Alboran Sea Provides De Kock Milestone Win
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By Sarah Whitelaw
Top-class sophomore filly Alboran Sea narrowly prevailed over her older male rival Captain Of All in a nail-biting finish to the Cape Flying Championship (SAf-I) Jan. 24 at Kenilworth.
Just a nostril separated the first two finishers, with another 3-year-old filly, Carry On Alice, finishing third.
Alboran Sea provided champion trainer Mike de Kock the 100th group or grade I win of his career.
The Cape Flying Championship is the only group I sprint race to be contested in the Western Cape, and Alboran Sea was backed to start as the 5-2 favorite. There was also plenty of support for Captain Of All, winner of the Diadem Stakes (SAf-II) in his previous outing, as well as former group I-winning speedsters Copper Parade and Fly By Night.
The start to the race was delayed when group I winner Normanz broke through his gate and damaged his breast plate. When the field was finally dispatched, both Normanz and Castlethorpe lost ground while the rest of the 13-horse field enjoyed fair starts.
Jockey Weichong Marwing allowed Alboran Sea to race up with the pace, alongside Trip Tease, with Captain Of All just off them.
The race was wide open entering the final quarter mile, with Trip Tease starting to fade from contention. However, Captain Of All was running on strongly and from most angles he appeared to win the race in a photo with Alboran Sea, who rallied gamely along the inside.
Final time for the race, run in near perfect conditions, was :56.53—nearly two seconds faster than last year's race when Via Africa clocked a time of :58.50.
Bred by the Rosemount Stud, the Australian-bred Alboran Sea was an AUS$105,000 purchase by Form Bloodstock of South African from the 2013 Inglis Melbourne premier yearling sale.
One of the best of her generation at 2, she won her first two races consecutively, including the Allan Robertson Championship (SAf-I) last May. An unlucky second in the Golden Slipper (SAf-I) followed that effort, before an unplaced finish in the Thekwini Stakes (SAf-I) concluded Alboran Sea's first campaign. An effortless winning 3-year-old debut was followed by two defeats, with both coming as the odds-on favorite.
However, Alboran Sea, who came into the race off a second in the Tony Taberer Southern Cross Stakes (SAf-II), has been doing well at home, with her progress underlined by confident betting support.
Owned by Michael Javett and Mary Slack, Alboran Sea is a daughter of Coolmore's Rock of Gibraltar, whose progeny have fared especially well in South Africa. Her dam is the Toolighttoquit mare Lady's Light, a three-quarter sister to U.S. graded stakes winner Erica's Dream and stakes winner Twosie's Answer, the dam of 1998 U.S. champion 2-year-old male Answer Lively.