El Capitan for Rangiora

Press, 23 September 1987, Page 52

El Capitan for Rangiora

By

J. J. BOYLE

The talented Riccarton three-year-old St James could have North Island competition in one of his main missions this side of the $200,000 Feltex New Zealand Two Thousand Guineas. The Canterbury 1600, the North Canterbury club’s full-scale guineas trial at Rangiora on Labour Day, is likely to be on the programme for the Awapuni-trained El Captitan, winner of the Honda Civic Handicap at

the Marton meeting on Saturday. El Capitan’s trainer, Cliff Goss, is also looking to the Banks Peninsula : club’s feature three-year-old race on October 31 as another suitable race on El Capitan’s countdown for the Two Thousand Guineas. Goss is following the programme adopted by Garth Ivil with Arctic Wolf last spring. Arctic Wolf was runnerup in the Marton race then, after a win in the Taranaki So Dandy Classic, was brought south to

win the Rangiora and Motukarara feature races before running third in Steely Dan’s Two Thousand Guineas. El Capitan, like Steely Dan, is a son of that great influence for speed in Standaan, and descends from the imported Simper, whose brilliant record as a producer brought fame to the Ha-zlett-owned Chelandry Stud in Southland as a thoroughbred nursery. Simper had 11 foals and nine of them were winners, two of them, Gold Light and Razzle

Dazzle, counting the New Zealand Oaks amongst their triumphs. El Capitan descends from Simper through Ruling Light (eight wins including the W.R.C. Metropolitan), Aurora Australis (11 wins and two deadheats), Honey Light, Honey Child, Tulia Honey (by Sovereign Edition), and Fearless Honey (by Without Fear). Flight, a champion Australian race mare in the 19405, also belonged to this family.