Bill Oppenheim: Euro Derbies

Sea The Stars, no less than a half-brother to Galileo, by Cape Cross, had a truly perfect 3-year-old campaign in 2009. Winner of two of his three starts, including the G2 Beresford S., for his owner-breeders, the Tsui family, as a 2-year-old in 2008, Sea The Stars went six-for six at three under the tutelage of Irish trainer John Oxx , winning the G1 English 2000 Guineas and G1 Epsom Derby, followed by three 10-furlong wins in races open to older horses–the G1 Eclipse S., G1 Juddmonte International, and G1 Irish Champion S.–and then finishing off with the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. It seems like the connections of almost every Derby winner suppose it will help their horse, commercially at least, to show they can defeat older horses in a Group 1 at 10 furlongs, even though the ones that turn out to be the real sires tend to be 12-furlong horses anyway, like Galileo himself, and Montjeu. Anyway, Sea The Stars knocked over those three races like tenpins and retired at the end of the 2009 season to the Aga Khan's Irish station, Gilltown Stud, with a 2009 Timeform rating of 140, which rated him among the top 10 European racehorses of the last 70 years. Personally, I thought he was the best racehorse I had seen in Europe in the 30 years I'd been following European racing, up to that time.

He stood for €85,000 in 2010, which was probably one of the all-time bargains, caused by the world economic collapse of 2008; otherwise he'd surely have retired for a figure more like the €125,000 he now commands. He also commanded one of the greatest opening books of mares ever covered by a stallion.

Sea The Stars's first crop included three 3-year-old Group 1 winners in 2014: G1 Epsom Oaks and G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. winner Taghrooda; G1 German Derby winner Sea The Moon; and G1 Prix Saint-Alary winner Vazira; at the end of 2014 Sea The Stars and Coolmore's Mastercraftsman were neck-and-neck for leading 2014 European second-crop sire honors, but Sea The Stars looked poised to rocket into the stratosphere. However, 2015 was a little bit disappointing: Sea The Stars had no Group 1 winners at all last year, and finished third among 2015 European third-crop sires by progeny earnings behind the Coolmore duo of Mastercraftsman and Fastnet Rock (Northern Hemisphere version).

Now, with his first crop 5-year-olds and his third crop of 3-year-olds racing (which makes him a 'fourth-crop' sire, meaning four crops of racing age), Sea The Stars has notched up his fourth Group 1 winner with Harzand's game win in Saturday's G1 Epsom Derby. Not surprisingly Sea The Stars now has quite a substantial lead among European fourth crop sires by 2016 North American and European earnings (click here), but he has also edged back ahead of Mastercraftsman in terms of cumulative NA/EU earnings (click here), though Mastercraftsman still leads when worldwide earnings are included, principally by virtue of The Grey Gatsby's $1.2-million second to Solow in the $6-million 2015 G1 Dubai Turf. In terms of their NA/EU statistics, the TDN sire lists show Sea The Stars and Mastercraftsman with 132 and 133 winners, respectively, and over $11-million in cumulative NA/EU progeny earnings; among European fourth-crop sires, the top five also include: Haras De La Cauviniere's top French sire, Le Havre ($6.7-million); Fastnet Rock ($6.3-million); and Banstead Manor's (Juddmonte) Champs Elysees ($4.5-million). Sea The Stars leads in all 'worldwide black-type from Northern Hemisphere-sired crops' categories, with 25 Black-Type Winners; 46 Black-Type Horses; 14 Group Winners (GSW); 28 Group Horses (GSH); four Group 1 winners (Mastercraftsman and Fastnet Rock's NH-sired crops have three each, Le Havre two, both winners of the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches-French 1000 Guineas); and eight Group 1 horses. Yes, he has had one of the all-time great books of mare support, which helps, but we all know nothing guarantees success. Even when his numbers have looked less than overwhelming the market has never really wavered in its support of and belief in Sea The Stars and, as usual, the market is being proved right. Sea The Stars has come back strong in 2016 to validate his standing.

