Serpentine, a shock 25-1 winner at Epsom in 2020, is believed to be the first Derby winner since at least 1900 to be gelded.
Australia: Bloodstock history has been graced by a plethora of Derby winners who have stamped their lasting mark on the breed – as might be expected, according to the legendary owner-breeder Federico Tesio’s celebrated dictum, that “the Thoroughbred exists because its selection has depended … on a piece of wood: the winning post of the Epsom Derby”.
Indeed, such is the race's importance to the breeding world that geldings aren't even allowed to run, as is often the case in major European G1 events.
However, it appears shock 2020 Derby winner Serpentine won’t be joining the ranks of Epsom heroes to spread their exalted genes down through the equine ages. The son of bloodstock legend Galileo – the first of Aidan O’Brien’s eight Derby winners in 2001 – has been gelded after being shipped to Australia to continue his racing career.
The five-year-old is listed as a gelding on the websites of both Racing Australia and new trainer Robert Hickmott. Leading Derby historian Michael Church confirmed the signficance of the operation, saying: "As far as known, no Epsom Derby winner from 1900 has been gelded."
Serpentine was last year bought by seven-time Melbourne Cup-winner Lloyd Williams and transferred from Aidan O’Brien’s Ballydoyle stable to his son Joseph. Now he has joined Hickmott.
Serpentine pulled off a huge shock when he made virtually all to land the Derby by 5½ lengths after slipping the field under Emmet McNamara at a starting price of 25-1.
Victory in the senior Classic is usually the gateway to a career as a stallion, even in the National Hunt sphere, as has been the case with another surprise winner, Wings Of Eagles, who scored in 2017.
What is more, Serpentine is bred in the purple. As well as being a son of Galileo, whose success as a stallion has underpinned much of Coolmore’s success over recent decades, he is out of the 2010 Oaks runner-up Remember When, herself closely related to Arc and Irish Derby winner Dylan Thomas. Five of his full siblings have won, including at Group level.
Serpentine has yet to add to his Derby score. In his next two starts he finished fourth in the Grand Prix de Paris and filled the same position in the Qipco Champion Stakes. He did not finish in the money in 2021, producing his best run on his last start when seventh in the Goodwood Cup.
Williams is one of Australia’s most successful owners, winning the Melbourne Cup a record seven times. He gained his most recent success in 2020 with Joseph O’Brien-trained Twilight Payment.
Nick Williams, the owner's son and racing manager, explained later that Serpentine had been gelded "on veterinary advice". Speaking to racing.com, he explained: "A Derby winner, your first preference would be to leave him a colt, but it will certainly improve him as a racehorse, being a gelding, so we did that."
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