NEXT MONTH’S Juddmonte International at York continues to look the next target for Sea The Stars, with the world’s highest-rated racehorse bypassing Ascot’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Missing the Irish Derby and waiting instead for last Saturday’s Eclipse looks to have ruled out an immediate return to a mile-and-a- half for Sea The Stars.
“We will discuss things over the next 24 hours,” trainer John Oxx said yesterday. “My original plan was to run in the Irish Derby, which would leave us four weeks to the King George and we would have considered that race.
“But we had to keep him on the boil for an extra week and that looks like it may make York a more realistic option,” he added.
“There are only 18 days between that race and the Irish Champion Stakes, which is his main objective. Ideally I would love York to move forward a week but that isn’t going to happen.”
Aidan O’Brien has already nominated the Champion Stakes at Leopardstown as Fame And Glory’s next race, and he has also indicated Saturday’s Eclipse runner-up Rip Van Winkle will return to a mile for his next start in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood.
O’Brien will be represented in this evening’s opener at Naas by Black Quartz and the Danehill Dancer colt should be hard to beat.
Blue Ridge Lane has been third on all three of his starts to date this season, but softer ground could be a plus to Dermot Weld’s horse in tonight’s mile-and-a- quarter maiden.
