Carry On Alice charges clear to win the Gr1 SA Nursery and down the boys
There’s a lot to live up to.
In the last 35 years just four juvenile fillies have been victorious in the SA Nursery, the most important race for 2yo’s on the Highveld. The roll of honour is impressive.
In 1991, Empress Club, Champion 2yo, Champion 3yo and Older Female, Horse of the Year.
In 1995, Harry’s Charm. Champion 2yo, Champion 3yo and Older Female.
In 1999, Private Reserve, Champion 2yo, unbeaten.
And now, in 2013, Carry On Alice, who won the 1160m sprint at Turffontein by over 2 lengths from short-priced favourite colt Banadeer. And did so impressively, leaving her opponent standing.
Ironically, Carry On Alice ran in Gr1 SA Nursery mainly to avoid another filly, Banadeer’s stable companion Majmu, in the Gr2 SA Fillies Nursery on the same day. Trainer Sean Tarry confided that he’d rather take his chances with a 2½ kg sex-allowance against Banadeer than meet Majmu at levels. Majmu duly did what was expected, skating home in the Fillies Nursery by some eight lengths, in a time marginally slower than Carry On Alice’s an hour later. The showdown between the two should come sometime during the winter, when there are several Gr1 opportunities for 2yo’s – although they might again avoid each other by one of them taking on the colts. On ratings this season’s 2yo fillies appear to be a vintage crop, well ahead of the male counterparts.
Carry On Alice is a daughter of Captain Al, whose record with 2yo runners is nothing short of remarkable.
The son of Al Mufti had his first runners in the 2004/05 season, where he was just pipped for top honours by another freshman, Jet Master. It was a bit quiet in the next three seasons, where Captain Al finished 6th and twice 10th on the log of sires of 2yo’s by earnings, led by Western Winter in two of the three years (Count duBois took the other top spot). But after than there was no holding back the Captain. He topped the log in the 2008/09 season, with a crop conceived on the strength of his spectacular freshman performance. He recorded a remarkable 63% winners to runners. Four seasons followed, with four 2yo championships, making it five in a row. For the current 2013/14 campaign Captain Al is already well ahead of the pack – so six in a row looks to be on the cards.
Those successes have translated into spectacular sale prices for his offspring. The major sales of 2014 saw seven Captain Al yearlings break the million Rand barrier, split evenly between the sexes. To do a bit of interesting maths, just five of his 51 sale-yearlings made less than twice his 2013 service fee of R120k (and only one made less than that fee). The shareholders in the fully syndicated stallion will be delirious.
To date Captain Al has sired eight Gr1 winners, one each from all of his last eight crops to race. Let’s have a look – it starts with the Class of ’04 (the stallion’s third crop).
- Captain’s Lover (04f – Badger Land, Argosy; MR 104) – Cape Fillies Guineas at 3
- Captain’s Gal (05f – Centenary, Esplendor; MR 109) – SA Fillies Sprint at 4
- Exhilaration (06c – Elliodor, Boot Camp; MR 108) – Premier’s Champion S. at 2
- Emerald Cove (07f – Caesour, Straight Strike; MR 106) – Paddock Stakes at 3
- Hill Fifty Four (08c – Sportsworld, Dancing Champ; MR 118) – J&B Met at 5
- All Is Secret (09f – Goldkeeper, Royal Academy; MR 111) – Allan Robertson & Thekwini S. at 2; Mercury Sprint at 3
- Captain Of All (10c – Fard, Forty Winks; MR 114) – Gold Medallion at 2
- Carry On Alice (11f – Western Winter, Best By Test) – SA Nursery at 2
Eight broodmare sires, eight 2nd damsires – and not one name appearing twice. The vagaries of pedigrees!
Some further delving into the make-up of those Gr1 pedigrees unearths a reoccurrence of two famous background female lines: Lady Juror and Pretty Polly.
This could be total coincidence, since these lines are widespread and perceived to be almost everywhere.
The plot thickens, however, when Captain Al’s third dam Infanta is dissected. Her sire is Jamaico, whose third dam is by Colorado Kid, out of Pretty Polly’s daughter Baby Polly. Jamaico has no Lady Juror. Infanta’s dam is a different kettle of fish. Her sire is Field Master, by Fair Trial (son of Lady Juror). Her dam Orientalist is by Eastern Emperor (Pretty Polly female line) out of a mare by Duddingston, a son of Baby Polly (and thus half brother to Colorado Kid, found in Jamaico). Three lines of Pretty Polly then.
In Captain Al’s stakes performers there is an abundance of Lady Juror (Fair Trial through Court Martial, Petition; Sansonnet, a daughter of Lady Juror through her son Tudor Minstrel; Commotion, a granddaughter of Lady Juror). The descendants of Pretty Polly’s female line represented by Donatello (Crepello, Alycidon) and his sister Donatella (Veronese), Preamble, Abadan.
Elliodor is a poster-child in this respect, with damsire Crepello (by Donatello) and a double of Court Martial (by Fair Trial).
Mares by Elliodor account for the highest number of Captain Al’s graded stakes performers (Elliodor-mares have some 12% graded performers to runners).
Elliodor as second damsire also has more than others (although numbers are small).
Of course, it could all be coincidence.
Carry On Alice comes from a productive black-type family.
Her dam Carry On Katie is a multiple Gr1 placed Gr2 winner (at 2), by Western Winter.
The next dam Katie Firth was a modest winner (by Best By Test). She’s half sister to SA Derby winner Kale (by Elliodor), Paddock & Majorca Stakes placed Pratique (by Model Man) and Gr3 placed Kyllachy (Fort Wood). Their stakes winning dam Kyle (by Free Ride) is half sister to Gr1 winner Sound Of Rhum (by Full Colour) and to the Gr3 winning dam of Champion 2yo Kildonan, a multiple Gr1 winner (by Rich Man’s Gold). Kildonan provided his first major winner as a sire one day after Carry On Alice won the SA Nursery, with his 2yo daughter Rosier who ran away with the Gr2 Debutante Stakes, a race also won by Alice’ dam Carry On Katie. The Gr1 presence of Elliodor and Model Man in this female line does not go unnoticed and may signal a shared affinity of the female line with them and Captain Al.
To round things off, Carry On Alice’ fourth dam Caprica Firth is by Pentland Firth, a son of Crepello (by Donatello) out of a mare by Fair Trial. That darn coincidence again.
So far this year (2014) six Captain Al yearlings out of Elliodor mares were sold. Two fillies (350k and 700k) and four colts (450k, 2x 500k and 2.4m). The latter, named Captain Nemo, made the highest price ever for a Captain Al. The colt was bought at Nationals by Tony Millard, and is out of Champion racemare Promisefrommyheart, dam also of potential Gr1 winner Master Of My Fate (by Jet Master). It’ll be interesting to see if the Elliodor theory holds.
As things stand following last week’s two SA Nurseries, Carry On Alice and Fillies Nursery winner Majmu have, with us, the highest ratings of any 2yo this season. Majmu’s future probably is over a mile and more, whereas Carry On Alice may have an easy mile as her optimum. Hopefully the two of them will some time this season to sort out the Champion’s title.
