Sea The Stars Race Horse

The love of the flat is currently being rekindled by one horse and one man – Sea the Stars and John Oxx. It has been an extraordinary season for the 3-year-old colt; owned by Christopher Tsui, a 27 year old businessman from Hong Kong; and it will only get better if he wins the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris on the 4th of October (which he did in style) or the Breeders’ Cup Classic in Santa Anita in California on the 7th of November.

At the end of the day, it will be up to Sea the Star’s trainer John Oxx whether he will enter one or both of the races, but it is well known that Sea the Stars is averse to the soft ground so the weather will have a large say in the matter. Oxx has stipulated that if he had to miss the Arc for those reasons then there would be a good chance that he would enter the Breeders’ Cup – it’s a matter of seeing how the Arc goes, as owner Tsui doesn’t want to be asking too much of the horse. It is recognised by all those in the business that these are the races that will take a lot out of an animal due to the fact that it is so late in the season – energy will be waning and they are in need of winter rest.

This season Sea the Stars has won five Group 1 races; ranging in distance from 1 to 1.5 miles; including two of the Classics – the 2,000 Guineas and the Derby, the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown, plus the 10-furlong events at York and Leopardstown. In fact, the only race that Sea the Stars has lost was his first of the season – in July 2008 at The Curragh. However he is showing no signs of any lethargy or weakening, and having been bred from Cape Cross, Europe’s leading stallion and Urban Sea, who won the Arc, the chances are he isn’t going to either – he was bred to be a champion! As well as being a true beauty to look at, according to Oxx he also has a great constitution, a great temperament and appetite and needs work – always great signs in a racehorse.

Oxx admits that it means a lot to him to have a star horse, he says that to train a horse of Sea the Star’s league gives ‘the greatest satisfaction’. We can but imagine – Sea the Stars has a Timeform rating of 140, which could improve even further if he races and wins the Arc de Triomphe. The rating of 140 puts him in the top six horses of the last 40 years, which puts him in the same league as Shergar (Timeform rating of 140) who won the 1981 Derby by 10 lengths, Dancing Brave (140 rating) who won the 2,000 Guineas, King George, the Arc and Eclipse, Dubai Millennium (140 rating) who won the Dubai World Cup in 2000, Mill Reef (141 rating) who won the Derby, King George, the Arc and Eclipse, and Brigadier Gerard who had a rating of 144 and remained unbeaten in 10 races in 1971

Horses with the highest Timeform Ratings Since 1970

• Brigadier Gerard 144
• Mill Reef 141
• Sea The Stars 140
• Dubai Millennium 140
• Dancing Brave 140
• Shergar 140

Sea The Stars was given the TimeForm rating after a stunning win in the Irish Champion Stakes, the rating could even improve after a stunning performance in the Arc. The rating puts him in there alongside Shergar, Dancing Brave and Dubai Millennium as the third best horse since 1970.