John Oxx will always be remembered as the trainer of the great Sea The Stars, but his victory in the Irish Champion Stakes of 2009 was a third in the Leopardstown spectacular for the Currabeg handler.

His first success in Irish racing’s premier race came back in 1996 with the Aga Khan’s smart filly Timarida, but come the turn of the century, he was a frequent visitor to its paddock.