New sires for 2007 | New sires for 2008 | Fee tables - all sires

Teofilo (IRE)

Galileo - Speirbhean, by Danehill
Bay, foaled 2004.
Breeder: JS Bolger.
Other sons of Galileo at stud: Heliostatic

Champion two-year-old never had the opportunity to race at three

We shall never know to what extent the connections of Cockney Rebel, Authorized and Lucarno should be counting their blessings – Jim Bolger hailed his unbeaten homebred champion two-year-old Teofilo as the best horse he had ever trained, and had talked of the Triple Crown as a realistic aim for his son of Galileo.

That was never to be, as an injury picked up at home kept him out of the Guineas and he was retired mid-season, having never raced at three. His great rival as a two-year-old, Holy Roman Emperor, was also denied a racecourse appearance at three as he was packed off to replace the infertile George Washington at stud.

As a juvenile Teofilo raced only over seven furlongs, but his pedigree and his build suggest that longer distances would have suited him, with the Guineas trip potentially his most vulnerable. His sire Galileo raced from 10 to 12 furlongs at three and has proved an influence for stamina at stud, famously siring the first three home in the 2006 St Leger.

His dam Speirbhean won only once – in a Listed contest – and that was over a mile. An injury picked up in the Irish 1000 Guineas saw her retired to the paddocks, but the way she raced suggested longer trips would have suited her, and her pedigree, out of a family that won over trips in excess of 12f, indicates likewise.

On the track, Teofilo pioneered a route since followed by Bolger’s New Approach – who is also due to retire to Darley – with victory at the Curragh followed by a Listed Leopardstown win.

For his Group race debut, in the Futurity, Teofilo idled close home beating Eagle Mountain – later five lengths second to Auhorized in the Derby - by only a head. In the National Stakes, Teofilo showed his real class for the first time, sprinting clear of a Group One winner in Holy Roman Emperor to win in style.

His status as Champion juvenile was sealed with another win over that rival in the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket. The bare result was a head, and some observers thought Holy Roman Emperor’s troubled passage in the race could see a different result were the two to meet again; others felt Teofilo was pulling out more and won with something in hand. Sadly, those questions were never to be settled.

Race record

At 2
1st Dewhurst Stakes, G1, 7f, Newmarket
1st National Stakes, G1, 7f, Curragh
1st Futurity Stakes, G2, 7f, Curragh
1st Tyros Stakes, L, 7f, Leopardstown

Pedigree of TEOFILO (IRE), 2004

Stud details

Stands: Darley, Kildangan Stud.

Fee: €40,000.

Amadeus Wolf | Arcadio | Authorized | Baltic King | Cockney Rebel | Common World | Dark Angel | Dutch Art | Dylan Thomas | Echo Of Light | Excellent Art | Heliostatic | Jeremy | Lawman | Manduro | Milk It Mick | Misu Bond | Moss Vale | Notnowcato | Orientor | Primary | Rail Link | Red Clubs | Scorpion | Sir Percy | Strategic Prince | Teofilo | Three Valleys | Vital Equine | Windsor Knot |