It was in 2009 that Sea The Stars won his Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
He was bred to be great, a half-brother to Galileo nonetheless, and was. He was the horse who defined John Oxx’s training career, provided the glorious final chapter in Mick Kinane’s remarkable story in the saddle too.
He was beaten once, on debut as a two-year-old at the Curragh in mid-summer. From there it was a story of eight successive wins, one-a-month as a three-year-old. From the time when the leaves were beginning to appear on the trees at Newmarket in May, to the month they fell from them in Paris in October.
He overcame a troubled preparation to win that year's 2000 Guineas, the undulations and unique test of the Derby at Epsom a month later. He routed Rip Van Winkle and Conduit in the Coral-Eclipse, saw off Mastercraftsman and two stablemates in a tactical but fascinating four-runner Juddmonte International.
And on he rolled, ever further clear of Fame And Glory and Mastercraftsman again in the Irish Champion before Kinane, in the yellow silks of owner Christopher Tsui, stuck to the far rail and dashed for glory down the final straight at just plain old Longchamp in those days.
“He’s going on the inside on Sea The Stars, he’s got six or seven lengths to make up, he’ll have to be a champion. Stacelita races into the lead now, she’s in front. He is a champion I reckon. He’s got the run now in the centre, he’s out after the leader, he picks up Stacelita, he powers clear! Sea The Stars racing away, perfection in equine form, a horse of a lifetime, he’s just going to go on and win the Arc by two lengths,” Jim McGrath roared in our front rooms on the BBC as the favourite hit the line that day.
Celebrations broke out in the stands, a true champion. A horse to savour.
