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For all those in the ‘nothing to prove’ camp it might not be such a bad idea to try and have a read of John Randall’s piece in yesterday’s Post. It is a shame that conceding weight to a new Classic generation is not seen as something to prove.
I don’t think anyone would argue that he retires as one of the ‘greats’ the only question appears to be where you would put him in that illustrious pecking order. It seems Sea The Star’s final standing will revolve heavily on the ratings of Fame And Glory, Rip Van Winkle and Mastercraftsman. It wouldn’t be too difficult to argue that all three have been overrated.
Getting rid of weight-for-age and sex allowances in Group races would be a start. Championship races, a new class above Group Ones, would then only be open to 4YO plus.
These sorts of changes are needed to make racing a true meritocracy and to discourage premature retirement of the best 3YOs. At present in flat racing all the accolades go to the youth champions. It must be the only sport that works that way. I can understand people saying that Sea The Stars has nothing to prove the way the system works now, but of course it is nonsense.
Totally agree with Ugly mare (great post) and TDK
Its a dreadful decision. Just because its the usual tactic, doesnt make it any more palatable
As for the money…is Tsui skint or something? Thats garbage
This is like Peterson immediately retiring after his Oval century in 2005 with I "have nothing more to prove" or Rooney packing it in after a hat trick against brazil
What is there to prove? Beat another generation thats what. Secure that oh so rare second arc. Ascot? Irish leger perhaps?
The image of flat racing being a sport dominated by superich tight bastards obsessed with nothing other than the bottom line lives on…
Sea The Stars has really nothing left to prove in his 3 Y O season but would’ve had everything to prove at 4
Seriously though, I’m disappointed by his retirement. It’s no wonder that top flat races (the King George being a prime example) are now losing their appeal due to the lack of brilliant 4 Y O’s.
This decision is just a complete travesty for the sport.
With a 3yo Filly it can just about be comprehended because they will only have so many foals, but with a 3yo Colt the idea of retiring them at the end of a 3yo season is wearing thin with me. No one expects him to race to the age of 12, no one even expects him to race beyond the age of say 5, but there is/was no reason not to race him next season.
The idea that he is worth such and such money, therefore racing him next season is too much of a risk is unbelievable to me. The horse seems tough and durable enough, we’ve never heard of physical soundness issues. Ok, I doubt we would if he had any physical issues. He could injure himself tomorrow, he could injure himself in 6 months time, he could have injured himself before his first start. Is there any greater risk of him being seriously injured by racing as a 4yo than after the Derby? Of course not.
And then there’s the idea that "he’s got nothing to prove." There will be those that do feel that, fair enough, but there is so much more STS could have achieved in his racing career with nothing to prove. He could easily have been the superstar for the first Dubai World Cup at Meydan, he could have won at Royal Ascot, a second Arc etc. Just about anything was possible. Maybe Oxx would have considered the July Cup to laugh at Aidan and say "I’ve done it with a middle distance champion." If this is how flat racing is, and will continue to be, then why should anyone bother watching? And so what if STS would have been defeated next year. Champions can become greater if they come back from defeat in sport. I’ll have to find a way of telling Roger Federer that because he won the French Open this year there’s no point in continuing.
STS raced just 9 times in his racing career. Am I right in thinking Usain Bolt races more in one major Athletics championship than STS has in his whole career?
Sea The Stars has really nothing left to prove in his 3 Y O season but would’ve had everything to prove at 4
This is exactly my thinking. I am in the ‘nothing to prove’ camp in so much as the BC classic was a lose-lose proposition for the horse right now. STS already is proven as a superstar 3yo, a victory at SA would merely seal the deal that STS is a "superstar" 3yo. A flop would have a great impact on his rep however. It would rub off that brilliant superstar lustre the horse has right now.
I would have loved to see him return as a 4yo too, but £60m is a lot of money in anyone’s book. The question you have to ask is would he be worth more as a stallion after winning a KGVI, Arc, et al, as a 4yo? Suppose that next year’s crop are not all that? I can see all the "he beat nothing" arguements now. Another lose-lose proposition.
