Galileo's Pedigree Analysis

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The big question surrounding the Breeders' Cup Classic will be: is Galileo as brilliant and classy on the dirt as he is on grass? If the answer is yes, then the son of Sadler's Wells has a good chance to establish himself as the Horse of the World, something that barely eluded his stablemate, Giant's Causeway, last year.

But he will have to overcome a pedigree that is inundated with turf breeding. Sadler's Wells, the most dominant European stallion of his time, has made no impact at all on the dirt, but that's not to say he couldn't if given the chance. Sadler's Wells' broodmare sire, Bold Reason, was one of the top 3-year-olds of 1971, winning the Travers and Hollywood Derby (then a prestigious 1 1/4-mile dirt race), and his third generation contains names such as Native Dancer and Hail to Reason.

Galileo's female line is predominantly all European grass. His dam Urban Sea won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, and her female family is strictly European. But Urban Sea's sire Miswaki did get Horse of the Year and Breeders' Cup Classic winner Black Tie Affair, as well as several other stakes winners on the dirt, such as Diligence, Gervazy, Mistaurian, and Now Listen. Miswaki is a son of Mr. Prospector and his broodmare sire is Buckpasser, so there are enough dirt influences in his pedigree to give his followers hope.

Galileo has a dosage profile of 9-1-22-8-0, which leans heavily toward the classic distances and beyond, but there is enough speed to allow him to be placed anywhere and still have a strong closing punch. His extremely low dosage index of 1.11 shows a horse who can run all day.

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