Relaxed Oxx counting down to Derby bid

John Oxx remains open minded about whether Sea The Stars will have the stamina to last out the mile and a half of the Investec Derby on Saturday week.

The half-brother to 2001 Epsom hero Galileo bids to become the first horse since Nashwan 20 years ago to complete the 2000 Guineas/Derby double.

While Galileo was by middle-distance sire Sadler’s Wells, Sea The Stars’s sire Cape Cross was a miler and Oxx admits on pedigree his ability to stay is unknown.

But the Currabeg trainer, who won the Derby with Sinndar in 2000, is hoping Sea The Stars has improved since Newmarket and that the ground will not be soft.

“He has come out of the race very well. He’s a terrific horse constitution-wise and eats and drinks everything,” Oxx told the “Breakfast With The Stars” at the Surrey track on Thursday.

“The race took nothing out of him, he didn’t lose any weight and it didn’t knock him out of his rhythm. Hopefully he’s going the right way and will progress a little bit.

“Whether anything behind him can beat him the next time depends on his stamina. If they stay better than he does, they can reverse it.

“It’s all down to whether he stays or not. On pedigree it could go either way, but I don’t spend too much time thinking about it.

“It’s unlikely to be soft ground, (although) it has happened. If it rains on the day it might be on the soft side, which would be a big worry, but statistically it’s unlikely.”

Galileo was the first of Aidan O’Brien’s two Derby winners and he says the next few days will be crucial to finalising his plans from his nine entries.

Stable jockey Johnny Murtagh has yet to decide on his mount after O’Brien’s horses dominated most of the trials in recent weeks.

“I suppose everything we have left in are possibles. They all came through their trials well and deserve to have their chance,” said O’Brien.

“If the ground is safe, we’d love to have plenty of runners. The Derby is a very important race and we are very lucky to have such a nice few horses this year.

“Johnny will ride them in their next couple of pieces of work and try to make up his own mind.

“Everybody knows he has a soft spot for Rip Van Winkle, Fame and Glory won well at Leopardstown, Age Of Aquarius won at Lingfield and should come forward, the two who ran at York (Black Bear Island and Freemantle) should come forward and the two at Chester (Golden Sword and Masterofthehorse) should come forward.

“The next few days will tell us a lot more.”