Sea Of Class denies Forever Together in pulsating Darley Irish Oaks

Sea Of Class came of age in a memorable finish to Saturday's Darley Irish Oaks at the Curragh, downing Epsom heroine Forever Together in the shadow of the post to become the latest Classic scorer for the great Sea The Stars.

In a performance her illustrious sire would have been proud of, Sea Of Class was switched off at the rear of the field by James Doyle and given every chance to prove her stamina under the most patient of rides.

It looked as if Galileo's Oaks winner Forever Together was about to become a dual Classic winner but Sea Of Class got up in the dying strides instead to join Taghrooda, Harzand and Sea The Moon as Classic winners for the Gilltown Stud-based sire.

Saturday's race presented Galileo with his first opportunity since Kew Gardens' Group 1 success in France last week to equal his sire Sadler's Wells' tally of 73 elite-level scorers and the market had confidence that Magic Wand could do the job.

The Ribblesdale Stakes heroine never really threatened though and nor did Bye Bye Baby, the other runner in the seven-strong field who could have tied the record.

It's anybody's year!

If 2018's British and Irish Classics will be remembered for anything, it will be the extent to which the glory has been shared around a number of different stallions.

Sea Of Class's success on Saturday means that all eight of the Classics run in Britain and Ireland so far have gone to runners by different sires - a far cry from the dominance by Galileo of recent seasons.

Sire (Winner, race)
Deep Impact (Saxon Warrior, 2,000 Guineas)
Champs Elysees (Billesdon Brook, 1,000 Guineas)
New Approach (Masar, Derby)
Galileo (Forever Together, Oaks)
Holy Roman Emperor (Romanised, Irish 2,000 Guineas)
Mastercraftsman (Alpha Centauri, Irish 1,000 Guineas)
Camelot (Latrobe, Irish Derby)
Sea The Stars (Sea Of Class, Irish Oaks)

It was ironic then that it should be Galileo's half-brother who provided the winner, in a result that yet again pays tribute to the remarkable broodmare Urban Sea, with four of the first five home boasting her in their pedigrees.

Galileo's pursuit of the record was of little concern to those behind Sea Of Class, however, including Johnny McKeever, who bought the filly for 170,000 guineas from the Tattersalls December Yearling Sale on behalf of Ling Tsui's Sunderland Holdings.

"Even at the time I thought to myself what a lovely broodmare, and what we paid for her is easily what she's worth on her breeding," McKeever told Racing Post Bloodstock prior to Saturday's race.

Those words ring all the more true now with a Group 1 success on her CV on only her fourth start to go along with a pair of Listed successes prior to Saturday.

Being so lightly raced, it is not hard to imagine that there is more to come from Sea Of Class, who could well enjoy a summer not dissimilar to her father's of 2009.

He won a Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and Taghrooda came third for him in 2014. Sea Of Class must now be considered a contender to hand him his first as a sire.

Race result and replay