Sky Mesa collected his sixth 2014 stakes winner and 40th career stakes winner Tuesday when Sky Captain prevailed in the $155,100 Dominion Day S. (G3) on Canada Day at Woodbine (VIDEO). Sky Captain also became the newest Graded stakes winner for Sky Mesa, who is also currently the nation’s leading sire of juveniles, with six winners from just 12 starters to date.
Sky Captain, making his first start at 10 furlongs, was content to sit a couple of lengths behind heavy favorite Frac Daddy, in fourth through the first mile. Sky Captain got his cue from Patrick Husbands at the quarter pole, and the 4-year-old reined in Frac Daddy inside the sixteenth pole, forging ahead to win by a length in 2:03.32 over the synthetic main track
“We’ve had high hopes for this horse all along,” said trainer Mark Casse’s assistant Kathryn Sullivan. “As a two-year-old, we thought he could possibly be a (Kentucky) Derby horse. All the kudos go to the (owners John and Debbie) Oxleys for giving him the time off that he needed to come back, and it’s really paid off.”
Sky Captain, a $210,000 Keeneland September Yearling sale purchase in 2011 who was co-bred by Three Chimneys, remains perfect in three outings this year, and is now 4-1-0 in nine starts, earning $206,513. He is the first foal out of the Smarty Jones mare Anchors Away, who is a half-sister to the multiple graded stakes winner Eight Belles.
