One of the most exciting stallion prospects to have gone to stud in recent times had his first crop of juveniles in action in 2005. Great things were expected, and those first runners did include a listed scorer and 11 others who won a race at other levels, but it was not quite the exciting start that was expected of him.
Where were the pattern race winners and juvenile stars that pointed towards this stallion having the potential to become a top classic sire?
There were some people who even started using the word disappointing in his connection, which seems remarkable now given all that he has achieved.
Eight years later his half-brother was the most exciting freshman of his cohort and this younger relative also got a single blacktype scorer and 11 other winners among his first juveniles.
What we learned in 2013 is that many of his progeny require some time, but should the stallion career of Sea The Stars (by Cape Cross) turn out to be even half as good as that of Galileo (by Sadler’s Wells) then he will become a sire of importance.
My Titania has the honour of being the first blacktype scorer to represent her sire; she won two of her three starts, finishing her first season with victory in the Group 3 C L Weld Park Stakes over seven furlongs in late September.
A half-sister to the stakes-placed sprinter Aneedah (by Invincible Spirit), she comes from the family of the classic winners Darsi (by Polish Precedent) and Darjina (by Zamindar) and she holds entries in both the Irish 1000 Guineas and the Irish Oaks.
Three of Sea The Stars’s first crop winners ran just once in 2013 and, in addition to the obvious fact that they are unbeaten, there is something else that they share in common.
It is inevitable, given that it is both one of the most powerful sire lines in the world and also that it is the one responsible for his phenomenal half-brother Galileo, that many Sea The Stars winners will have Sadler’s Wells, or one of his male line descendants, as their broodmare sire, so it is to be expected that some proportion of his best representatives will share that feature in their pedigrees.
Moontime, who won a mile maiden at Newmarket in October, is the first foal out of Time On (by Sadler’s Wells), a Group 2-winning direct descendant of the classic star and influential mare Time Charter (by Saritamer).
Taghrooda won her mile maiden at Newmarket in September and she is the first foal out of Ezima (by Sadler’s Wells), a multiple stakes winner from the family of the Group 1-winning siblings Ebadiya (by Rainbow Quest), Edabiyla (by Sadler’s Wells), Enzeli (by Kahyasi), and Estimate (by Monsun).
The third of the undefeated Sea The Stars horses is the colt Seagull Star who holds entries in both the Derby and the Irish Derby.
He too won a mile maiden at Newmarket and he is out of the stakes winner Dash To The Top (by Montjeu) who comes from the famous family of the Group 1 celebrities One So Wonderful, One In A Million, and Milligram.
In 2013 second crop yearlings by Sea The Stars made up to 550,000gns at auction and foals from his third crop were sold for up to 320,000gns, reflecting the promising start that he has made at stud.
He represents the powerful Green Desert (by Danzig) sire line, he is out of the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe heroine Urban Sea (by Miswaki) and, in addition to being a half-brother to one of the truly great stallions of the modern era, he is also closely related to the classic winner and classic sire King’s Best (by Kingmambo), and to the successful stallions Black Sam Bellamy (by Sadler’s Wells), Anabaa Blue (by Anabaa), Tamayuz (by Nayef), and Tertullian (by Miswaki).
Sea The Stars, who earned a Timeform rating of 140, could almost be said to have the perfect pedigree, for a racehorse and for a sire, and he was as close to being the perfect racehorse that we had seen in a very long time.
The fact that his half-brother’s phemonenal son Frankel followed so soon after him is incredible luck for the racing world and also a fabulous advertisement for the family and what they can achieve at stud.
Sea The Stars and Galileo have remarkably similar freshman records and everything still points towards Sea The Stars as being one of the most exciting young stallions in Europe.
SEA THE STARS (IRE)
Race record: Winner of 8 races, over 7-12 furlongs, from 2-3 years inc 2000 Guineas, Gr.1, the Derby, Gr.1, Eclipse Stakes, Gr.1 Juddmonte International Stakes, Gr.1, Irish Champion Stakes, Gr.1, Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Gr.1, Beresford Stakes, Gr.2, etc. European Horse of the Year in 2009. Timeform Rated 140.
Stud record: Retired to stud in 2010. First crop are 3yo. 1 SW inc My Titania (C L Weld Park Stakes, Gr.3), Stars Over The Sea (2 wins), A Shin Allonsy, Bold Lass, Kaminari, Moontime, Rip Roaring, Sea The Moon, Sea The Skies, Seagull Star, Specific Person, Taghrooda, etc.
Stands at: Gilltown Stud, Kilcullen, Co Kildare.
Contact: Pat Downes (Manager) or Julie White on 045 481216 or 087 2411563
Email: pat.downes@agakhanstuds.com
Website: www.agakhanstuds.com/SeaTheStars
Fee: €85,000