Forty years ago, Blakeney won the Derby for his owner, breeder and trainer Arthur Budgett, a success that would be repeated four years later in 1975 by his half-brother Morston. On 6 June, Sea The Stars will attempt to emulate that feat when he bids for glory at Epsom, eight years after his half-brother Galileo gave Aidan O’Brien his first win in the Derby.
Should he be successful, Sea The Stars will become the first horse since Nashwan to land the 2000 Guineas/Derby double. The Tsui Family’s Sunderland Holdings Ltd has already bred a Derby winner: this time their contender runs in the family colours for Christopher Tsui.
Sea The Stars’ triumph at Newmarket made him the fourth Group One winner for his illustrious dam Urban Sea, who died earlier this year, and, after Ouija Board, he is the second Classic winner and seventh Group One winner for his sire Cape Cross. It takes more than one horse to make a season though and in 2009, Cape Cross has already sired 55 winners to put himself in contention for leading sire honours. Among them are Recharge, who won the G3 Leopardstown 2,000 Guineas Trial and then ran fourth in the Irish 2,000 Guineas and Middleton Stakes winner Crystal Capella, who notched her sixth consecutive win when striking at York, following on from her victory in the G2 Pride Stakes last season.
