NEWS
Sea The Stars tackles older competitors in Eclipse
Posted: Wednesday, July 01, 2009 5:36 PM
by Mike Curry
Dual classic winner Sea The Stars will face older foes for the first time on Saturday in the Coral-Eclipse Stakes (Eng-G1) at Sandown Park.
After that race, trainer John Oxx is not ready to commit to any other possible destinations for the Cape Cross (Ire) colt.
Sea The Stars became the first horse to win the opening two legs of the English Triple Crown since Nashwan in 1989 with a clear triumph in the Investec Epsom Derby (Eng-G1) at Epsom Downs on June 6. The winner of the Stanjames.com Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) on May 2 is one win away from becoming only the 16th horse to sweep the English Triple Crown, with only the 1¾-mile Ladbrokes St. Leger (Eng-G1) on September 12 at Doncaster standing in his path.
Sea The Stars originally was slated to contest the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby (Ire-G1) on June 28, but Oxx pulled him from consideration for the Irish classic when rain softened the ground at the Curragh.
"We are not looking beyond the Eclipse just yet," Oxx told Racing Post. "We were going to review plans after the Irish Derby, but as he didn't run at the Curragh we will wait until after the weekend to look any further ahead."
Oxx, who trains Sea The Stars for owner Christopher Tsui, said Sea The Stars is entering the 1¼-mile Eclipse Stakes in good order.
“Everything is fine with the horse and he continues to be in good form. He did his normal bit of work on Tuesday and I'm happy with him,” Oxx told Racing Post. "They tell me there is a 40% chance of some rain in the Sandown area on Friday, but I gather it is unlikely to be any great threat to the ground conditions."
Bred in Ireland by Sunderland Holdings, Sea The Stars is a half brother to European champion and influential sire Galileo (Ire), winner of the 2001 Vodafone Epsom Derby and Budweiser Irish Derby. He is the fourth Group 1 or Grade 1 winner produced by his dam, 1993 CIGA Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Fr-G1) winner Urban Sea.
Among the possible contenders Sea The Stars could face in the Eclipse Stakes are Group 1 and Grade 1 winner Conduit (Ire), Italian classic winner Cima de Triomphe, Group 1 winner Archipenko, Group 2 winner Twice Over, and Group 3 winner and fellow three-year-old Rip Van Winkle. Conduit won the 2008 Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) and the Eclipse Award as champion turf male.
Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor
