John Oxx: 'Sea The Stars was the perfect horse - the best Irish horse ever'
Richard Forristal talks to the legendary trainer following his recent retirement
Since 2004, a majestic, six-foot bronze sculpture of Ridgewood Pearl has graced the old entrance bailiwick of the Curragh racecourse, her noble and alert poise captured elegantly in mid-flight.
A regal edifice, her spectre used to wield a suitably grand welcome to patrons as they alighted. Now that the turnstiles have been moved to the western aspect of the new layout, it no longer commands the same prominence, but Sean and Anne Coughlan’s homebred is still one of only three horses immortalised in bronze at the headquarters of Irish racing along with Nijinsky and Vintage Crop.
All of 25 years after that epic Breeders’ Cup Mile triumph at Belmont Park under Johnny Murtagh brought the curtain down on a spectacular three-year-old campaign, with an official mark of 126 she remains the highest-rated filly to emerge from this little island in modern times. During that seminal 1995 season, she became the first filly to win Group 1s in four different countries.
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Published on 7 November 2020inInterviews
Last updated 14:48, 7 November 2020
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- 'There was a moment of rage - but he's a magnificent horse and it suits me that he's passed under the radar'
- When Patrick Mullins met Jack Kennedy: 'You could say I've been lucky - they're just broken bones and they heal'
- Richard Hannon: 'When you're dead and buried the only things you're remembered by are your Classic winners'
- Paul Carberry: 'I jumped up on to the rafters. It tended to be all very strait-laced in those days, but I changed that'
- 'All of us who ply our trade training horses are dreamers - to put so much into it you must have a dream'
- 'There was a moment of rage - but he's a magnificent horse and it suits me that he's passed under the radar'
- When Patrick Mullins met Jack Kennedy: 'You could say I've been lucky - they're just broken bones and they heal'
- Richard Hannon: 'When you're dead and buried the only things you're remembered by are your Classic winners'
- Paul Carberry: 'I jumped up on to the rafters. It tended to be all very strait-laced in those days, but I changed that'