Sun Cap (1951 – after 1968) was a French

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse and

broodmare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four ...

. After failing to win as a two-year-old in 1953 she won the

Prix Penelope The Prix Penelope is a Group 3 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run over a distance of 2,100 metres (about 1 mile and 2½ furlongs) at Saint-Cl ...

in the following April and then recorded her biggest win in the Epsom Oaks. After her retirement from racing she produced several minor winners but no top-class performers.

Background

Sun Cap was a grey mare bred in France by Robert Forget. During her racing career she was owned by Forget's wife and trained at

Chantilly Chantilly may refer to: Places France *Chantilly, Oise, a city located in the Oise department **US Chantilly, a football club *Château de Chantilly, a historic château located in the town of Chantilly United States * Chantilly, Missou ...

by Reg Carver. Her sire Sunny Boy was a good racehorse but a much better breeding stallion and was the

Leading sire in France The list below shows the leading Thoroughbred sire of racehorses in France for each year since 1887. This is determined by the amount of prize money won by the sire's progeny during the season. Due to the huge prize money of the Prix de l'Arc de Tri ...

in 1954. His other foals included

Sica Boy The sica was a short sword or large dagger of ancient Illyrians, Thracians and Dacians, used in Ancient Rome too, originating in the Halstatt culture. It was originally depicted as a curved sword (see the Zliten mosaic as well as numerous oil la ...

( Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe) and

Tamanar Tamanar ( is a rural municipality in Essaouira Province, Marrakesh-Safi, Morocco. According to the 2004 census it has a population of 9,984. Zgh comene Tamanar.jpg Tamanar comene zgh tarhiwant.jpg Tamanar intrêye costé Swira.jpg Notable p ...

( Prix du Jockey Club). Sun Cap's dam Cappellina, from whom she inherited her grey colour, won only two minor races from thirty-two starts but did better as a broodmare, producing the Prix Jean Prat winner La Varende, as well as Bebob, the female-line ancestor of Stop The Music and Spend A Buck's sire Buckaroo.

Racing career

1953: two-year-old season

As a two-year-old in 1953 Sun Cap ran four times but failed to win a race.

1954: three-year-old season

Sun Cap began her second season by winning the Prix Penelope over 2100 metres at

Saint-Cloud Racecourse Hippodrome de Saint-Cloud is a grass race course for Thoroughbred flat horse racing opened in 1901 at 1 rue du Camp Canadien in Saint-Cloud near Paris, France. During World War 1, the race course site housed the No. 4 Canadian Stationary Hospital ...

on 18 April at odds of 30/1. The 176th running of the Oaks Stakes over one and a half miles at Epsom Racecourse on 4 June attracted a field of twenty-one fillies with Sun Cap, ridden by the Australian jockey

Rae Johnstone William Raphael "Rae" Johnstone (13 April 1905 – 29 April 1964), was an Australian flat-race jockey. After enjoying considerable success in his native country, he relocated to Europe in 1932 and spent most of the rest of his life in France. He ...

, being one of four French challengers. The betting for the race was unusually open with Altana (third in the

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) and Sybil's Niece (

Queen Mary Stakes The Queen Mary Stakes is a Group races, Group 2 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old Filly, fillies. It is run at Ascot Racecourse, Ascot over a distance o ...

) starting 8/1 joint-favourites ahead of Bara Bibi (

Princess Elizabeth Stakes The Princess Elizabeth Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile and 113 yards (1,713 m ...

) and Amora ( Cheshire Oaks) with Sun Cap next in the betting on 100/8 alongside Festoon and Angel Bright (

Lingfield Oaks Trial The Oaks Trial Stakes is a Listed flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run over a distance of 1 mile, 3 furlongs and 133 yards () at Lingfield Pa ...

). Sun Cap took the lead approaching the final furlong and drew away to win the race "with the utmost ease" by six

lengths Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Intern ...

from Altana with Philante taking third to complete a 1-2-3 for France.

Assessment and honours

The independent Timeform organisation awarded Sun Cap a rating of 123 in 1954. In their book, ''A Century of Champions'', based on the Timeform rating system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Sun Cap an "inferior" winner of the Oaks.

Breeding record

At the end of her racing career Sun Cap was bought by Lady Macdonald-Buchanan and was retired to become a broodmare. She produced at least eight foals and five winners between 1956 and 1968: *Capuchon, a grey colt, foaled in 1956, sired by Abernant. Winner. *Welsh Bonnet, chestnut filly, 1957, by

Owen Tudor Sir Owen Tudor (, 2 February 1461) was a Welsh courtier and the second husband of Queen Catherine of Valois (1401–1437), widow of King Henry V of England. He was the grandfather of Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty. Background Owe ...

*Crash Helmet, bay colt, 1958, by Never Say Die *In The Gloaming, bay colt 1960, by Crepello. Won Warren Stakes. *Polaroid, grey colt, 1964, by Crepello. Winner. *Imperial Crown, bay colt, 1966, by

Aureole An aureola or aureole (diminutive of Latin ''aurea'', "golden") is the radiance of luminous cloud which, in paintings of sacred personages, surrounds the whole figure. In Romance languages, the noun Aureola is usually more related to the d ...

. Winner. *Biretta, grey colt, 1967, by

St Paddy St. Paddy (1957–1984) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In 1960, he won both the Epsom Derby and the St Leger. His performances in both 1960 and 1961 were instrumental in making his sire Aureole the Leading sire in Great Brit ...

. Winner. *Head Gear, chestnut colt (later

gelded A gelding is a castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. Castration, as well as the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male equine to be calmer and better-behaved, making th ...

), 1968, by Aureole

Pedigree

*Sun Cap was inbred 4 × 4 to both Teddy and Gainsborough, meaning that these stallions appear twice in the fourth generation of her pedigree.

References

{{Epsom Oaks Winners 1951 racehorse births Racehorses bred in France Racehorses trained in France Thoroughbred family 11-g Epsom Oaks winners