Southern Hills First Stakes Winner for Gleneagles

The burgeoning stallion career of Gleneagles took a significant step forward June 19 during the second day of Royal Ascot, when his first-crop son Southern Hills surged up the stand-side rail to land the listed Windsor Castle Stakes by half a length.

Southern Hills becomes the first stakes scorer sired by Gleneagles, who stood at Coolmore in 2019 at a fee of €30,000 (US$33,619), and his fourth winner overall, having gone into the Royal Ascot contest as a maiden.

The Aidan O'Brien-trained colt is one of 109 foals from Gleneagles' debut crop, which was conceived in 2016 at a fee of €60,000 ($67,238). There should be plenty more to come from the son of Galileo's 2-year-olds, as his high-quality first book contained 70 stakes-performing mares (47%), of which 26 were group winners (17%).

While Gleneagles is best remembered for his exploits at 3 when he swept the Tattersalls Irish Two Thousand Guineas (G1) and the St. James's Palace Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot, he was also a group 1-winning juvenile, having landed the Goffs Vincent O'Brien National Stakes (G1).

He also finished first past the post in the Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere-Grand Criterium (G1), but was demoted to third after being deemed to have hampered eventual winner Full Mast in the run to the line.

Gleneagles' bright start at stud is entirely in keeping with his own pedigree as not only is he a son of Galileo, a rapidly growing force as a sire of sires, but he comes from a female line steeped in success at stud.

He is out of You'resothrilling and therefore a brother to group 1 winners Marvellous and Happily, as well as the group 3-winning Coolmore and group 2 scorer Taj Mahal. In turn, You'resothrilling is by Storm Cat out of the influential Mariah's Storm, making her a full sister to the mighty Giant's Causeway and leading New York stallion Freud .

Owned and bred by the Coolmore partners of John Magnier, Micheal Tabor, and Derrick Smith, Southern Hills is the second foal out of Remember You, a daughter of Invincible Spirit who joined the Coolmore fold when she was purchased as a yearling by Demi O'Byrne for US$504,788.

Remember You broke her maiden at 2 and went on to finish runner-up to Great White Eagle in the Go & Go Round Tower Stakes (G3), before being retired after a truncated 3-year-old campaign. Her first foal, the Australia filly I Remember You, is also a winner, and she has a yearling colt by Galileo in the pipeline.

The Windsor Castle Stakes result means that Galileo has now appeared in the immediate generations of four winners at this year's Royal Ascot meeting. His sired the St. James's Palace Stakes winner Circus Maximus, while he is also the grandsire of The Grand Visir, by Frankel, and Dashing Willoughby, a son of Nathaniel.

Gleneagles has two chances to bag a second Royal Ascot winner, with Precious Moments, the most expensive progeny of her sire having cost 500,000gns ($687,383), declared in the June 21 Albany Stakes (G3), while Highland Chief is due to contest the June 22 Chesham Stakes. 

Gleneagles becomes the fifth freshman sire to supply a stakes winner in Europe this season, following on from Brazen Beau (Avengers Queen, listed Premio Mario E Vittorio Crespi), Due Diligence (Good Vibes, listed Marygate Fillies' Stakes), Outstrip (Flippa The Strippa, listed National Stakes), and Sidestep (Real Appeal, listed Prix la Fleche).