome (foaled 28 April 2017) is an Irish

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

racehorse. He finished unplaced on his only start as a juvenile in 2019 but made rapid improvement in the following year, winning his first four races including the Yeats Stakes and the

St Leger Stakes The St Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a ...

Background

Galileo Chrome is a bay horse with no white markings bred in Ireland by his owner Mohamed Ali Meddeb. As a yearling he was put up for auction at the Goffs Orby sale but failed to reach his

reserve price In economics, a reservation (or reserve) price is a limit on the price of a good or a service. On the demand side, it is the highest price that a buyer is willing to pay; on the supply side, it is the lowest price a seller is willing to accept ...

. He was sent into training with

Joseph Patrick O'Brien Joseph Patrick O'Brien (born 23 May 1993) is an Irish horse racing trainer and former flat racing jockey. He is the son of trainer Aidan O'Brien. In 2012 he rode Camelot to win the 2,000 Guineas, the 2012 Epsom Derby and the Iri ...

at Owning Hill, County Kilkenny. He was from the second crop of foals sired by Australia who won the Epsom Derby,

Irish Derby The Irish Derby ( Irish: Dearbaí na hÉireann) is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance ...

and

International Stakes The International Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at York over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 56 yards (2, ...

in 2014. Galileo Chrome's dam Curious Mind showed little ability on the track, winning on her debut but finishing last in her only other start. She was a great-granddaughter of the Irish broodmare Alruccaba whose other descendants have included Yesterday, Quarter Moon, Alborada, Allegretto (

Prix Royal Oak The Prix Royal-Oak is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 3,100 metres (about 1 mile and 7½ furlongs), an ...

), Aussie Rules (

Poule d'Essai des Poulains Molof (Ampas, Poule, Powle-Ma) is a poorly documented Papuan language spoken by about 200 people in Molof village, Senggi District, Keerom Regency. Classification Wurm (1975) placed it as an independent branch of Trans–New Guinea, but Ros ...

) and Albanova (

Preis von Europa The Preis von Europa is a Group 1 flat horse race in Germany open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Cologne over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and it is scheduled to take place ea ...

Racing career

2019: two-year-old season

Galileo Chrome began his racing career in a maiden race over one mile at Leopardstown Racecourse on 19 October. Ridden by the apprentice jockey

Shane Crosse Shane Crosse (born 21 September 2001) is an Irish jockey who competes in flat racing. Background Crosse comes from Cahir in County Tipperary in Ireland. His father Matt Crosse is a former jump jockey and brother Nathan Crosse is a flat-ra ...

he started at odds of 33/1 and finished fifth of the thirteen runners, eight and a half

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behind the winner Celtic High King.

2020: three-year-old season

The 2020 flat racing season in Great Britain and Ireland was disrupted by the

COVID-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

and Galileo Chrome did not reappear until 12 June when he started the 4/1 second favourite behind Serpentine for a ten furlong maiden at the

Curragh The Curragh ( ; ga, An Currach ) is a flat open plain of almost of common land in County Kildare. This area is well known for Irish horse breeding and training. The Irish National Stud is located on the edge of Kildare town, beside the ...

. Ridden by Shane Crosse he raced just behind the leaders before finishing strongly and gaining the advantage in the final strides to win by a head from King of the Throne. Crosse was again in the saddle when the colt started odds-on favourite for a minor race over the same distance at Leopardstown on 31 July and won "easily" by six lengths from five opponents. Galileo Chrome was then stepped up in class and distance for the

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Yeats Stakes over thirteen furlongs at

Naas Racecourse Naas Racecourse is a horse racing venue in Naas, County Kildare, Ireland, approximately 18 miles from Dublin. The course stages both Flat racing and National Hunt racing and in 2010 fifteen race meetings were held there. The Naas Races Company ...

on 29 August and started the 2/1 favourite in a seven-runner field. Ridden by Crosse (who was no longer an apprentice), he went to the front inside the last quarter mile and recorded another easy win, coming hime five lengths clear of Emperor of the Sun. The 244th running of the St Leger took place behind closed doors over fourteen and a half furlongs at Doncaster Racecourse on 12 September and Galileo Chrome, ridden by Tom Marquand, started the 4/1 third favourite behind the

Irish Derby The Irish Derby ( Irish: Dearbaí na hÉireann) is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance ...

winner

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

and Hukum (

Geoffrey Freer Stakes The Geoffrey Freer Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Newbury over a distance of 1 mile, 5 furlongs and 61 yards (2,671 me ...

) while the best fancied of the other eight contenders were Pyledriver (

Great Voltigeur Stakes The Great Voltigeur Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old colts and geldings. It is run at York over a distance of 1 mile 3 furlongs and 1 ...

) and Subjectivist (

March Stakes The March Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 1 mile and 6 furlongs (2,816 metres), and it is scheduled ...

). Marquand had been scheduled to ride English King until that colt was redirected to contest the

Grand Prix de Paris The Grand Prix de Paris is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and i ...

on the following day, but when Crosse was forced to self-isolate after a positive COVID test he stepped in to take the ride. After racing in mid-division, Galileo Chrome gained the advantage approaching the final furlong and held off a sustained challenge from Berkshire Rocco to win by a neck.

Pedigree

References

{{St Leger Winners

External links

Career 1-2-3 Colour Chart
– ''Galileo Chrome'' Thoroughbred family 9-c 2017 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Ireland Racehorses trained in Ireland St Leger winners