Stars earns same rating as New Approach Sea The Stars has earned an official rating of 124 following his win in the Investec Derby at Epsom on Saturday. Five horses have achieved higher ratings in the last ten years, while it is the same figure New Approach received last season. Jim Bolger's horse went onto achieve a rating in the 130s following his win in the Champion Stakes at Newmarket, and Senior Irish Turf Club Handicapper Garry O'Gorman feels the same fate awaits John Oxx's colt. He told sportinglife.com: "It will take a good horse to be ahead of him in the rankings at the end of the year. I'd be disappointed if he wasn't the top-rated horse in the world by the end of 2009. "We have him rated at 124 for his win in the Derby. I've just spoken to Chris Nash of the BHA and he agrees with that figure also. That makes Fame And Glory 120, Masterofthehorse 119 and Rip Van Winkle 119. "Just to put that into context that is the same figure New Approach had last year after winning the Derby. He of course went into the 130s after winning the Champion Stakes and I would be equally confident that Sea The Stars will progress into those figures. "I don't want to be seen as damning him with faint praise, but 124 as a Derby-winning figure in the last 10 years would be behind Authorized, Galileo and High Chaparral (all 126). You'd then have Sinndar and Motivator at 125, and then you'd have New Approach and Sea The Stars on 124." O'Gorman feels a step back in trip to 10 furlongs will see Sea The Stars inflate his rating, and is keen to stress that his Derby figure, lower than five other horses in the last decade, shouldn't be taken into context. "I think if he beats older horses, and perhaps steps back in trip you will see his figure climb into the 130s," O'Gorman continued. "I find it hard to imagine this horse getting beaten. "I wouldn't like his figure of 124 to be taken into context. It is an average Derby winning-figure but it's more based more on the proximity of the horses he beat than the merit of his performance."
