Born To Sea slashed for Classics after debut win
BORN TO SEA was catapulted to the head of the markets for next season's Classics after a taking performance on debut in the Listed Blenheim Stakes at the Curragh on Saturday.
Half-brother to the great Sea The Stars, the juvenile won by a length and a half, and was made new favourite for the 2,000 Guineas by Paddy Power at 6-1, although William Hill were more circumspect, going 12-1 (from 33).
For the Derby, the John Oxx-trained colt is now a general 16-1 chance, joining Camelot at the head of the market with most firms.
Johnny Murtagh had to wait to make his move in the race, but once switched to the outside, the 5-2 favourite won well.
Oxx said: "The main objective was to let him have a nice experience today. It was a good performance to win a Listed race on his first run.
"He's a lot more precocious than his brother [Sea The Stars] you could nearly have run him in April. The plan was to run in July but he got sore shins.
"He did very well to come off the pace and quicken up the way he did as he was quite green. I'm not expecting him to be his brother again but if we win something nice that's great."
When asked about future plans, Oxx added: "He'll run next in the Group 3 Killavullan Stakes at Leopardstown at the end of October. That will be his only other run this year."
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