Trainer hoping for bold show over 1m 2f

Trainer John Oxx is hoping for a bold show in tomorrow's Eclipse stakes at Sandown from dual Classic winner Sea The Stars, who drops to ten furlongs, which many expect to be his best distance.

Oxx told At The Races: "You'd hope he's improved since Epsom, the race will tell us that, and the Epsom race took nothing out of him. He bounced out of that and continued with his work with his usual enthusiasm.

"You expect three-year-olds to improve as the year goes on, even the average ones, but the good ones tend to improve even more. He's only had five races so we'd have to be hopeful that there is improvement to come as the year goes on.

"Nobody really knows what his best trip is, only his performances on the racecourse over the course of the year will tell us that.

"When he ran in the Guineas, he showed so much speed over a mile it indicated 10 furlongs should be no problem and I think he stayed perfectly well at Epsom - I think he would have stayed at the Curragh too. Time will tell and at the end of the year I'll be able to tell everybody what his best distance is.

"The statistics are favourable enough towards three-year-olds. Other people are saying it is Derby winners that have the problem but they are basing that on two of them being beaten recently.

"They both ran well, Authorized's race was a very messy event, Motivator ran very well but he was just beaten by Oratorio, who beat him again in the Irish Champion Stakes so I'm not worried about that statistic."