Weather could force Sea change

John Oxx will need to spend several nervous weeks monitoring the weather forecast before committing Sea The Stars for the Juddmonte International Stakes on August 18.The trainer switched his Guineas and Derby winner to the Eclipse when the ground became too soft for a tilt at the Irish Derby and he is maintaining the same position ahead of York's Group One.Although Oxx is keen for the International to be the colt's next run, he has named it as just one of five possible races in which he may contest before the end of the season.Oxx told At The Races: "That's still the plan. Obviously the weather is a big worry at the minute. Everything is ground dependent but if the going is good he'll be there. He's in good form at the moment. He has to maintain his form, stay sound and well and hopefully if that happens, he can continue to progress a bit."Oxx was asked about another of Sea The Stars' entries, the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes back over a mile at Ascot on September 26."It's there as another option but everything's totally weather dependent, we can't say where the horse will end up," he went on."If the weather went against us in the meantime and the going was fast at Ascot, it would be another option. He can cover all those options because distance doesn't seem to matter to him."It's another race that's on the agenda. The International, the Champion Stakes at Leopardstown, the Arc, the Champion Stakes at Newmarket and the Breeders' Cup are the five race options at the moment, which ones he will end up in at this stage goodness knows."York's clerk of the course William Derby was not in a position to be able to provide encouragement or discouragement to Oxx's cause at this stage.He explained: "The ground was good when I walked it, but it will not be until later in the week that we will have more detailed reports. It is pretty dry for the rest of this week but with two weeks to go, it is a bit too early for the weather forecasts."