Sea The Stars: the story of a perfect racehorse

This tribute to the brilliant racehorse Sea The Stars is essentially a collection of Racing Post features and reports about the six-times Group One winner linked by comment from Sean Magee to provide a frame to the narrative.

This is much better than a mere “cuttings job”, however. There is necessarily some repetition, but the use of pieces written without the benefit of hindsight — who thought, when he won the Guineas back in May, that the story would continue triumphantly to the Arc in October — gives it an immediacy that a straightforward biography would not.

Edward Whitaker’s photos are stunning, and used plentifully and big.

“Extras” include an interesting interview with Gary Witheford, who broke Sea The Stars in, Graham Dench’s excellent analysis of each race, and Lee Mottershead’s essay on the horse’s owner-breeders, the Tsui family.

You don’t have to be a Flat racing nut to enjoy this book — there is plenty of behind-the-scenes stuff by Brough Scott about John Oxx’s yard, Sea The Stars’ personality and the people who contributed to his place in the equine pantheon.

• Sea The Stars: the story of a perfect racehorse. Edited by Sean Magee
• Published by The Racing Post(ISBN: 9781905156771)