SEA THE STARS IN FRAME
2,000 Guineas winner can add Derby for John Oxx
SEA THE STARS is a confident choice to beat nagging stamina doubts by adding Saturday's Derby to his 2,000 Guineas triumph.
And that will make him the first colt to land that rarest of doubles since the mighty Nashwan back in 1989.
John Oxx, who won the Derby with Sinndar in 2000, has made no secret of the fact that he has always had reservations about Sea The Stars getting the 1½-mile trip.
But he told me: "He is a big strong horse with a good constitution and came through the Guineas well - all the weight he lost was back on four days later.
"We have had a good run-in to the race with him, he went nine furlongs on Friday and I could not be more pleased with him."
Sea The Stars travelled superbly through the Guineas and that class can prove the deciding factor round the madhouse of Epsom.
Oxx has always insisted that if a horse is travelling within himself in a Derby then he will act round the course. It is the horses who struggle from a long way out who find the ups and downs and weird cambers taking a savage toll.
Sea The Stars dam, Urban Sea, won an Arc and is loaded with stamina but his sire Cape Cross is much more a speed influence.
It is that final furlong that is going to be crunch time for Sea The Stars but in Mick Kinane he could not have a finer man to husband his resources.
Sea The Stars is back at the top of the market largely because there seems to be no clear-cut flagbearer among Aidan O'Brien's mass challenge with five of his stable in the top seven horses in the betting.
My feeling is momentum will build behind one of the O'Brien colts this week so we can wait until the day to back Sea The Stars.
And there is no mistaking the message from the Jim Bolger camp that Gan Amhras will put up a big run and his 9-1 now will look big come post time.
So I see it first Sea The Stars, second Gan Amhras and third Masterofthehorse.
While the Derby looks a genuine class renewal, Friday's Oaks appears to have fewer stars and can go to Henry Cecil's Midday.
Cecil is a genius with fillies. And while Midday must improve to win, Henry is just the man to draw out the great leap forward.
Read Alastair Down every week in the Racing Post
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