Sea Of Class turns over Forever Together in thrilling fillies’ Classic
She is just pure class. William Haggas and James Doyle upset the Ballydoyle party with a late run to deny Forever Together in the Darley Irish Oaks at the Curragh on Saturday, completing a memorable hat-trick for the jockey on a rare foray to Ireland.
Held up in last under a patient ride from the supremely confident Doyle, Sea Of Class was angled out with a couple of furlongs to go and wore down the Oaks heroine yards before the line to score by a neck.
Doyle, riding his second Irish Classic winner, always seemed likely to get there and did not have to pick up his whip once on the lightly raced daughter of Sea The Stars.
He said: “She was lovely and relaxed. When I gave her a little niggle at the top of the straight she took off.
“She was very good today. I probably went a bit soon on her when she won her second Listed race at Newbury last time.”
The big-race winner was the final leg of a Group-race treble for Doyle, who added: “It’s unbelievable. I was looking forward to riding her, and obviously with my commitments with Godolphin it was whether or not it would happen, and it was nice to be able to get here.
“For things to go as smooth as they have, it’s a dream.”
For Haggas it was a first Irish Classic success and a second Group 1 victory at the Curragh this year following Urban Fox’s success in the Pretty Polly Stakes last month, a race in which Forever Together had also finished second.
The Newmarket trainer said: “I told James to be brave but I didn’t think he’d be that brave.
“We were expecting a big run as she’s a very good filly. I’m a fledgling trainer for Mrs Tsui and it’s great to win a race like this for her.”
After Sea Of Class, who did not run as a juvenile, had won her first Listed race at Newbury, she was in the frame for the Oaks, with the owners Ling and Christopher Tsui inclined to run at Epsom, but her trainer less so. Ultimately it was the soft ground there that was said to be the deciding factor in swerving the race.
“I wasn’t keen on going to Epsom with her and when I got around to changing my mind, it rained,” reflected Haggas. “So somebody was looking out for us.
“She stays well and has a good turn of foot. There is a good chance she will stay in training next season and plans are fluid. We’ll look at maybe the Yorkshire Oaks or the Prix Vermeille.”
The Irish Oaks, which was commentator Des Scahill’s final call in an Irish Classic – he retires on Sunday – was won last year by Enable, and Sea Of Class could well meet her, either at York or Longchamp.
Sea Of Class was cut for the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, which was won last year by Enable, to between a 16-1 and 20-1 chance (from as big as 66).
fonte : RacingPost
Sea the Stars’ Sea of Class Wins the Irish Oaks
| 6th at CUR, Gr. Stk, €400,000 | G1 Darley Irish Oaks | (12f) | Winner: Sea of Class (Ire), f, 3 by Sea the Stars (Ire) |
Sea Of Class | Racingfotos.com
By Tom Frary
Having dodged Epsom and Royal Ascot, the Tsui family’s Sea of Class (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) proved she had the right material for the big occasion on Saturday as she was delivered in the nick of time by a supremely-confident James Doyle to take The Curragh’s G1 Darley Irish Oaks. Allowed to coast in last throughout, the 11-4 second favourite was taken wide and asked to close with less than two furlongs remaining as Forever Together (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) kicked ahead. Providing Doyle with the response he expected, the May 19 Haras De Bouquetot Fillies’ Trial S. and June 14 Abingdon S. winner had the talent to get to Ballydoyle’s Epsom heroine in the final yards and deny her an Oaks double by a neck. Mary Tudor (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) was 1 1/2 lengths behind in third, while the heavily-supported 10-11 favourite Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was a major disappointment almost 10 lengths back in fifth. “I was looking forward to riding her since it was announced as her target, so for it to go as smooth as it did was a dream,” her rider said. “I had full confidence in her and William and Maureen have done a great job with her, as she’s quite a late foal. Let’s hope there is improvement to come, as this was only her fourth race and she was the unproven one.”
