The Justin Snaith-Richard Fourie-Captain Al combination made a clean sweep of Tuesday’s 2yo stakes action at a deserted Kenilworth when Suzette Viljoen’s smart filly Captain’s Ransom floated through down the inside rail to win the R85 000 Kudex Listed Perfect Promise Sprint going away.
After Erik The Red’s facile victory a half hour earlier, the champion combo’s day was set for greater things.
And the victory here would have provided some consolation for the Viljoen family, who farm cattle near Schweizer-Reneke, after enduring the adrenaline sapping agony of their 50-1 longshot Mary O being nabbed late by Gr1 winner Missisippi Burning in Sunday’s World Sports Betting Fillies Guineas at Hollywoodbets Greyville!
Richard Fourie guides Captain’s Ransom to a classy win (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
On Tuesday, the heartbreak of that near miss was forgotten as they watched their exciting likely classic prospect for next season produce the goods with smart accelebration to catch and beat Lemon Delight by 1,25 lengths in a time of 72,81 secs.
Pacey Piet Botha charge Captain’s Flo was there for a long way and stayed on well for third, to keep the extraordinary Captain Al momentum going.
Jonathan Snaith, who was on duty for the winning team, said that when Captain’s Ransom got going, ‘I thought it was a matter of how far’.
“Richard (Fourie) rates her. She is a Guineas filly as I feel sure she will get a mile. Well done to Basie and Suzette Viljoen – they have some lovely horses and we have told them to just wait and give them time to come through. We won’t see much more of Captain’s Ransom this season I think.”
High-riding winning jockey Richard Fourie said that the way Captain’s Ransom (Keagan de Melo) won four wide at Durbanville first time had caught his eye.
“She was not worried about the stands – a professional showing. She is a lovely filly. It was a difficult choice which one I’d ride as we got closer to the race. Favorita has good form too,” he observed.
Suzette Viljoen’s Gr2 near miss on Sunday as Missisippi Burning nabs Mary O late (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
The winner is a R225 000 National Yearling Sale graduate. She was bred by Moutonshoek Stud and was a second consecutive feature winner on the day for Captain Al (Al Mufti).
She is out the unraced Red Ransom daughter Cinnas Ransom, a half sister to stakes winners in France and Japan. Cinnas Ransom is out of a stakes winning full sister to sire Slew City Slew.
She is unbeaten in two starts and took her stakes bank to R91 625.
