Fresh from Thursday's Group-race breakthrough with G2 May Hill Stakes heroine Aylin, the St Mark's Basilica bandwagon looks set to roll on through this weekend, with the first-season sire set to be represented by big-race runners everywhere from Doncaster to Woodbine.Thesecretadversary, the first black-type winner for his sire in last month's Listed Churchill Stakes at Tipperary, is set to line up in Saturday's GI Summer Stakes over in Canada for Fozzy Stack. There he'll have the assistance of one Frankie Dettori, the man who rode St Mark's Basilica to the first of his five career Group 1 victories in the Dewhurst Stakes.Closer to home, 'TDN Rising Star' Diamond Necklace will put her unbeaten record on the line in the Listed Ingabelle Stakes at Leopardstown, the scene of her sire's final Group 1 success in the Irish Champion Stakes on this very weekend. The blue-blooded filly, who fetched a sale-topping €1.7 million at Arqana last August, showed more than a bit of top-class potential when making a winning debut at the Curragh last month.And then there's Cape Ashizuri who, whilst perhaps under the radar amongst St Mark's Basilica's 13 first-crop winners to date, shouldn't be underestimated when he steps up markedly in grade for Saturday's G2 Champagne Stakes on Town Moor.With top-level entries later this autumn in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and Dewhurst, this is a colt who has always been held in high regard by John and Sean Quinn at their Highfield Stables in Malton, even if the 10/1 SP for his debut win at Ayr might suggest otherwise.“He was working nicely at home and showing good ability, but I think the main principals in that race had all had at least one run,” Sean says of confidence levels in the camp going to Ayr. “They were seemingly well fancied and, when you look at it with hindsight, rightly so. It's a maiden that has worked out phenomenally well – I think everything behind him is now around rated 80 or higher.“We thought he was capable of winning at six [furlongs], because he had the raw ability, but we always felt that seven might be better for him.” A debut success for Cape Ashizuri (St Mark's Basilica), who finished strongly under Jason Hart for John and Sean Quinn in the Ayrshire Cancer Support @BritishEBF Maiden @ayrracecourse pic.twitter.com/7D23lODFfZ— Racing TV (@RacingTV) July 6, 2025 That debut display had a sense of deja vu about it, with Cape Ashizuri mirroring his half-brother, The Wow Signal, by winning first time out over the six furlongs at Ayr, in the familiar maroon silks with mauve epaulets belonging to the Quinn's long-time supporter Ross Harmon.“The Wow Signal was probably more precocious,” says Quinn when asked to compare Cape Ashizuri with their two-year-old champion who later won the G2 Coventry Stakes and G1 Prix Morny for Al Shaqab Racing. “We've had some very good two-year-olds, but he had proper raw ability and power, a real bull of a horse. He would be the best we've had to date.“But this horse has strengthened up lovely through the year. He's now 40 kilos heavier than when he won at Ayr, so we feel, physically, he's done very well.”Explaining why Cape Ashizuri hasn't been seen on a racecourse since early-July, the trainer continues, “He was due to run in the Pat Eddery Stakes at Ascot. He travelled down the day before and when the lads were doing their evening checks they found he'd spiked a temperature. He couldn't run the next day and needed an easy week after that, so that just knocked us off track slightly.”Now back in peak condition, Cape Ashizuri also had the option of Friday's Listed Flying Scotsman Stakes at Doncaster, but his connections have decided to dive in at the deep end for Saturday's Group 2 where he'll face the G3 Acomb Stakes scorer Gewan (Night Of Thunder) and 'TDN Rising Star' Oxagon (Frankel), an eight-length winner on his second start at Sandown.“I had a good chat with Ross about it and we just thought that the Flying Scotsman was certainly no gimme,” Sean explains. “There are 10 runners in that race, some nice colts. We thought there would be fewer runners in the Champagne, which there are. With it being a Group 2 and more money on offer, we thought it was well worth a go.“Obviously, those races close early, so you have to have your bases covered if you feel that you have a good one,” he adds of Cape Ashizuri's Group 1 entries. “We've touched on it there, he has the pedigree to be a good one, and he's always pleased us at home.”One of seven winners from as many runners out of the unraced Muravka (High Chaparral), Cape Ashizuri is also a half-brother to Unicorn Lion, a multiple Grade 3 winner in Japan, and the G2 Airlie Stud Stakes heroine Matrika, both by No Nay Never. Another sibling, Vichy Listed winner Miss Infinity (Rock Of Gibraltar), is the dam of the G3 Prix Quincey victor Make Me King (Dark Angel), while the Quinns' G2 City Of York Stakes scorer Breege (Starspangledbanner) is out of Muravka's Zoffany daughter, Wowcha.With that pedigree, Sean was not optimistic of securing the St Mark's Basilica colt when he was offered at the Arqana October Yearling Sale, but in the end his price tag of €75,000 was by no means prohibitive.“I wasn't at Arqana, but Hamish Macauley rang me and said that he liked the horse,” Sean remembers. “I thought he might not be too easy to buy, but Hamish said, 'Look, we'll do our due diligence, get him vetted, etc., and then wait and see.' I spoke to some of the Coolmore partners, who gave the horse a good endorsement, and they said they would stay involved if he came our way. That was great, so Ross owns him and the Coolmore partners have a part of him as well.“Ross has been with us an awfully long time and never had a horse anywhere else. He's had plenty of good ones and plenty of bad ones, but it would be great to have another nice one for him.”The 14-time winner Safe Voyage (Fast Company), whose victories included the G2 Boomerang Stakes at Leopardstown on this weekend five years ago, would be the best horse Harmon has had with the Quinns, while none of us will forget John Fairley's flying mare Highfield Princess (Night Of Thunder), whose four Group 1 wins included an Irish Champions Festival success of her own in the 2022 Flying Five Stakes.Her death early last year inevitably left a significant void to be filled at Highfield Stables, but nobody can accuse the Quinns of not working tirelessly in their pursuit of the next superstar, with Sean conducting this interview the best part of 4,000 miles from home in Lexington.“They're incredibly hard to find and, even if you think you've found one, they're incredibly hard to buy,” he says of the search for horses who can perform at the top table. “We're always looking and I'm in Keeneland at the moment. The trade over here is very strong, and we haven't bought anything yet, but you've got to keep looking and moving forward. We're here for the week, so we'll see if we can come away with something.”The post Cape Ashizuri Sits Champagne Test on Big Weekend for St Mark’s Basilica appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.