Caravan Rolls On

The trip that Caravan Rolls On experienced through the Mallard Handicap at Doncaster last Friday really was almost too bad to be true.

He was settled well back off a sedate pace, Jamie Spencer controlled it from the front on No Heretic, and Caravan Rolls On just got no run through. Spencer quickened from the front four furlongs out, and the pace picked up as a consequence, but William Buick had to sit still on Caravan Rolls On as he had nowhere to go with a wall of horses in front of him. Even once he had started to pick up he was checked in his run against the rail as Hanoverian Baron moved across in front of him, he was still on the bridle as they passed the two-furlong marker, Buick again tried to move back to the inside entering the final furlong but once more was forced to check, this time as Western Prize took the gap. No better than in a share of eighth or ninth place with half a furlong to run, and with little momentum, he was still only just beaten, despite finishing fifth, having finished best of all. He was in front just a few strides after the line.

There were plenty of hard luck stories in what was a really messy race, but Caravan Rolls On was almost certainly the unluckiest horse in the race. He had to start again having been hampered between Western Prize and the rail inside the final furlong, most of the other 11 horses were in their full stride at that point, yet Caravan Rolls On finished faster than anything and has to go down as an unlucky loser.

On the plus side, he has been kept on his mark of 93, and that is clearly a mark off which he can win a decent prize. He is a really progressive colt – he has been just about all the way through his career (he has put up career-to-date-bests in eight of his nine runs on Racing Post Ratings) – and he was impressive in winning on his debut this season at Newmarket at the end of August. He stayed on well to beat Qushchi and A Boy Named Suzi that day, with Repeater, who went on to be beaten just two lengths into fourth in the Doncaster Cup, further behind. Peter Chapple-Hyam’s colt is well worth another chance.

14th September 2012