It's unlikely that the win of Serenade The Stars (IRE) in Saturday's Vale Jack Franklin Hcp (2500m) at Flemington will get him on the Sea The Stars honour roll although the victory of Sea Of Class in the Group 1 Darley Irish Oaks at the Curragh most certainly will.
With James Doyle in the saddle, Sea Of Class came from last to nail the Epsom Oaks heroine Forever Together (Galileo) in the final few strides with Mary Tudor (Dawn Approach) a length and a quarter back in third. (photo Sporting Life).
It was another big race success in Ireland for trainer William Haggas who sent out the Foxwedge filly Urban Fox to win the Pretty Polly Stakes last month.
It was just the fourth trip to the races for Sea Of Class who debuted with a second at Newmarket on April 18 before two Listed stakes wins at Newbury.
Racing in the same colours as her sire, Sea Of Class was a 170,000 guineas purchase by the Ling Tsui's Sunderland Holdings at the Tattersalls December Yearling Sale.
She becomes the fifth stakes winner out of the remarkable producer Holy Moon (Hernando) who has three winners of the Group II Oaks d'Italia, Charity Line (Manduro), Final Score (Dylan Thomas and Cherry Collect (Oratorio).
Charity Line and Final Score also captured the Group 1 Premio Lydia Tesio, while half-brother Back On Board (Nathaniel) was runner-up in last year's Group II Derby Italiano.
While Sea The Moon is likely to target the Group 1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe the goals for the Peter Gelagotis-trained Serenade The Stars are decidedly less ambitious.
"He profiles a bit like a nice Bagot Handicap horse but he's a young horse so we can hopefully take him through the grades and see where we end up," stable representative Gelagotis said after the OTI Racing import rolled to a two lengths win at Flemington. (photo Grant Courtney) .
"He's a thinker. He has put a couple of wobbly runs here and there but he's been a lot more genuine this preparation.
"There was good genuine tempo today and it was really good to see him relax and breathe and really be strong late."
Imported to Australia on the back of wins at Chelmsford and Kempton, Serenade The Star advanced his record to 5 wins, 2 seconds 1 third from 17 starts with earnings of $177,603.
He is a son of the lightly raced Bertolini mare Silent Serenade who is a half-sister to dual Group III winner Leporello (Danehill) and the Listed winners Poppy Carew (Danehill) and Calypso Grant (Danehill)
A half-brother to the immortal Galileo, Sea The Stars has sired nine Group 1 winners to date.
