Roc Angel

Roc Angel out-ran big odds in the Royal Hunt Cup to finish sixth overall, doing second best of those who raced in the far-side group. He raced from stall six, and he raced in the far side group in a race in which, and on a day on which, it appeared to be an advantage to race on the near side. Held up early on by Christophe Soumillon, he travelled really well through his race. Soumillon was one of just a few riders who were motionless passing the three-furlong marker. He had to engineer some racing room for himself at the two-furlong pole, and it took him a few strides to pick up among horses once he was in the clear, but he stayed on strongly from there all the way to the line, failing by just a neck to beat Kynren in the ‘race’ on the far side.

It was a fine run by Fabrice Chappet’s horse, racing in his first handicap in Britain. He was well beaten by Matterhorn in the all-weather championships at Lingfield in April, but only finished two lengths behind the runner-up, the 117-rated Wissahickon. He won over 10 furlongs at Fontainebleau in late May, which earned him a 5lb penalty for this race, without which he wouldn’t have got into the race. He will be of interest when he goes back to Britain, ideally to Ascot or to an all-weather track and, a French-trained five-year-old gelding who is not lightly-raced, he could remain a little under-rated.

Ascot, 19^th June 2019