Sea the Stars - An Introduction
Trained by John Oxx and owned by Christopher Tsui, Sea The Stars was an exceptional middle-distance horse, winning over a variety of distances from 7f up to 1m 4f.
A 6-time Group 1 winner at 3, Sea The Stars was one of the most successful and highest-rated middle-distance flat horses of all time, ranking as the 13th best flat horse ever on Timeform’s ratings.
Foaled in April 2006, Sea The Stars kicked off his career by finishing 4th in a Curragh maiden, before winning a similar maiden event at Leopardstown a month later.
It was as a 3-year-old that he excelled though, beating many top-class horses in various Group 1 races. Piloted by Mick Kinane on all occasions, he amassed a whopping £4,417,163 in prize money and was awarded an RPR of 138 upon winning the Irish Champion Stakes.
He has become something of an exceptional sire too, retiring at the end of the 2009 season, after winning the Arc.
Sea the Stars Pedigree
Sea The Stars is out of another smart sire in Cape Cross. A top-class miler for Godolphin and Saeed bin Suroor, he won various Group 1 and 2 races in the late 90s. Something of a late bloomer, he won the Queen Anne Stakes, Celebration Mile, Lockinge, and placed in the Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard-Jacques le Marois (Group 1) as a 4/5-year-old.
Now though, he’s sired several top performers such as Ouija Board (£3,510,682 in earnings with an OR of 121) and Golden Horn (Champion 3-year-old and winner of the Derby, Eclipse, Irish Champion Stakes, and Prix De l’Arc de Triomphe) amongst others.
As of 2016, Cape Cross had a stud fee of around £20,000, which was a steal considering the number of group winners and high-earning horses he produced (39 over £200,000 in earnings).
Sea The Stars’ dam wasn’t too bad herself! A group 1 winner over in France for her trainer Jean Lesbordes, Urban Sea accumulated over £1 million in earnings (Prix De l’Arc de Triomphe). Now, here’s where it gets interesting. Urban Sea was the dam of the great Galileo too- I guess it runs in the family!
Dam to a small number of offspring, but with some impressive stats, she was also the dam of Group 1 winners Black Sam Bellamy trained by Aiden O’Brien in Ireland and My Typhoon, trained by William Mott over in America. An impressive return from such few offspring, it all set up nicely for a top-class middle-distance horse, and that horse was Sea The Stars.
Sea the Stars in the 2009 Two Thousand Guineas
Going further back on Cape Cross’ side, you find the sire Green Desert. Best known as a top-class sprinter/miler, he also sired several impressive Group 1 winning horses in the late 90s/early 00s such as Oriental Express (£1,417,168 in earnings), Heat Haze (£743,102), Sheikh Albadou (£661,983), and White Heart (£592,458). On Urban Sea’s side, you find Miswaki, another sprinter who was a high-class 2-year-old.
He sired some impressive middle-distance horses, including Urban Sea, Marvelous Crown (£1,023,498), Black Tie Affair (£963,730), and Misil (£744,236).
A very impressive family tree. Having top-class parents and being a half-brother to Galileo, it was almost as if he was destined for greatness. The stats don’t lie; Sea The Stars was a machine!
Sea the Stars Record
Sea The Stars’ record is phenomenal. A consistent 2-year-old who finished the season winning a Group 2 at the Curragh, he really kicked on the following year.
An unbeaten season as a 3-year-old, Sea The Stars won everything they aimed him at, including some of the biggest races in the UK/Europe.
He won by a cumulative distance of 9.75 lengths over the 6 Group 1 races he contested in 2009, including beating the likes of the talented Rip Van Winkle, Fame And Glory, and Mastercraftsman.
The ground wasn’t an issue either, winning on anything from Soft/Heavy, to Good, to Yielding. His wins over 1m in the Beresford Stakes and 2000 Guineas showcased the speed he possessed, whilst effortlessly transitioning to win over 1m4f in the Derby, showing his true staying power.
Other wins include the Guineas, Coral-Eclipse, and Prix De l’Arc de Triomphe. Most trainers could only dream of winning one of these races, but he won them all. He was also the first to win the treble (Guineas, Derby, and Arc) since Nashwan back in 1989.
Often undervalued as a racehorse, we didn’t know what we had until he had gone, one whose reputation has taken time to mature.
| Date |
Race |
Position |
Race Distance |
Winning Distance |
Beaten Distance |
Going |
OR / RPR |
| 13-Jul-08 |
Jebel Ali Stables & Racecourse European Breeders Fund Maiden (Curragh) |
4th |
7f |
|
1L |
Good |
/ 88 |
| 17-Aug-08 |
Korean Racing Authority European Breeders' Fund Maiden (Leopardstown) |
1st |
7f |
2.5L |
|
Soft/Heavy |
/ 94 |
| 28-Sep-08 |
Juddmonte Beresford Stakes (Group 2) (Curragh) |
1st |
1m |
0.5L |
|
Yielding |
/ 112 |
| 02-May-09 |
stanjames.com 2000 Guineas Stakes (Group 1) (Newmarket) |
1st |
1m |
1.5L |
|
Good to Firm |
112 / 124 |
| 06-Jun-09 |
Investec Derby (Group 1) (Epsom) |
1st |
1m4f |
1.75L |
|
Good |
121 / 124 |
| 04-Jul-09 |
Coral-Eclipse (Group 1) (Sandown) |
1st |
1m 2f |
1L |
|
Good |
124 / 135 |
| 18-Aug-09 |
Juddmonte International Stakes (Group 1) (York) |
1st |
1m 2.5L |
1L |
|
Good to Firm |
133 / 129 |
| 05-Sep-09 |
Tattersalls Millions Irish Champion Stakes (Group 1) (Leopardstown) |
1st |
1m2f |
2.5L |
|
Good to Yielding |
133 / 138 |
| 04-Oct-09 |
Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Group 1) (Longchamp) |
1st |
1m4f |
2L |
|
Good |
/ 132 |
Seas The Stars - Most Impressive Wins
A reason many overlook Sea The Stars is that he didn’t win any of his races by a large distance, nor did he toy with his opponents like Frankel, but he was still mightily impressive in his own right- often coming from the rear.
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