The Inside Track: Sea The Stars | Fran Berry recalls his perfect three-year-old campaign

In the beginning

Sea The Stars was the best horse I ever rode. Lucky enough to be riding for John Oxx when he was around, he took my breath away on more than one occasion and though I never sat on him in a race, it was a privilege to work with him up close at home. Here is a quick look back on his story.

Let’s start at the beginning, when John changed his regime of breaking horses. He got Gary Witheford over to break the yearlings that winter in 2007, it was the first time he’d done that, and as it turned out they turned out being a very good bunch and were more forward than the stable were used to.

Along came a bunch of horses that you’d love to have in any yard in any generation. You had Sea The Stars, Arazan, Alandi, Mourayan and as a bunch you could tell they were very good, with four or five of them standout horses. Sea The Stars and Arazan were top of the tree.

Sea The Stars was obviously the half-brother to Galileo and he ended up at Oxx’s because of an internal rift between Sunderland Holdings, the Tsui family and Coolmore. Straight away he had a lovely temperament, a lovely way of going, so relaxed, and as he showed in his races he’d only ever do the minimum of what was required. He was a bit like that at home.

You’d have to kick him into the bridle to wake him up, but if you did ask him to go he found plenty for you.

He had a lovely introductory run at the Curragh in July 2008. It was a nice debut and then he went on a month later and won at Leopardstown on soft ground, which wouldn’t have really suited him, but he won nicely.

After that it was the Beresford, a race which is always a good trial going forward for the Derby more than the Guineas, I suppose.

I rode Mourayan, his stable companion, who finished second. I kicked two out and I knew my horse would stay well, so I thought that I had enough break on the field to possibly last home, but Mick Kinane closed me down quicker than I anticipated and beat me half a length. Even though it wasn’t far, he beat me well and that was the first true test for Sea The Stars.

That was it for him as a two-year-old and the 2007-8 winter I didn’t go away. I was back in the yard early on in the year in 2008, around February time, and with Mick in Hong Kong I was sitting on a lot of the string at various times.

Early progression

It was clear that Sea The Stars had done extremely well over the winter. His work was building up and it became apparent from March into April that we had two serious contenders in Sea The Stars and Arazan for the Guineas.

Arazan was a brother of Azamour. He won the Futurity Stakes as a two-year-old and was third to Mastercraftsman in the National Stakes after that, so he was a high-class prospect in his own right.

It was getting to the stage where John had to make a call on the route to go with them and he elected to take them to Leopardstown to work after racing on a Guineas trial day in April.

The lead horse was Tarankali, who was an underrated horse himself, and he was a proper lead horse all the way through the season for these two. He made the running and Mick sat second on Arazan, I rode Sea The Stars and sat third and we went about seven furlongs, really picking up the pace from three out.

Mick quickened up off the bend and I had a length or two to make up from there but make it up I did, and quickly, to join him. By the winning post I felt I was going better than Mick even though we weren’t asking them any serious questions.

In conversation with Mick after work he was surprised. He was riding the supposed sharper horse, so the fact I was able to make up the ground as easily as I did showed us that Sea The Stars had the pace for a Guineas.

There was no doubt in the camp’s mind afterwards that he’d have the pace for a mile, especially a straight mile at Newmarket. It was proper work and it showed us he had the boot, so it was always the 2000 Guineas for him after that.

Classic double

At that time we were thinking we were going to have two runners in the Guineas. I think Mick would have always ridden Sea The Stars given what he saw at Leopardstown, but at the time it was up in the air and unfortunately about a week later Arazan got bad colic. He had life-saving surgery and ran once as a four-year-old but he was never the same again.

It was a huge loss, as I’m convinced he was a Group One horse in his own right.

Sea The Stars went to the Guineas and once he got to halfway and still on the bridle travelling well, I knew he was going to be very hard to beat. That was the question, if he could travel and hold his position in the first half mile. He did it strongly, came through and beat a very decent horse in Delegator.

He came out of the Guineas in good fashion and there was a debate about going for the Irish Guineas or stepping up in trip. Given his breeding, John’s thought was to go up in trip and he decided that all roads must lead to the Derby.

The big thing at the time was would he stay a mile and a half? When you get a horse like this people are always looking for holes in them, so from people wondering if he had the pace for a mile now there was a stamina question mark.

He didn’t even go off favourite for the Derby, with Aidan O’Brien’s Fame And Glory the market leader.

But there was no doubt in the team’s mind. We had perfect ground conditions to work him on the grass gallops at the Curragh, up Walsh’s hill, on Tuesday’s and Friday’s religiously up to the Derby. We stretched him 10 furlongs one day, with Tarankali making it a good strong test for him, and he just came through so easily under Mick on the stiff uphill gallop, going further away at the end.

We all went to Epsom confident about the trip and how he had improved since the Guineas.

It was all very straightforward in the Derby itself. He was a bit keen early on and he had the battalion from Ballydoyle to deal with, as he did throughout his career from then on, they threw everything they had at him but couldn’t find a way to crack him.

