John Oxx is weighing up his Classic options for the season ahead with Sea The Stars and Arazan both contenders for major honours.
Sea The Stars won two of his three starts as a juvenile, most recently beating off stablemate Mourayan in the Beresford Stakes at the Curragh.
He holds entries in both the English and Irish 2000 Guineas as well as the Epsom Derby, but a slight setback has left plans up in the air.
‘He has a Guineas entry at Newmarket and the plan was to make up our minds through April whether we were going to go for that or not,’ said Oxx.
‘That is still the plan but unfortunately he had a little temperature last Tuesday. He's going to be without a canter for a week or so, so that is going to hold us up for two and a half weeks and we will have to see then what effect that has on our plans.
‘It's still six weeks away so it's still a possibility that he could be trained for the Guineas, but we're just going to have to monitor the situation now and play it by ear.
‘He was ahead of schedule up to that point, and working very nicely. He's ahead of where we need to be which is a help.
‘The Derby is probably the major consideration at the end of the day but there is a question mark about his stamina. He's by Cape Cross and I know he got an Oaks winner in Ouija board, but we're just unsure how far he is going to stay and that is why we want to keep the option of the English and Irish Guineas open.’
Arazan was hugely impressive on the first two starts of his career and was far from disgraced when third behind Mastercraftsman and Shaweel in the National Stakes last time.
‘The ground was bottomless the last day, it was the worst I've seen at the Curragh,’ Oxx told At The Races.
‘I'm inclined to excuse him because of that but you have to hand it to the first two who fought out the finish.
‘The plan with him is to run him in the Guineas if we can first time out but there is a little question mark about firm ground for him - he might not have liked it as heavy as it was in the National Stakes but he certainly wouldn't want it the other way either. We'll make a late decision on that. He's had a good winter and his work is pleasing us.’