Sea The Stars's older half-brother Galileo sired the Derby two-three, both trained by Aidan O'Brien: eventual race favorite US Army Ranger and Idaho. Second-favorite Wings of Desire (Pivotal) ran fourth, and it's entirely possible the first four from Epsom will meet again for the G1 Irish Derby at The Curragh. Looking at the YTD General Sire List for EU sires' earnings in North America and Europe, and combined with Minding's ultra-game win in Friday's G1 Epsom Oaks, Galileo now has NA/EU 2016 progeny earnings over $4.5-million, and now his half-brother Sea The Stars moves into (an albeit distant) second, with 2016 progeny earnings over $2.2-million (click here). In terms of worldwide black-type from Northern Hemisphere-sired crops, Galileo leads in all black-type categories, with 21 Black-Type Winners and 40 Black-Type Horses; 10 Group Winners and 26 Group Horses; and three Group 1 winners and eight Group 1 Horses.

Sunday's G1 Prix Du Jockey-Club (French Derby), run over 2100 meters (10 1/2 furlongs) since 2005, is a different kettle of fish. To many observers (including this one) the shortening of the French Derby distance weakened both that race and the G1 Irish Derby, since the French 12-furlong horses now point to the G1 Grand Prix De Paris, run over 2400 metres on Bastille Day, July 14. Previously, when the French Derby was a 12-furlong race run the day after the Epsom Derby, it set up a potential meeting of the winners, and other combatants, in Ireland; but now we don't even know who the best French 12-furlong 3-year-old is until well after the Irish Derby. All that goes into the 'unintended consequences' file. Meanwhile, the new-look 2100m French Derby was won in good style by Almanzor, trained by Jean-Claude Rouget and one of just 10 winners from only 20 foals from the first crop of Haras D'Etreham's Wootton Bassett, with arguably the best-bred colt on the planet, Zarak, by Dubawi out of the unbeaten 'Arc' winner Zarakava, second, and Dicton, by Lawman, third. Wootton Bassett is perhaps better known in Britain than in France, even though he won the 2010 G1 Jean-Luc Lagardere to become champion 2-year-old in France, and stands at a top French stud farm; he was from the first crop by Darley's Iffraaj, a son of Zafonic, and before winning the Lagardere, trained by Richard Fahey, he had racked up wins in two rich six-furlong sales races in Britain. He led all the way to win the Lagardere to finish his 2-year-old season unbeaten in five starts. Though he was unplaced in four starts as a 3-year-old, they were all in really top Group 1 races, so for Wootton Bassett to sire a good horse–not a surprise. His patronage up until now has perhaps suffered because he really only ran the one good race in France, so French breeders probably didn't know him that well, but after this result it's a certainty his patronage will improve; look what a first-crop Classic winner did for Le Havre. Almanzor's win did vault Wootton Bassett into second spot, behind Coolmore's Zoffany, on the cumulative European second-crop sire list (click here).

One observation which seems important about the weekend's Classics were that they were all run on soft or at least slow ground. There had been an inch of rain at Epsom three days before the race, and the Paris area has had massive rain recently. The times were slow; European 3-year-olds on decent ground will run a mile and a half in 2:30 and change (in America and Japan they would run well under 2:30 on fast ground). Minding won the Oaks in 2:42.66 on Friday, and Harzand won the Derby in 2:40.09 on Saturday. These are not fast times. The times did seem to improve some at Chantilly on Sunday, yet Almanzor won the Jockey-Club in 2:11.62, the slowest time in 12 runnings of the race at 2100m. There has to be the possibility of different results for some of the contestants on firmer ground as the season progresses.

NEXT WEEK: Royal Ascot, best week of racing on the planet, period. Our column next week will be on Thursday, after the first two days. Meantime, a great weekend of racing is on tap at Belmont–20 black-type races tomorrow through Saturday, headlined of course by Exaggerator (Curlin) at even-money in Saturday's GI Belmont S.

Contact Bill Oppenheim at [email protected] (cc [email protected]).