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Year 35 Louisville Derby Contender Profile: Captain Majors
Original article written by Amanda Haderthauer posted 11 years 2 weeks agoWhen running in the Triple Crown distance is always a question. Not only are they running farther than ever before, but they are doing it twice, once in the Derby at 1 1/4th mile and again in the Classic at 1 ½ mile distance. There is one horse in the field that I don’t think will have any trouble with the distance, which is Captain Majors. He has the least amount of earnings and points in the Derby field so he will be the first one bumped if someone else enters.
Captain Majors’ race record isn’t great. He broke his maiden in his first start with a 70 speed figure. From there he went to the grade 3 Thriller Stakes, where he was fourth behind Bazinga, Skipping Stones and Raceway. He ran seventh in the grade 1 Steward’s Cup Juvenile. After a little break he started his three year old season in the week 3 grade 1 Sunshine Park Derby. This was his first start beyond the 1 1/16th mile distance. He faced four others, including heavy hitters Cruising Speed and Jack London. Cruising Speed won by a neck over Jack London who was a neck in front Captain Majors (who was, in turn, 3 3/4th lengths in front of the rest of the field). So it wasn’t a win but he did run an 81 speed figure, and to put that in perspective Cruising Speed won with an 84 while Jack London ran an 83 for second. His race record to date might be less than stellar but I think he will get better as the races get longer.
There might be some questions about this horse’s class but there are no questions about his pedigree. Captain Majors is a Steward bred, with stamina on the top and bottom of his pedigree. He is sired by Battlehorse. This Rachel Sadler homebred is a multiple grade 1 stakes winner, winning stakes races at ages 2, 3, 4, and 5. He won graded stakes races at distances of 1 1/8th mile, 1 1/4th mile (twice), 1 3/8th mile, and 1 1/2th miles (twice). He has a race record of 23: 8-8-3 with earnings of $1,325,500. He is a relatively young stallion and has been lightly used, but he did manage to get a big horse in his first crop; Strategic (another Rachel Sadler homebred) who has multiple stakes wins at distances up to 1 ½ miles.
Captain Majors is out of the Five Circles mare Sensation. This Steward bred mare was an amazing racehorse, with a record of nine wins, one second, and three thirds out of 14 starts and earnings of $1,460,000. She had an amazing blend of speed and stamina that allowed her to win graded stakes races at distance ranging from 1 mile (the grade 1 Oak Leaf Stakes) and 1 ¼ miles ( the grade 1 Midsummer Oaks). She also pasted on stamina to her offspring. Awards (by Advance Guard out of Sensation) is a multiple graded stakes winner that won two stakes at the 1 ½ mile distance. Sensation also produced Changing Guard (by Maelstrom) and Fast (by Big Gamble) who also won grade stakes races at 1 ½ miles.
It will be interesting to see how he does in the Derby and where he goes from here. I would like to see him in the Long Island Classic, but that of course is up to his owner Chris Reed, who bought the colt at the Trail BY Summer Select Yearling sale for a very impressive $4,003,000. Good Luck Chris and Captain Majors in the Year 35 Louisville Derby!