Huge boost for Oxx following arrival of Godolphin juveniles

John Oxx has received a big boost through the arrival at his Currabeg Stables of five handsomely bred Godolphin two-year-olds.

The quintet are reported to have come through their pre-training regimes well and should all be ready to run this season.

Joe Osborne, chief executive of Godolphin, said on Saturday: “We have a long-standing relationship with John Oxx and we are looking forward to seeing the blue colours of Godolphin under his name this season.

“We have sent him five nice two-year-olds and hopefully we will have a lot of success with him.

“The five horses we sent him have nice pedigrees and they have just come out of a pre-training facility in Newmarket, so they should be ready to run this season. They are all straightforward individuals and hopefully they will do well for him.”

Oxx becomes Godolphin's fourth trainer in Ireland, where their roster already includes Mick Halford, Jim Bolger and Willie McCreery. The owners have 55 horses in training in Ireland in total.

Sea The Stars: superstar racehorse put Oxx in the headlines in 2009Credit: Gerry Cranham

Sheikh Mohammed enjoyed success with Oxx in the early 1990s as horses like George Augustus, Foresee, Witness Box, Heart Lake and Russian Snows landed high-profile races in his famous maroon and white silks, and news of the relationship's renewal is a considerable boost for the trainer and his team.

In 2013 Oxx lost the patronage of the Aga Khan, for whom he trained greats Sinndar, Alamshar and Azamour among others, while last year the Tsui family, who enjoyed spectacular success with the trainer via Sea The Stars, chose not to have their horses trained in Ireland any more.