Tuesday 23 July 2019
SEA THE STARS’ daughter STAR CATCHER proved impossible to catch when putting in a faultless pillar to post performance in Saturday’s Irish Oaks. Under a confident ride from Frankie Dettori, the filly demonstrated both speed and stamina, staying on well in the final stages of the Curragh classic to secure her third success in four outings this season.
The progressive STAR CATCHER had already shown her talent when lifting the Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot and she fully justified the decision of her trainer John Gosden to supplement the filly into the Irish Oaks.
Gosden was full of praise for the Anthony Oppenheimer homebred, and her sire. “She’s a lovely filly and she’s really done well since Royal Ascot. It just seemed an obvious thing to come here. She's out of a good mare and is by SEA THE STARS, who, to me, is a phenomenally good stallion.”
John Gosden is familiar with the quality of the Gilltown Stud stallion, as SEA THE STARS was the sire of TAGHROODA who won the Epsom Oaks before securing the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes and taking third place in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 2014.
STAR CATCHER follows in the footsteps of another top-clas filly by SEA THE STARS, as the late SEA OF CLASS took the honours in the Irish Oaks last year prior to success in the Yorkshire Oaks, and an excellent second place in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Bred at Anthony Oppenheimer’s Hascombe and Valiant Studs, STAR CATCHER is out of Horse Chestnut mare Lynnwood Chase. She is now likely to be aimed towards the Group 1 Prix Vermeille on 15th September at Longchamp.
The filly is the fifth Classic scorer for her sire, whose dual Derby winning son HARZAND also stands at Gilltown Stud in Ireland, and the twelfth individual Group 1 winner. The stallion has enjoyed great success in 2019 with STRADIVARIUS and CRYSTAL OCEAN.
Updated on 23/07/2019.
