G2 glory for Galileo colt Soldier Of Fortune

9th April 2007

He carried all before him last year and Galileo has made a flying start to 2007 with Soldier Of Fortune (3c Galileo - Affianced by Erins Isle) running out an impressive length and a half winner of the G2 Prix Noailles at Longchamp under Christophe Soumillon.

Bred by Jim Bolger and trained by Aidan O’Brien, the three-year-old could return to Paris for the G2 Prix Greffulhe at Saint-Cloud on May 14.

Soumillon felt there could be better to come from his mount. "He took a little time to find his rhythm in the straight and then he accelerated well. He can only improve," said the jockey.

Meanwhile the David Wachman-trained Chariots Of Fire (3c Galileo - Tadkiyra by Darshaan) was another impressive maiden winner for Galileo at Cork on the same afternoon.

Wayne Lordan’s mount, bred by Epona Bloodstock and Patsy Byrne, battled on well to beat Sorolla by a short-head, the pair of them five lengths clear of their rivals.

"I think he’s a nice horse," admitted Wachman. "He was very raw there and Wayne wasn’t hard on him but he travelled and quickened up well. Where we go now I don’t know but he’s in everything."