2008 NEWS
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8/9/08 - First graded stakes winner for NAJRAN as
SKY CAPE, c. 3, Najran - Skyscape, by Marquetry took the LA JOLLA H. (G2) at Del Mar. He blazed 8.5 furlongs on the turf in1:40.92. He is owned by Visionary Racing andSteve Taub,and was bred and is trained by Kristin Mulhall (Ky.).
COURTESY OF THE THOROUGHBRED TIMES TODAY
Mike Curry
Sky Cape reeled in pacesetter Liberian Freighter and outfinished runner-up Tangled Tango to earn his first career graded stakes victory in the $150,000 La Jolla Handicap (G2) on Saturday at Del Mar.
The Najran colt shook off Tangled Tango leaving the eighth pole and powered to a 11⁄2-length score in the La Jolla, a 11⁄16-mile turf race for three-year-olds.
“[Trainer Kristin Mulhall] told me he would want to go early and to take a hold, to get him behind horses and covered up,” winning jockey Joel Rosario said. “I did, but he really did want to go. I could tell the
pace was on the slow side, so I moved up with him. Then when I asked him, he really went. Oh, he’s a nice horse.”
Sky Cape was the runner-up in the Baldwin Stakes (G3) on March 2 at Santa Anita Park and finished third as a juvenile in the Best Pal Stakes (G2) at Del Mar. Sky Cape recorded his first stakes win with a 11⁄4-length victory in the Harry Henson Stakes on April 25 at Hollywood and entered the La Jolla off a win in the Alcatraz Stakes on May 24 at Golden Gate Fields.
Liberian Freighter broke alertly and charged to the lead, setting a moderate pace through an opening quarter in :24.01 and a half-mile in :48.14. Sky Cape was reserved in second by Rosario, five lengths behind Liberian Freighter after six furlongs, and surged into contention in tandem with Tangled Tango on the far turn. Sky Cape and Tangled Tango accelerated past the fading pacesetter in early stretch with Sky Cape steadily driving clear to prevail in
1:40.92 on firm turf.
Tangled Tango was 11⁄4 lengths clear of Liberian Freighter, who held on gamely for third. Sky Cape improved to five wins in 14 starts and boosted his career earnings to $320,230. Bred in Kentucky by Mulhall, who trains Sky Cape for owners Steve Taub and Visionary Racing, Sky Cape is out of the unraced Marquetry mare Skyscape.
“He’s never been more relaxed than he was today, and that seemed to be the answer,” Mulhall said. “Usually, you can tell how he’s going to run by the way he acts in the paddock. Today, he was very good, even though I had to saddle him on the move. That’s the way he is.
“He needed this race. Now, we’ll look ahead to the Del Mar Derby [(G1) on August 31].”
