Sea The Stars, the latest talented performer for legendary broodmare Urban Sea, added his name to the list of Cape Cross' Group winners for the season with victory in the Beresford Stakes at The Curragh.
Racing in the colours of his breeder Christopher Tsui, Sea The Stars, a half-brother to the likes of Galileo, Black Sam Bellamy and My Typhoon, has now won two of his three starts and has earned a quote of 14/1 for the 2009 Epsom Derby. He is entered in next month's G1 Darley Dewhurst Stakes and G1 Racing Post Trophy.
Sea The Stars was not, however, the only Cape Cross colt in the race with a Group One winner for a mother. Recharge, who finished a length behind him in fourth, is out of Tattersalls Gold Cup winner Rebelline, and was bred by Lady O’Reilly.
Sea The Stars is the fourth Group Two winner for his sire this season after French-trained colt Russian Cross and the fillies Treat Gently and Sabana Perdida, both of whom have also been G1-placed. Cape Cross has also been responsible for a quartet of Listed winners this year: dual scorer Crystal Capella, Cape Amber, Yarastar and Saphira’s Fire.
The feature race on Ascot's Sunday card was the six-furlong (1200m) G2 Diadem Stakes, won in battling style by King's Apostle, a four-year-old son of King's Best, who gained compensation for narrowly losing out to stablemate Conquest in the Stewards' Cup at Glorious Goodwood. Bertolini's dual Listed winner Prime Defender was also involved in the tight finish to this race, finally being awarded fourth, the distance of three necks splitting the leading quartet.
Liberation returned to action at Ascot 17 days after his maiden win at Brighton. One of 11 first-crop winners for Refuse To Bend, his four-length romp in the seven-furlong (1400m) nursery was impressive indeed, sparking a Darley-sired trifecta with Secrecy, by King's Best, finishing runner-up and Good Again (Dubai Destination) third. The race was won last year by another son of Dubai Destination, Ibn Khaldun, en route to subsequent victory in the G1 Racing Post Trophy and there's no doubt that Liberation is a colt with similarly exciting prospects.
Farther afield, there was Listed success for a four-year-old son of Singspiel, Luca Brasi, who won the Skanska Faltrittklubbens Jubileumslopning in Sweden.
