by Myra Lewyn
Trainer John Oxx is hoping for improved ground conditions at Leopardstown so that dual English classic winner Sea The Stars, the top-rated horse in the most recent International Federation of Horse Racing Authority world rankings, can take his place in the field for the $1,385,100 Tattersalls Millions Irish Champion Stakes (Ire-G1) on Saturday.
The first horse in 20 years to capture the Stanjames.com Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1), Investec Epsom Derby (Eng-G1), and Coral Eclipse Stakes (Eng-G1) in the same season, Sea The Stars scored his fourth consecutive Group 1 victory on August 18 with a course-record setting performance over Mastercraftsman in the Juddmonte International Stakes (Eng-G1) at York, cementing his status as the leading contender for European Horse of the Year.
Christopher Tsui’s Sea The Stars was among nine horses declared for the 1¼-mile Irish Champion Stakes, but Oxx has warned that the Cape Cross (Ire) colt would not start if the course conditions were unsuitably soft. With heavy rain in the Dublin area on Wednesday, the going reports issued early Thursday morning described conditions as “yielding to soft” and “soft” in places, putting a start in jeopardy.
Oxx remained optimistic, however, that the turf would improve with the promising forecast for drying conditions. He said that a final decision on whether to start the colt would be made on Saturday.
The Irish Champion Stakes is billed as a showdown between Sea The Stars and Derrick Smith’s Irish classic winner Fame And Glory.
The pair has met only once previously—in the Epsom Derby on June 6, when Sea The Stars defeated him by 1¾ lengths while handing the Montjeu (Ire) colt his only defeat in six career starts.
Winner of the 2008 Criterium de Saint-Cloud (Fr-G1), Fame And Glory won the P. W. McGrath Ballysax Stakes (Ire-G3) in April and the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial (Ire-G2) in May, both at the Irish Champion distance at Leopardstown.
In his only start since the Epsom Derby, Fame And Glory captured the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby (Ire-G1) by five lengths on June 28 at the Curragh for trainer Aidan O’Brien. Sea The Stars was scratched from the race because of less than ideal course conditions.
Prior to the Juddmonte International, Mastercraftsman scored a rousing neck win over Delegator in the St. James’s Palace Stakes (Eng-G1) in June at Royal Ascot. The Danehill Dancer colt and Fame And Glory are among five horses O’Brien declared for the Irish Champion Stakes.
The Ballydoyle trainer also entered Group 3 winner Lord Ducal, Juddmonte International third-place finisher Set Sail, and two-time winner Rockhampton.
The field is rounded out by Tattersalls Gold Cup (Ire-G1) winner Casual Conquest, multiple group stakes winner Lord Admiral, and stakes-placed winner Loch Long.
The winner of the Irish Champion Stakes will earn a starting berth in the Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) on November 7 at Santa Anita Park via the Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" series.
Myra Lewyn is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor