Cape of good hope

Cape Cross, the sire of two of the world’s most famous racehorses, is already enjoying a profitable sales season courtesy of his yearlings and next it will be the turn of his foals.

During Book 1 of Tattersalls’ October Sale, 19 yearlings by Cape Cross changed hands for an average of 146,000gns. Top price among these was the half-sister to G1-winning sprinter Regal Parade, who was bought from the Highclere consignment for 500,000gns by Charlie Gordon-Watson.

The exploits of the sensational mare Ouija Board persuaded Mrs Ling Tsui to consider Cape Cross for her blue hen broodmare Urban Sea. She in turn bred the champion Sea The Stars, whose 140-rated three-year-old season meant Cape Cross was sent 104 stakes winners or producers in 2010.

The offspring from that tremendous book of mares are heading to the forthcoming foal sales, with nine set to sell at Tattersalls and seven at Goffs, including a half-brother to Singspiel’s G1-winning daughter Folk Opera and a half-sister to this year’s Oh So Sharp Stakes winner Alsindi.

It’s not just at the sales that Cape Cross is enjoying a great season: his runners continue to do him proud on the track. He has sired a remarkable 21 Group or Stakes horses so far this year, including another G1 winner, with two-year-old filly Nayarra landing the Gran Criterium, while Royal Ascot winner Namibian has added two Group wins to his tally in 2011.

The consistent Crystal Capella continues to be a great flagbearer, and added the G2 Princess Of Wales’s Stakes to a CV that boasts three other Group successes and two Listed wins, while Joviality won the Musidora Stakes in the colours of Princess Haya.

Whether it’s a sales horse or a racehorse you’re looking for, the foals you should be looking at are by Cape Cross.