The temptation to go for seven out of seven must be almost irresistible for connections of Sea the Stars but trainer John Oxx today hinted a trip to Santa Anita may be a too much to ask of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner.
The trainer described the brilliant colt as the “ultimate achievement in 300 years of thoroughbred breeding in Ireland” after arguably the best performance of his career at Longchamp yesterday, in which he recovered from slow start to claim a sixth Group One success in as many months.
At Oxx’s Currabeg yard in Kildare this morning, the question was: ‘Can he win the Breeders Cup next month?’
"We haven't had any discussion as we never discuss the next race until we get past the first one," Oxx told At The Races. "We'll let the dust settle and have a think, we are not ruling it out.
“It was primarily in the owner’s mind if he had to miss the Arc for some reason as we would have had a nice interval between the Irish Champion Stakes and the Breeders’ Cup, so whether we would go there making it his seventh race in seven months, it is a bit late in the year.
“We are not going to rush the decision and we haven’t had time to discuss it yet.”
Ultimately, though, the decision will rest with the owner, Hong Kong businessman Christopher Tsui, and he has just two weeks before the declaration stage for the November 7th race.
According to Oxx, Tsui believes any racing he does in the future would be for the public, because he has achieved all that had been sought of him.
The three-year-old has been on the go since his 2000 Guineas triumph at Newmarket in May but he showed no signs of slowing up yesterday, when he emerged from the pack on the home stretch and blitzed the 19-strong field in Europe’s most prestigious all-aged flat race.
Oxx reported him to be “fine this morning” after returning “late last night”.
“He’s been led out this morning and obviously he’s tired after the long day but he’s in good shape,” Oxx continued. “It was a remarkable performance. Every trainer’s dream is to have a horse with a great turn of foot but it is hard to get one with the real speed that he has.
“He got himself out of trouble and had the race sewn up a furlong out, as soon as you saw him move it was all over.
“Mick said it was his easiest win, he also said that the time before at Leopardstown.
“We were a bit worried, there was a little bit of a scrimmage early on and he got a bump which set him alight.
“He comes alive when he leaves the stalls. He’s very professional and enthusiastic but when he got the bump, he did take off a bit and I was concerned for a furlong or two as he was further back than we might have liked.
“When you have a horse like that you can be a bit more relaxed than with the ones that give you a lot of trouble.
“He’s been easy to train, easy to handle and it has been a privilege to train him.”
Oxx and Tsui will also have to consider breeders all over the world will want the horse to cover their mares.
Experts are valuing the animal at €100 million and say he probably could command stud fees of up to €150,000 per cover.