The reputation of the Cape Guineas as a ‘stallion maker’ was underlined at Kenilworth last weekend when Captain’s Ransom dominated the Gr1 Cape Fillies Guineas and champion Celtic Sea claimed the Gr2 Southern Cross Stakes.
Both are daughters of the late Captain Al, who scored a career-defining win in the 2000 classic and has carved out an enviable record as a stallion.
Traditionally, it has been de rigieur for a Cape Guineas winner to embark on a stud career.
That has certainly held true, and while not all have excelled in that sphere, the Guineas honour roll boasts a good number of winners who went on to enjoy success as a stallion.
Looking back over the years, names that pop up include the likes of Jerez, Savonarola, Hawaii and Politician.
Politician – champion
Of a more recent vintage, the formidable Jet Master towers over modern day Cape Guineas winners as far as success in the breeding shed goes.
A former Horse of the Year and arguably the best South African-bred stallion of all time, the imposing bay proved himself the complete package.
The leading first season sire of his year, he went on to become the country’s dominant stallion and claimed the first of seven champion sires titles when his first crop were just four at the time. Now a dual champion broodmare sire, he is also a proven sire of sires and looks to have a fine successor in current log leader Master Of My Fate.
But back to Captain Al.
Captain Al wins the 2000 Cape Guineas. (Pic – Tony Mincione)
He has contributed to Guineas history as the only modern-time winner whose progeny have emulated their sire in the mile classic, William Longsword claiming victory in 2016 and Tap O’Noth making it a double twelve months later. Remarkably, both were trained by Vaughan Marshall, who also tightened the girth on their sire! Current betting suggests unbeaten son Malmoos could complete an historical treble for his sire this weekend.
Champion Horse Chestnut, who annihilated his rivals by almost seven lengths in the 1998 event, never sired anything to match his own class and ability.
While it was an honour for South African breeding when he retired to the historical Claiborne Farm in Kentucky, it probably did the champion no favours.
Renowned for eschewing turf horses, especially foreign ones, American breeders hardly afforded the son of Fort Wood the support he deserved and that he managed to sire a Gr1 winner in the filly Lucifer’s Stone, is a feather in his cap. To his credit, he sired another pair of top level winners after his repatriation at age 14 and he has to be considered a successful, if not outstanding stallion. That said, he is now making a name for himself as an international broodmare sire of repute.
Present day sire Jay Peg – 2007 winner
Jay Peg completed the Cape Guineas/Derby double in a season which earned him the Equus award as the Champion Classic Colt. The son of Camden Park embarked on a globetrotting career during which he established himself as one of the best middle-distance horses in the world with victories in the Gr1 Singapore International Cup and Nad-al-Sheba’s Duty Free, which he won in track record time. He returned to South Africa to take up stud duties as the country’s all-time record stakes earner with a bankroll of R40-million. While he has yet to join the ranks of Gr1 stallions, he has put together a more than respectable record as the sire of nine stakes winners headed by Gr2 winner Silicone Valley.
Western Winter’s son Capetown Noir likewise completed the Guineas/Derby double while a victory in the Gr1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate at four clinched him the title of Champion Miler.
Out of a Broodmare of the Year, the handsome bay was a significant addition to the stallion roster at famed Summerhill Stud in 2015, and to date counts the stakes winner Bohica and stakes-placed Brandina and Scarborough amongst his first-crop runners.
Promising new age sire Act Of War – 2014 winner
Another Cape Guineas winner with runners on the track is Act Of War. The Summerhill-based son of Dynasty is off to a bright start with his first crop of three-year-olds, which include the ultra-talented filly War Of Athena. Placed at the elite level as a juvenile, she recently claimed the scalp of the older Gr1 winner Queen Supreme in the Gr2 Ipi Tombe Challenge.
Looking to the future, the most recent Guineas winners to have joined the stallion ranks are William Longsword and Australian-bred Soqrat.
The former will have his first runners this season, while the latter, a great-grandson of Danehill, is working his way through his first book of mares at the Armitage family’s Sandown Stud.
