LONDON, (Reuters) – Excited breeders across the globe are jostling for the mega-dollars action that is Sea The Stars, horse racing’s equivalent of champion sprinter Usain Bolt.
The colt cemented his place in racing’s pantheon of greats with victory in Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, his sixth Group One success in as many months.
Now the race is on to secure his stallion rights which could break the $80 million mark despite the harsh economic times.
Last year’s Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown fetched over $50 million and the record of Sea The Stars is better than the U.S. colt, who also won the Preakness but lost out in the Belmont.
The English 2000 Guineas, Derby, Eclipse, Juddmonte International, Irish Champion Stakes and the Arc have all fallen to Sea The Stars in an astounding and unprecedented run.
It puts him alongside truly great horses like Ribot, Sea Bird 11, Mill Reef and Dancing Brave, so it is no surprise that as the horse’s career at stud looms the big guns are seeking to buy in.
Though yearling prices at last month’s Keeneland Sales in the U.S. dipped by over a record 40 percent, there was more encouraging news from day one of Europe’s top sale on Tuesday.
The average price for the 152 yearlings sold at Tattersall’s in Newmarket was $177,000, just 2.4 percent down on 2008.
Such figures will cheer Christopher Tsui, the Hong Kong businessman who owns Sea The Stars, not least because the top price paid on the day was $920,000 for a colt by 2001 Epsom Derby winner Galileo, a half brother to Sea The Stars.
Tsui, 28, has indicated he wants to hang on to Sea The Stars who is so much part of the family and at the very least he will be keen to keep some share of his champion.
DEEP AFFECTION
Sea The Stars is a son of the mare Urban Sea who won the Arc in 1993 for Tsui’s father David so the affection runs deep.
Bloodstock giants like Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin operation and Coolmore have been eyeing the new sensation longingly and Tsui has confirmed significant interest from Japan.
But he told the Racing Post: “We are not looking to sell the horse. We have had offers coming for him all the time and from everywhere but for now we are not interested.”
However, the door may not be totally shut.
“For now, we would like to keep the horse,” Tsui said. “I think there is no price you can value him at.
“He is above monetary value. Sea The Stars is out of Urban Sea who has been part of our family for 20 years so it’s much more than just money.
“We can never know what will happen in the future but at this point we are not selling.”
MORE IMMEDIATE
The more immediate task for Tsui and his Irish trainer John Oxx is to decide whether to go to the well one more time and run in next month’s Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita which would truly gild the champion’s crown.
Oxx told reporters after Sea The Stars arrived home: “My gut instinct is that after the hard season the horse has had, with six races in six months, America is probably a step too far but we haven’t ruled it out.”
A decision is expected in the next couple of weeks with race fans divided over it. Some say Sea The Stars has nothing more to prove, others that victory would put him ahead of the equine giants he has now joined.
Oxx offered a final ringing endorsement for breeders.
“After 300 years of selective breeding of thoroughbreds, Sea The Stars is the ultimate that can produced by a breeder,” he said. “He’s got a great pedigree, temperament and looks.
“As a physical specimen, he is the Usain Bolt of the equine world — you couldn’t hope to breed a better horse.”