In hindsight, the storm that hit Epsom may have proved a blessing as the decision to place Sea of Class in the Oaks off just a win in Newbury’s 10-furlong Fillies’ Trial was taken out of William Haggas’s hands. Her task in the Abingdon–just four days before Magic Wand took apart the Ribblesdale at the Royal meeting–was a straightforward one and vital for confidence and in the interim the first of her successes had been boosted when Athena (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) went on to win the GI Belmont Oaks. While Magic Wand ran well below her Ribblesdale standard here, the winner still had it to do to upstage the runner-up who had been through the tests of the Epsom Oaks and Pretty Polly and Godolphin’s filly who had experience in some tough assignments at two. Sea of Class was only making her debut at Newmarket’s Craven meeting when denied a neck by Ceilidhs Dream (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) in a mile maiden Apr. 18 and while her listed wins had been smoothly executed her odds for this Classic were mostly down to the vibes emanating from her widely-respected stable.
Haggas was a relieved man afterwards. “I did ask him to be brave, but I didn’t think he’d be that brave,” he said of the ice-cool ride. “He took it up fairly close home, but he said she was on her game today. It’s a big race for us, we don’t come here very often. This is a very good filly and we know she’s a good filly, so you want it all to go right and it’s come right. We were never that keen on going to Epsom, but it’s an Oaks and Oaks are big things. I was just coming around to running and fortunately it rained, so someone up there was telling me not to run. To go and have a relatively easy race and have a bit more experience was great and she’s trained beautifully since. James is in a rich vein of form at the moment, not only today, but he’s been riding very well all year. I asked him to be brave, because she’s got a good turn of foot. I said ‘if you are going to the front three out, we are in trouble’.”
Sea of Class was becoming the fourth Classic and ninth group 1 winner for her sire and fifth Classic and fifth individual pattern-race winner produced by her dam Holy Moon (Ire) (Hernando {Fr}). All came in Italy, with a trio of G2 Oaks d’Italia heroines in Charity Line (Ire) (Manduro {Ger}), Final Score (Ire) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}) and Cherry Collect (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire}), with the latter also annexing the G3 Premio Regina Elena (Italian 1000 Guineas). Charity Line and Final Score also captured the G1 Premio Lydia Tesio, while their half-brother Back On Board (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}) almost provided more Classic glory when runner-up in last year’s G2 Derby Italiano. Holy Moon, who has a yearling colt by Oasis Dream (GB) and a and a colt foal by Golden Horn (GB) to come, is out of a half-sister to Bright Generation (Ire) (Rainbow Quest) who remarkably also annexed the Oaks d’Italia when it carried group 1 status. She is the second dam of the champion juvenile and sire Dabirsim (Fr) (Hat Trick {Jpn}).
Saturday, Curragh, Ireland
DARLEY IRISH OAKS-G1, €400,000, Curragh, 7-21, 3yo, f, 12fT, 2:32.54, gd.
1–SEA OF CLASS (IRE), 126, f, 3, by Sea the Stars (Ire)
1st Dam: Holy Moon (Ire) (SW-Ity, $161,048), by Hernando (Fr)
2nd Dam: Centinela (GB), by Caerleon
3rd Dam: New Generation (Ire), by Young Generation (Ire)
1ST GROUP WIN; 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. (170,000gns Ylg ’16 TATDEY). O-Sunderland Holding Inc; B-Razza Del Velino SRL (IRE); T-William Haggas; J-James Doyle. €228,000. Lifetime Record: MSW-Eng, 4-3-1-0, $361,399. *1/2 to Charity Line (Ire) (Manduro {Ger}), Hwt. 3yo-Ity at 9.5-11f & G1SW-Ity, $454,242; Final Score (Ire) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}), G1SW-Ity, $435,934; Cherry Collect (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire}), Hwt. 3yo-Ity at 9.5-11f, MGSW & G1SP-Ity, $497,183; Wordless (Ire) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}), GSW-Ity, $148,264; Back On Board (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}), GSP-Ity, $176,250; and Magic Mystery (GB) (Pour Moi {Ire}), SP-Ity. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Forever Together (Ire), 126, f, 3, Galileo (Ire)–Green Room, by Theatrical (Ire). (€900,000 Ylg ’16 GOFORB). O-Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith & Susan Magnier; B-Vimal & Gillian Khosla (IRE); T-Aidan O’Brien. €80,000.
