While the notorious Southeaster wind, or ‘Cape Doctor’ as it’s known by locals, is as much a part of life in the Mother City as bobotie and koeksisters, it is not a regular feature at the country course.

But it added to the homebaked ambience on Saturday, with the day’s only stakes feature named in honour of the ‘breeze that booms’.

Kiss Me Captain (Richard Fourie) surges clear to beat Countdown and Raymond Danielson (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)

By the time of the running of the Listed Southeaster Sprint, the wind speed had dissipated from earlier in the afternoon and it wasn’t a factor as Richard Fourie bounced Kiss Me Captain into lead 200m from home and the smart 4yo accelerated well to register her fifth win from just 10 starts.

Clocking a nippy 57,39 secs, Kiss Me Captain (15-4) beat the talented Countdown by half a length, with the bound-for-stud Kwinta’s Light (8-1) coming on late a further 1,25 lengths, to shade Mr Cobbs (11-2) into fourth.

The victory allowed Richard Fourie (65 winners) to take the lead over Muzi Yeni on the SA national jockey championship log, for the first time this term.

Richard Fourie and Adam Azzie share thoughts after the win (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)

Kiss Me Captain was bred by the late Kevin Soal and has now won 5 races from 10 starts with 3 places for stakes of R491 750.

A daughter of champion sprinter Captain Of All (Captain Al), she is out of the one-time winning Caesour mare, Bearing Strait.

If our records are correct, this was the first Cape win for the Azzie team since Bohica won the Cape Flying Championship on 31 January 2022.

Adam recently declared that his long-term objective is permanently settling in Cape Town.

He said: “One must change and adapt, push the boundaries. The Cape will become South Africa’s premier racing centre and possibly a destination for international competitors. I have a young family; we’re keen on a healthier and safer lifestyle, and the Cape is just a great place to race. We have done so with significant results, raiding over the years.”

Enjoy the Southeaster Sprint replay:

After the devastating recent loss of popular owner and breeder Kevin Soal, his daughter and part-owner Courtney marked a first stakes victory for the speedy daughter of Captain Of All (Captain Al), who turned on the jets late to put a disappointing last effort in the Joburg Tourism Gr3 Magnolia Handicap behind her.

Diego de Gouveia shows his delight as Kiss Me Captain cruises to victory (Pic – JC Photos)

Tucked off the pace as Maharanee and Sweet Pepper led the charge, Diego de Gouveia produced Kiss Me Captain, with an electrifying turn of foot to beat the smart Maharanee by 2,25 lengths in a time of 65,86 secs for the 1160m.

The runner-up’s stablemate and race favourite Southern Skies was well beaten a further length away in third.

“She blew me away today and that clearly wasn’t her run in the Magnolia last up,” enthused De Gouveia.

Trainer Adam Azzie said that Kiss Me Captain’s late owner and breeder Kevin Soal was looking down from above and would have been proud.

The winner has now won 4 races from 6 starts with 1 place for stakes of R270 000.

A daughter of champion sprinter Captain Of All (Captain Al), she is out of the one-time winning Caesour mare, Bearing Strait. This is the family of Wild Wicket, 11-time winner Sevillano, Herod The Great and Jet Lady.

-extract Sporting Post