The Ridgemont team have started the Cape summer with a flourish and their victory march continued at Kenilworth on Saturday, courtesy of the beautifully-bred Capitana who was an emphatic winner of the R85 000 Listed Laisserfaire Stakes.
The 1100m contest is named in honour of the Danehill champion Laisserfaire and boasts some really smart winners over the years.
Anton Marcus has Capitana in control as Keep The Lights On (Luyolo Mxothwa) chases late (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
While Capitana has listed stakes credits to her name, the in-form Brett Crawford declared that plans are afoot to secure graded status for the well-bred and handsomely talented speedster.
And the team must feel upbeat about that prospect after the 5yo came out shunting after a 14 week break.
Settled in midfield by Anton Marcus, Capitana (5-2) was angled out for a run at the 300m and turned on the jets for a half length victory in a time of 65,44 secs.
Keep The Lights On (20-1) under replacement rider Luyolo Mxothwa came out of the pack to chase the favourite home, with Hawker Typhoon (20-1) running a cracker from way back after being held up for a clear run between the 350m and the 300m.
With her blood, Capitana will hold plenty of appeal when she retires to the Ridgemont paddocks.
The daughter of a multiple champion sire, her dam Exotic, who won at 2400m, is a Galileo daughter of Irish Oaks runner-up Ice Queen.
Bred by Ridgemont – who also claim breeding rights on the impressive Cape Mile winner Warrior – Capitana traces back directly in female line to Mill Princess (Mill Reef), the dam of Breeders’ Cup Mile winner and champion sire Last Tycoon and fourth dam of promising young South African sire, The United States.
Capitana has won 6 races with 6 places from 13 starts for stakes of R304 175.
OFFICIAL RESULT
| TRAINER | JOCKEY | DISTANCE | BETTING | |||
| 1ST | 2 CAPITANA | B Crawford | A Marcus | 28/10 | ||
| 2ND | 4 KEEP THE LIGHTS ON | SJ Snaith | L Mxothwa | 0.50 | 0.50 | 13/2 |
| 3RD | 5 HAWKER TYPHOON | GB Puller | G Lerena | 0.75 | 1.25 | 20/1 |
| 4TH | 1 PHIL’S DANCER | SJ Snaith | A Domeyer | 1.00 | 2.25 | 11/2 |
| 5TH | 11 GAYLEACTIC STAR | GS Kotzen | M Winnaar | 1.00 | 3.25 | 16/1 |
| TIME OF RACE: 1 min 05.44 sec | ||||||
| Tote
Fav |
2 CAPITANA | B Crawford | A Marcus | __________ | 28/10 | |
