Klawervlei’s champion sire Captain Al is the sire of the uber game Captain America, who showed his class in no uncertain terms when running out a comfortable winner of the G1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge at Greyville on Saturday.
Trained by bang in-form conditioner Brett Crawford (who was fresh off saddling a pair of G1 winners at Greyville), Captain America ran out a convincing 1.5 length win in Saturday’s R1 000 000 contest, leaving a field containing no fewer than ten graded stakes winners (amongst them three champions) in his wake.
The Varsfontein Stud bred bay was landing the second G1 win of his career, having previously romped to a 4.25 length win in the 2015 G1 HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes, and the big bay has now won or placed in 10 G1 races.
Now a six-year-old Captain America has banked more than R4.8 million in prize money for his owners Mesdames Gurney, Nagle and Sherrell, with Saturday’s victory being the ninth win of Captain America’s illustrious career.
Remarkably, his sire Captain Al could well be represented by more big race success later in the week, with the son of Al Mufti represented by no fewer than five runners in Friday night’s G2 Post Merchants at Greyville.
Captain America, bred on the same Captain Al/Fort Wood cross as Klawervlei’s exciting sire prospect William Longsword, is one of 11 black type winners for Captain Al this season, with others including the G1 winners Carry On Alice and William Longsword. Between them, Captain America, Carry On Alice and William Longsword have won four G1 races.
The eight times champion sire of 2yos, whose son Crowd Pleaser was a game runner up in Saturday’s G3 Cup Trial, will be represented by eight daughters at Friday’s Mares, Weanlings & Fillies For Stud Select Sale and is also the covering sire on two other lots.
Captain Al also has eight lots at this week’s Klawervlei Farm Sale –including a filly (bred on the same cross as Captain America and William Longsword) whose dam is a four time winning own sister to the G3 winning dam of G1 Klawervlei Majorca Stakes winner Nightingale, a close second in Saturday’s G2 Tibouchina Stakes.
The former Cape Guineas winner also has a single lot on this month’s KZN Yearling Sale –a colt out of a winning ½ sister to G2 SA Fillies Nursery winner Hidden Beauty, from the same family as William Longsword (Lot 251).