Ocean Park may be something of a slow burner, but the Waikato Stud stallion is enjoying a breakout season in Australia.
With his first crop in the 2016-17 season, Ocean Park had two winners from 10 runners in Australia and he didn’t have a winner from two starters in New Zealand.
The following season the son of Thorn Park had a very respectable 27 winners from 51 runners in Australia with one stakes-winner, Ocean Jewel in the Listed WATC Placid Ark Stakes, which earned Ocean Park fourth spot on the second season sires list behind Pierro, All Too Hard and Your Song. The same season he had 12 winners from 30 starters in New Zealand as was still searching for his first stakes-winner.
Last season Ocean Park had two stakes-winners among his 38 winners in Australia highlighted by an emerging three-year-old named Kolding, while in New Zealand Ocean Park moved to second spot behind Reliable Man for leading third crop sire but still without a stakes-winner.
He has come close with Arrogant (2nd Gr.1 Rosehill Guineas, Gr.2 Waikato Guineas, 4th Gr.1 NZ Derby), Mongolianconqueror (2nd Gr.1 NZ Derby), Rondinella (3rd Gr.1 Tancred Stakes, Gr.1 New Zealand Stakes, 4th Gr.1 Sydney Cup, 2nd LR Kaimai Stakes).
While he is still searching for his first stakes-winner in his homeland, Ocean Park has taken off this season in Australia where he holds down third place behind Declaration Of War (USA) and Rubick on the financial sire table due in the main to his $4,768,250 earned by Kolding following his wins in the Group 1 Epsom Handicap and the Golden Eagle.
But Ocean Park is no one-hit-wonder gaining valuable support from the Group II VRC Matriarch Stakes winner Oceanex and dual Group III winner Tofane as well as the multiple Group-placed Rondinella and Kolding’s stablemate Star Of The Seas.
A first-crop son of Ocean Park, Star Of The Seas is still searching for his first stakes win, and he won’t achieve that feat on Saturday, although he has the chance to add $580,000 to the $464,000 he has already banked when he tackles the inaugural running of the $1million The Gong (1600m) at Kembla Grange.
Now that is a handy return for a horse that was withdrawn from New Zealand Bloodstock's 2016 Select Yearling Sale by Trelawney Stud because of x-ray issues. He was one of two yearlings that Trelawney withdraw from the sale due to cysts in their pasterns. The other one was the dual Group 1 winner and $1.4 million earner The Bostonian.
Star Of The Seas was sold in a private transaction to Tony Muollo who has had some outstanding performers in the Chris Waller stable such as Pressday and Hawkspur but for consistency, they don’t come much better than Star Of The Seas.
In his career to date, the 5yo gelding has won six and placed in seven of his 16 starts, which includes a third behind Kolding and Te Akau Shark in the Group 1 Epsom Handicap and Randwick on October 5.
At his most recent start, Star Of The Seas was slightly disappointing when ninth in the Group 1 Cantala Stakes at Flemington but he drops back many grades on Saturday.
A three-quarter brother to Aquis Farm’s magnificent looking Spieth (Thorn Park), Star Of The Seas is out of the imported Titus Livius mare Stella Livia (GB) whose only racetrack appearance for Richard Gibson was a ninth of 10 over a mile for two-year-olds at Longchamp.
Stella Livia (GB) was purchased by Tasman Bloodstock for 50,000 guineas at the 2007 Tattersalls December Mare Sale and besides Spieth and Star Of The Seas she is the dam of the $245,125 earner Travancore who seemed to have a found a new lease on life after joining the Clare Cunningham team.
A half-sister to the Group 1 winner Ransom O’War (Red Ransom), the Horse of the Year & Champion 3YO in Germany in 2003 (Int.), Stella Livia (GB) had her seventh and final foal, a colt by Shamexpress, sell to Danny O’Brien for $80,000 at the 2018 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
Named Alcides, he finished third at his career debut at Kyneton in October.
Stella Livia (GB) comes from a family well known in Australasia.
Her dam Sombreffe (Polish Precedent) is a half-sister to the very useful Danzig stallion Snaadee (USA) out of the stakes-placed What A Pleasure mare Somfas who is the great-granddam of the triple Group 1 winner and promising young sire Charm Spirit (Invincible Spirit).
Somfas is herself a half-sister to the grand racemare and influential broodmare Fanfreluche who besides her stellar deeds on the track and at stud hit the headlines when kidnapped at Claiborne Stud in 1977 when in foal to Secretariat.
From the same crop of foals as the great Nijinsky II, the daughter of Northern Dancer was the Canadian Horse Of The Year and Champion 3yo Filly in North America in 1970. She is the dam of the two-time Canadian Horse Of The Year L'Enjoleur (Buckpasser) and the Sir Ivor mare Grand Luxe who is the granddam of Flying Spur and great-granddam of Encosta de Lago.
Another daughter of Fanfreluche who is well known in these parts is L'On Vite (USA), a daughter of Secretariat who famously chased Danehill between hemispheres leaving the dual Group 1 winning two-year-old Holy Roman Emperor in the north and Group III winner and 2-time Group 1 runner-up Milanova in the south.
