With a quarter-mile remaining in Saturday’s €1
million Irish Champion S. (Ire-G1) at Leopardstown, it wasn’t a question of whether SEA
THE STARS (Cape Cross [Ire]) would win, but by how much. What was expected to be
his sternest test of the year on ground softer than ideal, Christopher Tsui’s
homebred instead hung up his most convincing performance in an already
impeccable and historic sophomore campaign. The 4-6 favorite in a field of nine,
Sea the Stars easily inhaled his most serious challenger, Irish Derby (Ire-G1)
winner Fame and Glory (Montjeu [Ire]), with more than a furlong remaining and
drove clear to reach the wire 2 1/2 lengths in front, his largest margin of
victory in five starts this year.
“He actually won by more than a length for a change!,” trainer John Oxx mused
to PA Sport. “(Jockey) Mick (Kinane) even pushed him out a bit and won a bit
further, which he usually doesn’t do.”
Sea the Stars completed 1 1/4 miles on the good-to-yielding ground in 2:03
4/5, more than three seconds faster than the winning time of the Kilternan S.
(Ire-G3) earlier in the program.
As expected, the Aidan O’Brien-trained pacesetters Set Sail (Danehill Dancer)
and Rockhampton (Galileo [Ire]) did their part to provide an adequate set-up for
their more illustrious stablemates Fame and Glory and Mastercraftsman (Danehill
Dancer), the multiple Group 1 winner who finished second to Sea the Stars in the
Juddmonte International S. (Eng-G1) last month. Mastercraftsman tracked the two
leaders in third in the early stages, while Sea the Stars moved comfortably in
fifth with Fame and Glory in seventh.
Approaching the homestretch, Johnny Murtagh pressed the gas on Fame and
Glory, who swiftly moved to the outside of Sea the Stars and passed the favorite
while on his way to reach equal terms with Mastercraftsman, who was about to
inherit the lead from the tiring rabbits. The latter seized command only briefly
as Fame and Glory was in full flight and quickly opened up a length on his
stablemate. Meanwhile, Sea the Stars had immediately followed Fame and Glory on
his way toward the front, and those three quickly opened up on the rest of the
pack.
With just over 1 1/2 furlongs remaining, it was clear 6-1 third choice Mastercraftsman was not going to keep with the two favorites. But no sooner had
Fame and Glory built up his own lead than Sea the Stars dashed to the fore and
opened up while under more modest urging by Kinane. Fame and Glory, at 9-4,
simply had no answer and was content to settle for second, 2 1/2 lengths clear
of Mastercraftsman. The only other performer at less than triple-digit odds,
Tattersalls Gold Cup (Ire-G1) winner Casual Conquest (Hernando [Fr]), was never
a factor in finishing seventh at 16-1.
“He’s heavier now than at any stage of his career and really thriving,” Oxx
said.
Sea the Stars’ participation in the Irish Champion was not set in stone until
after Oxx walked the course Friday evening, content that the turf, which had
absorbed a lot of water from early-week rains, had dried out sufficiently.
“We’d have been disappointed to miss the race but at the end of the day, it
was an easy decision to run as I was pleasantly surprised with the way the
course had dried out when I visited last night. He was just in great form and
has a constitution like no other.”
O’Brien offered no excuses for his runner-up and third-place finisher.
“It was a properly, strongly run race,” O’Brien said. “You’re always hopeful,
but the second horse ran his best coming back off a break and we are looking
forward to his next run. He will go up to a mile and a half for the (Prix de
l’Arc de Triomphe [Fr-G1] on October 4). The third horse (Mastercraftsman) just
didn’t get the last part of the race, as we feared, and will go back to a mile.”
The Arc is also agenda for Sea the Stars, provided the ground is suitable.
“We’d have to look at the Arc first and if he didn’t run in that, he’d finish
up in either the Champion S. (Eng-G1) at Newmarket (on October 17) or Santa
Anita (for the November 7 Breeders’ Cup Classic [G1]), but that’s a long way
away and could be a bridge too far.
“He’s one of the these landmark horses that come along every 25-30 years and
people will always remember him.”
Remembering a horse like Sea the Stars will not be difficult at all, being
one of the very best in recent European history. The Irish-bred has now won
seven straight since finishing fourth in his debut at the Curragh last July. A
handy victor at Leopardstown in his second start, he concluded his juvenile
campaign with a score in the Beresford S. (Ire-G2). Sea the Stars reappeared in
the Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) at Newmarket, where he tracked the pace and
powered up the hill to win impressively. In the Epsom Derby (Eng-G1), Sea the
Stars got first run over a plethora of Ballydoyle entrants and held on for the 1
3/4-length victory over Fame and Glory. Two starts ago, Sea the Stars prevailed
over subsequent Sussex S. (Eng-G1) winner Rip van Winkle (Galileo [Ire]) and
eventual King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. (Eng-G1) hero Conduit (Ire) (Dalakhani)
in the Eclipse S. (Eng-G1) at Sandown, and last time he won the Juddmonte
International by a length when seemingly below par. His bankroll now stands at
£2,198,529.
Sea the Stars’ dam, French highweight Urban Sea, captured the 1993 Prix de
l’Arc de Triomphe (Fr-G1) as well as such notable events as the Prix d’Harcourt
(Fr-G2), Prix Gontaut Biron (Fr-G3) and Prix Exbury (Fr-G3). She has been even
more outstanding as a broodmare, with all eight of her runners earning black
type. Her first foal, Urban Ocean (Bering), was an Irish highweight and Group 3
winner. Next came English stakes queen Melikah (Ire) (Lammtarra), runner-up in
the Irish Oaks (Ire-G1) and third in the Oaks (Eng-G1) at Epsom. Galileo reigned
as Europe’s champion three-year-old of 2001 after garnering the Derby, Irish
Derby and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
Galileo’s younger brother, Black Sam Bellamy (Sadler’s Wells), earned Italian
highweight status by virtue of his score in the 2002 Gran Premio del Jockey Club
(Ity-G1), and in 2003 he added the Tattersalls Gold Cup to his resume.
Galileo and Black Sam Bellamy’s sister, All Too Beautiful (Ire) (Sadler’s
Wells), was an English Group 3 heroine and runner-up in the 2004 Oaks at Epsom.
Urban Sea’s next foal, eight-time stakes victress My Typhoon (Ire) (Giant’s
Causeway), raced exclusively in the United States, with her signature victory
coming in the 2007 Diana S. (G1) at Saratoga. That same season, her maiden
half-sister Cherry Hinton (Green Desert) placed in an Irish Group 3 affair.
Urban Sea died in early March from complications after foaling an Invincible
Spirit colt.
Urban Sea is herself a half-sister to King’s Best (Kingmambo), hero of the
Two Thousand Guineas in 2000, as well as French Group 3 queen Allez Les Trois (Riverman),
the dam of Prix du Jockey-Club (French Derby) (Fr-G1) winner Anabaa Blue (Anabaa).
This is also the family of Tamayuz (Nayef), who won last year’s Prix Jacques le
Marois (Fr-G1) and Prix Jean Prat (Fr-G1).