2000 Guineas to be the next target for John Oxx’s Born To Sea
John Oxx trained two-year-old Irish colt, Born To Sea positioned second in the JRA Killavullan Stakes Group 3 on 30th
October at Leopardstown which was contested by seven on the field. The defeat has not made Oxx loose complete faith in Born To Sea thus he is prepared to enter him in the 2000 Guineas for the next season.
P O’Brien trained Nephrite won the juvenile race with J P O’Brien riding. There were two more representations from the same stable that finished the race one after the other.
It was Ishvara who came fourth with Seamie Heffernan and was followed by stablemate, Vault, being ridden by W M Lordan.
The reason that John Oxx could not stay disappointed for long was because after the race ended, it was found that Born To Sea had torn a muscle which was apparently when he broke from the stall.
Being the runner-up with an injury was not a minor deal as Invincible Spirit’s colt did put in a sincere effort for leaving his mark.
"We'll just see now how everything goes in the spring and see how he measures up, but Newmarket is the first objective. It wouldn't be a long-term injury. It wasn't minor on the day, obviously, but it's minor in that it's not something that will be a problem
in the future”, said the trainer John Oxx.
It was fortunate for both ends, the connections and the horse that the reason for lagging behind was disclosed otherwise Born To Sea might not have seemed to be the deserving candidate for the next year’s 2000 Guineas. The injury that he has sustained is
not a long term sort and will thankfully not impact the future performances of the colt.
"That (2000 Guineas) would be the plan, we're still hoping for it”, said Oxx.
Born To Sea’s short experience has not seen him going below the second position, being all the more reason for him to be given a chance and tested for the 2000 Guineas next year. If he can manage being a runner-up with an injury, it will surely be interesting
to see what he can accomplish without one.
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