Insurance not the issue in determining Stars’ future
TRAINER John Oxx has hit back at claims that wonderhorse Sea The Stars will not run in next month’s Breeders’ Cup because of spiralling insurance costs.
Reports have suggested that the colt, whose l’Arc de Triomphe win on Sunday confirmed his status as one of the all-time greats, will not travel to Santa Anita, California, because no-one will underwrite the risk of insuring him with the supercolt believed to be worth around £60m.
Sea The Stars is expected to be retired at any time following his record-breaking run at Longchamp, but although Oxx is in no rush to commit him to a final hurrah in California, he insists inurance is not the issue.
“There has been no decision yet,”Oxx said. “We will let the dust settle and it will probably be the end of next week before we know any more. I am not involved in the insurance side of things but you don’t need any extra insurance to travel a horse – and horses travel all of the time.”
John Clarke, racing manager to the Tsui family, who own the horse, said the final decision as to whether he runs in Santa Anita lies with the trainer. “John Oxx will decide if Sea The Stars runs in the Breeders Cup Classic after seeing how the horse is and how he comes out of the Arc,” he said. “The insurance costs aren’t a factor.
“I can say with 100 per cent certainty that one person will decide if Sea The Stars runs and that is John.”