HORSE OF A LIFETIME

Graham Buddry pays fresh tribute to track legend Sea The Stars - surely one of the greatest ever

- Graham Buddry

The biggest mistake you can ever make in any walk of life is to under-rate an opponent.

Although considered a brilliant horse in his own right it is fair to say that Sea The Stars is still under-rated, at least until you take a much closer look at what he has achieved.

It all began at Longchamp in 1993 when Urban Sea won the Arc de Triomphe for David Tsui (pronounced "choy") the super-rich Hong Kong businessman and owner of a breeding empire.

From Urban Sea they bred Galileo in 1998 and later Urban Sea would become one of only 10 mares ever to breed two Epsom Derby winners.

Foaled on April 6, 2006, Sea The Stars came into this world and was put into the ownership of David and Ling's son, 24 year old Christopher Tsui, his first horse.

Sea The Stars was eventually sent into training with John Oxx in Ireland after the trainer had been invited to see the horse at the National Stud. Oxx had trained his year older half-brother who never ran due to leg and back problems but when he saw Sea The Stars for the first time he was taken aback: "You could not have seen a nicer yearling. He was beautiful, big and strong. He just looked fantastic, quite outstanding."

In his new home Sea The Stars was a very quick learner and eager to please but it would be a while before the close-coupled yearling would lengthen out into the superstar he would become.

Making a first racecourse appearance as a 2yo on July 13, 2008, at The Curragh, Oxx had no great expectations as he knew that he could only improve as he matured. As it was Sea The Stars ran very green in this seven furlong maiden and having been patiently ridden by Mick Kinane he was doing his best work at the end where he finished in a close enough fourth place with the rest of the field strung out behind.