 Galopin was a bay stallion standing 15.3 hands high, bred in Lincolnshire by William Taylor Sharpe.His sire, Vedette, was a successful racehorse, winning the Great Yorkshire Stakes, the Doncaster Cup (twice), and the 1857 2,000 Guineas Stakes.Vedette's value as a stallion had declined to such an extent that he was sold at auction for 42 guineas when he was seventeen.