The real money is in the breeding side of racing. As seasoned followers of the sport, we all know that. Don’t we?Sea The Stars has really nothing left to prove in his 3 Y O season but would’ve had everything to prove at 4
This is exactly my thinking. I am in the ‘nothing to prove’ camp in so much as the BC classic was a lose-lose proposition for the horse right now. STS already is proven as a superstar 3yo, a victory at SA would merely seal the deal that STS is a "superstar" 3yo. A flop would have a great impact on his rep however. It would rub off that brilliant superstar lustre the horse has right now.
I would have loved to see him return as a 4yo too, but £60m is a lot of money in anyone’s book. The question you have to ask is would he be worth more as a stallion after winning a KGVI, Arc, et al, as a 4yo? Suppose that next year’s crop are not all that? I can see all the "he beat nothing" arguements now. Another lose-lose proposition.
The real money is in the breeding side of racing. As seasoned followers of the sport, we all know that. Don’t we?Erm, the real money, to me, is in the betting ‘n’ winning side of racing
He’d be worth more in the hearts of millions of racing fans if, let’s say, he reigned supreme at 4 years old. I’m prety sure he’d be worth more as a stallion if he conquered all at 4 too.
Racing is about seeing our favourite horses run against each other. Stud, in my opinion, is a well beaten second.Pleased to hear that he’s missing the Breeders’ Cup, but displeased (but not surprised) that he’s never going to race again.
Nothing more to prove? This sort of nonsense, apparently widely believed, is one of the main reasons why the future of flat racing is so dismal.
These days, the idea that a champion racehorse should retire simply because he
is
a champion seems mad to most people. STS’s Arc win really delivered the magnetism of top class racing to a wider audience, and now he’s just b*ggered off.
What will people whose interest’s been kindled by this great horse make of it? Answer: they’ll think "what sort of ‘sport’ is this?"
Erm, the real money, to me, is in the betting ‘n’ winning side of racing
He’d be worth more in the hearts of millions of racing fans if, let’s say, he reigned supreme at 4 years old. I’m prety sure he’d be worth more as a stallion if he conquered all at 4 too.
Racing is about seeing our favourite horses run against each other. Stud, in my opinion, is a well beaten second.I agree, but I have learned to live with the dissapointments that us purists have to accept. I’d love to see Sea (couldn’t resist the freudian slip) return as a 4yo, but accepted long ago in the summer that the Arc or BC would probably be his last race. It’s just the way the sport is. Money rules. Black type comes a distant second.
The correct decision imo. The horse of a lifetime who bequeaths us life lasting memories. The Eclipse his best book performance, the Arc his finest hour. Congratulations to connections who have handled the horse, his campaign and associated publicity in exemplary fashion.
The Irish Champion was his piece de resistance IMO
I agree, but I have learned to live with the dissapointments that us purists have to accept..
The first step is for Racing to accept the fact that the "inevitably" of horses such as STS retiring at the age of 3 damages the sport to a very significant degree.
Then – rather than shrugging shoulders and trotting out all the cliches about "money ruling" – actually knock some heads together and DO something about it. Why not provide some real incentives to keep potential Stallions in training at 4yo?
Some ideas
a) (stolen from above) – scrap wfa for the best races and make the all-aged G1s level weight races for all horses 3yo+. These races should be determining which is the best horse – the idea of factoring in some assumed immaturity is pretty absurd (imagine the equivalent in human athetics – giving some 16yo a 5 metre headstart in the 100m and declaring him a champion "with nothing left to prove" for beating his elders – ridiculous!)b) restrict certain valuable races to horses sired by Stallions who won a Group race at the age of 4+ (do this for the Classics if you really want it to work!)
c) Impose a stallion fee "cap" on horses who didn’t win a Group race at 4+
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I also don’t really understand why the breeding "superpowers" would be opposed to such changes. It is absolutely inevitable that the very best Stallions would still be Coolmore et al stallions. Yes, some potential stallions would have their reputations dented at 4yo+, some might even get injured and be unable to take up stallion duties. But, you would also get a few very good horses proving themselves to be "super champions" rather than just very good 3yos. The sport benefits, more people get interested, more money circulates in the sport and the big breeders will be even bigger winners than they are now.
