Remarkable clash awaits between three brothers including Derby hero Serpentine

On Saturday at Flemington three Irish-bred full-brothers are set to compete against each other in the sixth race, the Sally Chirnside over an extended mile and a half

So far so interesting, and it's certainly unusual enough to make it remarkable to have that number of full-siblings in one race, and a long way from the land of their births.

What makes these brothers worthy of writing about is their identity because they are no ordinary geldings. In fact the news that one of them, the middle brother, had been sold to Australia and gelded created a social media storm and had racing historians trawling through the archives trying to pinpoint the last time such a transgression occurred. I refer of course to the removal of some vital equipment, and not his export to Australia.

The horse in question is the shock 2020 Derby winner Serpentine and he is joined in the 16-runner field by his full-brothers Team Captain (formerly known as Yulong Captain) and King Of The Castle.

It marks the second start of his Australian adventure for the son of Galileo who was purchased by Lloyd Williams, the most successful owner in the history of the Melbourne Cup, from Serpentine's owner-breeders Coolmore.

While plenty thought that Serpentine's Epsom triumph had a lot of flukey characteristics, especially in the strange twilight zone that was 2020, he did go on to finish fourth in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris and the Champion Stakes on his only runs subsequent to his Derby win at three.

His disappointing four-year-old season added credence to the negative view of his Classic success and, with Group 1-winning sons of Galileo vying for berths at stud all around Europe, it was unsurprising that a different route was found for Serpentine, even with his excellent pedigree.

What was shocking was the decision to geld him. Speaking to the Australian media earlier this year, Williams' son Nick said that it was not taken lightly and was made on veterinary advice for the benefit of the horse.

Despite the gallop away from breeding middle-distance horses in Ireland and Britain that has seen so many recent European Derby winners become National Hunt stallions, and since Serpentine's debut in Australia, two more of his predecessors in the Epsom winner’s enclosure - Golden Horn and Harzand - have been acquired as National Hunt stallions, there was outrage over the move.

Not something we are going to rehash here but what is fascinating is the fate of the males in Serpentine's family, which is extremely deep and replete with bold black type.

Lloyd Williams also bought Serpentine's year-younger brother King Of The Castle from the same source and both geldings are trained by Robert Hickmott.

King Of The Castle: one of Serpentine's four full-brothersCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

On Irish Champions Weekend last year King Of The Castle contested the Irish St Leger, in which he finished a respectable fourth, five lengths behind Sonnyboyliston, and a year on from that, his most recent run, he makes his Australian debut in a race that also features the 2019 Melbourne Cup hero Vow And Declare.

Team Captain is the eldest of the three, having been foaled in 2016 and he began his career in Australia at the age of three for Yulong Investments. He moved to Matt Cumani's stable a year ago and has won two of his four starts and been third in the Listed Pakenham Cup for current owners Vic Husslers.

Serpentine has four full-brothers including the aforementioned duo he races against tomorrow. Downing Street, the youngest of them at three, has the least distinguished career with no wins or places in three starts for Ballydoyle and Coolmore, while the eldest, Beacon Rock, was a classy performer, winning the Group 3 Gallinule Stakes and finishing second in the King Edward VII Stakes.

Their full-sisters have enjoyed a better time of it, with two of them earning seven-figure sums as broodmares, following their successful track careers.

Wedding Vow, the first foal of Remember When who was second to Snow Fairy in the Oaks, won the Group 2 Kilboy Estate Stakes and was second to Legatissimo in the Nassau Stakes. She was retained to join her mother in the Coolmore broodmare band but has yet to produce a black-type performer from three foals by War Front and two by Quality Road. She foaled a colt by Quality Road this year and visited Wootton Bassett.

Wedding Vow, the Group 2-winning full-sisterCredit: Caroline Norris

Bound won the Listed Trigo Stakes and was sold in foal to Dark Angel for 2,200,000gns at the 2018 Tattersalls December Mare Sale by John Troy to the Kern/Lillingston Association and One Agency. She joined the Lordship Stud broodmare band and has a three-year-old Dark Angel daughter named Bouquet, who won a maiden for Lordship Stud and the Gosdens at Ascot last season. Her two-year-old Dubawi colt is hamed Hidden Story and he has a yearling full-brother. She foaled a Kingman colt this spring and joined her sister in visiting Wootton Bassett.

The youngest of Wedding Vow's daughters is the Group 3 Blue Wind Stakes winner Bye Bye Baby, who was third to stablemate Together Forever in the Oaks. She brought $3.1 million from Narvick International at Fasig-Tipton last November when offered in foal to Tapit by Denali Stud on behalf of the estate of the late Michael Baum. Her previous offspring are a filly from the first crop of Justify and a yearling colt by War Front.

Looking at their pedigree, it's clear why these mares have commanded such a premium at auction, and maybe another reason why Serpentine never had the chance to be a stallion.

Their dam Remember When is a Danehill Dancer three-parts sister to Arc winner and European champion Dylan Thomas, the first horse to win back-to-back Irish Champion Stakes. She is also closely related to Homecoming Queen, by Holy Roman Emperor, who won the 1,000 Guineas, and in an echo of Serpentine's career so far, subsequently failed to add another victory to her two wins. However, she is the dam of the 2020 Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes winner Shale, by Galileo.

Remember When is also a half-sister to Queen's Logic, the 2001 European champion two-year-old filly through victories in the Cheveley Park Stakes, Lowther Stakes and Queen Mary Stakes for Mick Channon and Jaber Abdullah. Queen's Logic produced Lady Of The Desert, who emulated her dam in the Lowther, and was second in both the Prix de l'Abbaye and Sprint Cup. Lady Of The Desert also foaled a Lowther winner in Queen Kindly, from the first crop of Frankel, and her Dubawi daughter Queen Me narrowly failed to add to the remarkable sequence in the Lowther last month when a neck second to Swingalong.

The females of the family have certainly more than done their bit to enhance their pedigree, but Dylan Thomas, now in South America after unsuccessful stints as a Flat stallion and then as a National Hunt one at Coolmore in Ireland, may have cursed his male relations' stallion careers with his own failures at stud.

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