Top European filly Sea of Class euthanized

Four-year-old filly Sea of Class, one of Europe’s top horses last year, had to be euthanized Monday morning in England after developing lymphoma.

Her condition, when revealed in early July, initially was described as colic, but the filly’s bowel-related problems stemmed from an aggressive cancerous growth. The first such area of malignant tissue, along with a section of bowel, was removed in a surgery that initially seemed successful, but another large growth was discovered in Sea of Class, who was experiencing discomfort early Monday morning and subsequently was humanely euthanized.

William Haggas trained Sea of Class for Sunderland Holdings and during 2018 oversaw the rapid development of an excellent racehorse. Sea of Class won the Group 1 Irish Oaks in her Group race debut, went on to capture the Grade 1 Yorkshire Oaks, and came within a head of beating the great Enable last fall in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe despite enduring a much more difficult trip in the race. Sea of Class was somewhat slow to get her 2019 season going and finished fifth June 19 in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, which would be her last race. The cancer surely had been affecting her ability to perform this year, but Sea of Class will be remembered for her scintillating appearances, all under jockey James Doyle, through the second part of the 2018 season.

“For all of us here, we mourn the loss of the best filly we had anything to do with but will cherish the memories forever,” said Haggas.

Sea of Class was by Sea the Stars out of Holy Moon, by Hernando, and was a winner in four of her seven starts.