John Oxx has no fears about soft ground for Born To Sea ahead of his eagerly-awaited second run in Sunday’s Killavullan Stakes at Leopardstown.
The juvenile has plenty of pressure on him as a half-brother to the yard’s brilliant colt Sea The Stars who retired after an unbeaten three-year-old campaign that included victories in the 2000 Guineas, the Derby and the Arc.
Born To Sea, who has another esteemed sibling in dual Derby winner Galileo, made the perfect start to his career when recording an impressive victory on his racecourse debut in a Curragh Listed race last month.
“He’s an intended runner and he seems to cope quite well with soft ground, so we’re not too afraid of that,” Oxx told At The Races.
“We’ll have to see what the ground actually ends up like. We had almost three inches (75mm) of rain on Monday and the ground was heavy after that.
“We wouldn’t really want a heavy-ground slog, but we’ve had dry weather after that and the ground is improving.
“I’m anxious to run as he’s had a good preparation, he’s in good shape and he’s ready to go. He needs the experience.”
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