For Mick, he said it was the Derby he most enjoyed as he knew he was in control from a long way out. The horse just went away and won by less than two lengths, but it was a very hands and heel ride, doing the bare minimum, which became his trademark.

Sandown and York

The Friday before the Irish Derby he was declared to run. It was John’s intention and the owner’s intention to run in the Irish Derby and they wanted to go there to make him a double Derby winner and on his home track as well.

But unfortunately the ground went from good to being heavily watered and it came up on the soft side on the day.

I’ve no doubt John did the right thing by withdrawing him but it was a shame the way the whole situation developed. As a consequence he was re-routed to the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown the following Saturday.

He had it all to do in the Eclipse at one stage. But he went to the front two furlongs out when switched and as Rip Van Winkle came up to challenge him he just kept finding. By the last 150 yards he was well on top.

After that John built him up for York for the Juddmonte International and that was one of my favourite races of his.

I remember the race very well as I was on my way down to ride at Killarney for an evening meeting.

We stopped in a village pub 10 miles from Killarney, purely to watch the race, and there were four of us; Pat Smullen, Kevin Manning, Declan McDonogh and myself, we couldn’t even drink water let alone anything stronger, but they let us in and put the race on the television for us.

There were only four runners but it was far from straightforward, it was three against one in Ballydoyle’s favour and Mastercraftsman was the main challenger. Mick sat last and bided his time, coming through the small field.

They made it as tight and compact as possible to make it difficult for him and Mastercraftsman got the run of the race, but Sea The Stars was just too good. It was a joy to watch.

And it was an ultra-cool ride from Mick under immense pressure.

Treating his fans on home soil

Leopardstown and the Irish Champion Stakes came up relatively quick so he didn’t do a whole lot in between. But he never stopped improving. Week to week he just got better and better. Tarankali was the yardstick and every week he seemed to beat him easier and easier, he was very consistent in his work.

We went to the Irish Champion and there was a bit of a ground worry on the day. I rode for John and the Aga Khan earlier in the day and Mick rode as well and it was only after those discussions he was given the green light to race. We’d had a wet week the week before but it had dried out sufficiently.

He took his chance and it ended up being a fantastic race and occasion for Irish racing.

Ballydoyle threw everything at him again and it was a rough race run at a strong pace. It got tactical from five furlongs out to two-and-a-half, but when Mick got out in the straight it was all over very quickly. He made Fame And Glory and Mastercraftsman, two very good horses, look ordinary.

It was a great performance and brilliant to see him win on Irish soil that year. It would’ve been a real shame had that not happened, but it was only a few hours before the race that he was confirmed to run. Thankfully he did and it was a superb moment.

The reception he got in front of a big crowd at Leopardstown was huge.

Curragh rumours and Paris swansong

All roads led to Paris after that.

There was a mild drama at home, though. He developed a bit of a habit of stopping when he was walking between the canter down and the work gallop. He was standing for 30 seconds, looking around, seeing what was going on, and rumours were circling around the Curragh that he was being uncooperative.

Once he’d taken everything in he’d go on again, but we weren’t too concerned. We were laughing at the rumours, really, as it was just a quirk of his routine rather than anything we’d thought he’d replicate on a race day.

His work leading up to the Arc was, in reality, sublime. And he was always there when you wanted him to be professional.

That was shown in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe itself, when Mick ended up on the rail in a position he wouldn’t really have wanted to be in. But as soon as he asked him to pick up and go between horses he was there, straight into the gap, and he never let him down.

He won the Arc extremely well and there was a bit of a discussion between John and the owners over whether he’d be kept in training at four.

Going to the Breeders’ Cup or Hong Kong was never really a runner, but he worked after the Arc, just to see how he was, and his work after Paris was even better than it was before. He was just sensational.

John actually commissioned a camera crew to come out and film his last piece of work on the Curragh, and that would be some priceless footage – I presume it was a private reel for the owners.

There were just no flaws to him. Mentally, physically, he had everything. It’s no surprise he’s gone on to be a top stallion over a variety of trips.

The way his three-year-old season was executed by John Oxx was phenomenal and it’s hard to envisage a more perfect campaign. To bring a horse from Newmarket in May, to Paris in October, unbeaten, in those races, was his finest hour.

And he was ridden by a jockey, in Mick Kinane, who was in his last year riding and all that experience he had gathered over the years really came into play with this horse. He rode him with the utmost confidence and never exposed him. He only won by the minimum margins because Mick was always minding him, saving a bit for the next day.

There was even more there – which is quite a scary thought.

Related articles

• Fran Berry's 30 to follow
• Let's talk about... Mick Kinane
• Let's talk about... Aidan O'Brien's greats
• Let's talk about... Vincent O'Brien
• Let's talk about... Irish aces for 2020
• Sheila Lavery Stable Tour
• Ado McGuinness Stable Tour
• Denis Hogan Stable Tour
• From the archive... O'Brien highlights
• From the archive... Alpha Centauri
• From the archive... Harzand
• From the archive... Awtaad