Stradivarius lands million bonus to extend excellent Ebor week for sire

Sea The Stars has proved the sire of this week's Ebor meeting at York, with daughter Sea Of Class breezing to victory in the Yorkshire Oaks on Thursday and son Stradivarius scooping the Weatherbys Hamilton Stayers' Million by taking the Lonsdale Cup on Friday.

Those results continue a fine season for the Gilltown Stud stallion, as he has also been represented by Group 2 winners Crystal Ocean, Knight To Behold and Night Music and the Group 1-placed Cloth Of Stars.

The son of Cape Cross is not noted as a source of precocity, but his two-year-olds have been in good form of late too, with the Hamdan Al Maktoum-owned filly Layaleena winning on debut at Newmarket on Friday and his juveniles Boerhan, Star Terms and Waldstern also scoring this month.

Sea The Stars, the world champion of 2009, stands at Gilltown Stud at a fee of €135,000.

His star son Stradivarius – who had also taken the Yorkshire Cup, Gold Cup and Goodwood Cup to earn the Stayers' Million in the first season it was offered – was bred by owner Bjorn Nielsen and is the seventh living foal out of the Bering mare Private Life, a dual winner and Listed-placed over an extended 12 furlongs for the Wildenstein family.

The dam was bought on Nielsen's behalf as a nine-year-old at Tattersalls in 2006 by Blandford Bloodstock for 70,000gns.

Sea The Stars: stands at Gilltown Stud at a fee of €135,000Credit: Patrick McCann

She has also produced German Group 3 winner Persian Storm, South African Listed-placed Magical Eve and Abu Dhabi Group 3 third Rembrandt Van Rijn.

Private Life is a half-sister to Listed winners Parisienne and Pretty Tough, with Parisienne featuring as granddam of Melbourne Cup hero Protectionist.

She is out of Poughkeepsie – a winning daughter of Sadler's Wells and Pawneese, Daniel Wildenstein's brilliant mare who landed the Oaks, Prix de Diane and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in a golden three-year-old season in 1976.

Pawneese hails from the Wildensteins' awesome 'P' family of Peintre Celebre, Policy Maker and Planteur.

Sadly Private Life died in 2015 without appearing to have left a filly foal for Nielsen to breed from and continue the line - the Oratorio mare Magical Eve having been sold to South Africa.

Sea Of Class, meanwhile, was bred by Razza del Velino out of the remarkable mare Holy Moon, a Listed-winning daughter of Hernando who has also produced the Italian Oaks winners Charity Line, Cherry Collect and Final Score, as well as the Group 3 scorer Wordless.

An Oasis Dream half-brother to Sea Of Class, already named Honor And Pleasure, will be consigned to Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale by Jamie Railton.

Sea Of Class races for the Tsui family after being purchased by McKeever Bloodstock for 170,000gns at the Tattersalls December Yearling Sale.

Now among the favourites for the Arc, she could complete an extraordinary inter-generational sequence in the Longchamp spectacular, as Sea The Stars carried the Tsuis' silks to victory in it, as did his legendary dam Urban Sea.

An amazing week at York for Sea The Stars could get even better as his son Sea The Lion figures as one of the leading fancies for the prestigious Ebor Handicap on Saturday for trainer Jarlath Fahey.

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