Cape Of Approval

Cape Of Approval produced a really good effort to win the Listed Midsummer Sprint Stakes over five furlongs at Cork on Sunday.

The weather was atrocious on the day, the ground was soft, and that suited Cape Of Approval well, but it also should have suited Maarek. David Nagle's horse had actually beaten Cape Of Approval at Naas in May, so it was to Cape Of Approval's immense credit that he was able to turn the tables so comprehensively. He travelled well, he was always going best, it was just a question of whether or not he would get the gaps, and there was no worry in that regard in the end. He picked up impressively when Billy Lee asked him to, and he came away to beat Maarek quite authoritatively.

Perhaps Maarek under-performed, but he did have his soft ground, Cape Of Approval beat him well, Maarek beat the others, and the time was really good, by far the fastest time of the day and over three seconds faster than the two-year-old fillies’ maiden won by the really well-backed Bye Bye Birdie.

The Tommy Stack-trained gelding probably does need soft ground to be seen at his best, but he is classy when he gets it, and he is really progressive now. This was his fifth win from his last seven runs and he finished second on one of the other ones when he and Bold Thady Quill pulled miles clear of the rest in the Cork Stakes. He is a possible for the Wokingham Handicap at Royal Ascot this Saturday, but he would need a lot of rain to fall at Ascot, and he could be better off skipping that. He could be a Group-class sprinter on soft ground, and he would be interesting in something like the Sprint Cup at Haydock or even the Prix de l’Abbaye at potentially a big price should he get his ground. He seems to be equally adept over five furlongs and six furlongs.

16th June 2013

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