Apologies for post length…
some thoughts on the subject
Secretariat was a bit of a flop as a sire.(I said a bit)
Cigar ran to great success as a racehorse but seemed to lose it as a sire.Not unlike fitness buffs.
Yeats has been running with great success as a7-8yo If he is a big success as a stallion will Coolmore regret not retiring him as a 4yo? Will the loss of the money be compensated for by the pleasure he gave to big John? The credit he brought to Ballydoyle at Ascot where John sits next to the Queen!
Will John Oxx become Sir John?Even if he doesn’t play cricket?b) restrict certain valuable races to horses sired by Stallions who won a Group race at the age of 4+ (do this for the Classics if you really want it to work!)
A good idea, imo. I made a similar suggestion – that offspring of sires which had won Group races as 4yos+ should get allowances in maidens – in my blog, posted at 4:30 today (in case anyone thinks I was cribbing). http://betting.betfair.com/horse-racing/
In both cases, the idea is to use the programme book to entice stallion owners to change their ways rather than to insist, vainly, that they do so, or to sit on our hands and do nothing.
I felt at the start of this years flat campaign we were in for an abundance of Group winning 3yo"s and with the likes of Mastercraftsman.Rip van winkle,Fame and glory and Delegators 2000gns run we were not dissapointed.I thought Youmzain was the best of the older 11/2m horses and he proved to be just that! Unfortunately i backed most of the above to beat Sea the Stars at some point during the season and he made them all look a class below himself!Sea the stars was one of those horses who always had an ace up his sleeve should he ever need to play it. I thought Aidan had three Aces,but Sts was a Royal flush!Not only was he an awesome racehorse, he stood out from others on looks and temperament,had connections kept him in training next year it would only be for the King George and in hindsight he would have won this years anyway!I never backed Sea the stars but i very nearly took 7/1 for the Arc,it took that long for the penny to drop with me!I wish we could have seen him battle against a Giants Causeway but obviously there wasn"t a horse who could get the gloves off him!One thing is for sure he was the best kept secret in Ireland last year!
But ultimately it’s decisions like this retirement that reminds me why I fell asleep in the first place: a sport that isn’t sporting because the entertainment a horse provides the public on the racecourse is subserviant to the mis-placed importance a small number of self-important wealthy folk place on the trivial, frivolous and all-but-pointless ‘business’ of breeding.It’s all so deeply, deeply unsatisfactory but thanks for those few months STS you lovely unfulfilled Colt
Another fine post from Ugly Mare
A sensible decision.
STS is unbeaten in 6 top level races at the rate of one per month over a variety of distances this season.That should have pleased the "campaign them openly and regularly" brigade.
He looked to be going in his coat and hot enough on Arc day.
He has done enough, I’d have hated to see him flown halfway round the world for something to go wrong and tarnish his reputation at the Breeders Cup.
He is estimated to be worth £60-£100m as a stallion and the economics of flat racing are that he was always going to be retired to stud.
He has won his classics and G1s- why hang around to see what emerges from the classic generation next season?
Most of the older horses who remain in training do so because they haven’t won their classics.
If you want to see horses come back year on year then watch ageing geldings run round Cheltenham. Who wants to see Harchibald try novice chasing at rising 11? Horse deserves better.An bigger incentive, of some sort, has to be offered to connections of successful 3yo’s to get them to stay in training at four – but what?
Maybe, hopefully, this huge negative will bring a positive by way of radical change, or am I being an silly optimist?
Get Simon Cowell on board
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