Galileo continued his ground-breaking year with a Group 1 double at Arlington on Saturday.
The Coolmore champion sired Treasure Beach to win the G1 Secretariat Stakes and followed up with stablemate Cape Blanco in the G1 Arlington Millions.
Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) has sired 8 individual G1 winners of 16 G1 events so far this year.
Treasure Beach (3c Galileo – Honorine by Mark Of Esteem) tracked fellow European raider Ziyarid (Desert Style) and then took command after Colm O’Donoghue took a rails run at the of the straight.
The Aidan O’Brien trained colt edged out a brave bid by Ziyarid to score by a neck. “He was finding it quite easy in the home stretch,” O’Donoghue said. “He’s very adaptable and just kept plugging on for me.”
Treasure Beach beat all bar Pour Moi in the G1 English Derby and then led home a Galileo quinella from Seville in the G1 Irish Derby.
Coolmore bought him as a foal for 180,000gns at Tattersalls in November 2008. His dam Honorine won three races up to 2000m in England and she is a half-sister to Indian Creek (Indian Ridge) who was a Group winner at Royal Ascot, Sandown and Newmarket.
Cape Blanco took the lead above North America’s turf division when he rolled to an emphatic victory in Arlington Million.
The Irish invader was making his second start across the Atlantic after defeating Gio Ponti by two lengths in the G1 Man o’ War Stakes in New York on July 9.
In a definitive changing of the guard, he defeated Gio Ponti (Tale of the Cat) by the same margin again in Chicago on Saturday.
Cape Blanco (4c Galileo – Laurel Delight by Presidium) shadowed front-runner Mission Approved (With Approval) and then forged clear under a confident Jamie Spencer ride. “He’s a good, tough horse and all I did was steer,” Spencer said. “There are very few horses that have his will to win. The more you ask, the more you get and he had loads left.”
Cape Blanco was unbeaten as a juvenile and continued his winning streak at three in last year’s G2 Dante Stakes when he defeated eventual English Derby and Arc de Triomphe winner Workforce.
He was beaten in the French Derby but rebounded to win the Irish Derby and then added the Irish Champion by five lengths.
Cape Blanco was sold for 330,000 euros as a yearling at the Goffs Orby Sale. Coolmore sold a share in him to Dubai based businessman Jim Hay earlier this year.
French bred mare Stacelita completed a rout for the home defence in Chicago. She won the G1 Beverley D. Stakes from British bred Dubawi Heights (Dubawi) and South African import River Jetez (Jet Master).
2011 Galileo Group 1 honour roll
CAPE BLANCO (Man o’War Stakes & Arlington Millions)
FRANKEL (English 2000 Guineas, St James Palace Stakes, Sussex Stakes)
GOLDEN LILAC (French 2000 Guineas & French Oaks)
IGUGU (SAf Fillies Classic, Woolavington 2000 & Durban July Hcp)
MISTY FOR ME (Irish 1000 Guineas & Pretty Polly Stakes)
NATHANIEL (King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes)
RODERIC O’CONNOR (Irish 2000 Guineas)
TREASURE BEACH (Irish Derby & Secretariat Stakes)