 As a foal, Galopin and his mother were sold for a combined price of 100 guineas by a representative of the Middle Park stud.A year later, the yearling was offered for sale again, and was bought for 520 guineas by the Hungarian aristocrat Gustavus Batthyany, acting on the advice of his private trainer John Dawson.Galopin was trained by Dawson at Batthyany's Warren House stable at Newmarket, Suffolk.