3–Mary Tudor (Ire), 126, f, 3, Dawn Approach (Ire)–Antiquities (GB), by Kaldounevees (Fr). O-Godolphin; B-Darley (IRE); T-Willie McCreery. €40,000.
Margins: NK, 1HF, 3HF. Odds: 2.75, 3.50, 25.00.
Also Ran: Bye Bye Baby (Ire), Magic Wand (Ire), Romiyna (Ire), Tissiak (Ire).
Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
fonte : TDN
Willy Haggas-trained filly becomes ninth Group 1 winner for Sea The Stars
Sea Of Class came of age in a memorable finish to Saturday’s Darley Irish Oaks at the Curragh, downing Epsom heroine Forever Together in the shadow of the post to become the latest Classic scorer for the great Sea The Stars.
In a performance her illustrious sire would have been proud of, Sea Of Class was switched off at the rear of the field by James Doyle and given every chance to prove her stamina under the most patient of rides.
It looked as if Galileo’s Oaks winner Forever Together was about to become a dual Classic winner but Sea Of Class got up in the dying strides instead to join Taghrooda, Harzand and Sea The Moon as Classic winners for the Gilltown Stud-based sire.
Saturday’s race presented Galileo with his first opportunity since Kew Gardens’ Group 1 success in France last week to equal his sire Sadler’s Wells’ tally of 73 elite-level scorers and the market had confidence that Magic Wand could do the job.
The Ribblesdale Stakes heroine never really threatened though and nor did Bye Bye Baby, the other runner in the seven-strong field who could have tied the record.
It’s anybody’s year!
If 2018′s British and Irish Classics will be remembered for anything, it will be the extent to which the glory has been shared around a number of different stallions.
Sea Of Class’s success on Saturday means that all eight of the Classics run in Britain and Ireland so far have gone to runners by different sires – a far cry from the dominance by Galileo of recent seasons.
Sire (Winner, race)
Deep Impact (Saxon Warrior, 2,000 Guineas)
Champs Elysees (Billesdon Brook, 1,000 Guineas)
New Approach (Masar, Derby)
Galileo (Forever Together, Oaks)
Holy Roman Emperor (Romanised, Irish 2,000 Guineas)
Mastercraftsman (Alpha Centauri, Irish 1,000 Guineas)
Camelot (Latrobe, Irish Derby)
Sea The Stars (Sea Of Class, Irish Oaks)
It was ironic then that it should be Galileo’s half-brother who provided the winner, in a result that yet again pays tribute to the remarkable broodmare Urban Sea, with four of the first five home boasting her in their pedigrees.
Galileo’s pursuit of the record was of little concern to those behind Sea Of Class, however, including Johnny McKeever, who bought the filly for 170,000 guineas from the Tattersalls December Yearling Sale on behalf of Ling Tsui’s Sunderland Holdings.
“Even at the time I thought to myself what a lovely broodmare, and what we paid for her is easily what she’s worth on her breeding,” McKeever told Racing Post Bloodstock prior to Saturday’s race.
Those words ring all the more true now with a Group 1 success on her CV on only her fourth start to go along with a pair of Listed successes prior to Saturday.
Being so lightly raced, it is not hard to imagine that there is more to come from Sea Of Class, who could well enjoy a summer not dissimilar to her father’s of 2009.
He won a Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and Taghrooda came third for him in 2014. Sea Of Class must now be considered a contender to hand him his first as a sire.
fonte : RacingPost
