PRIX CARAVELLE - Lapotheose

PRIX CARAVELLE - HARAS DES GRANGES - FONDS EUROPEEN DE L'ELEVAGE

Toulouse - 19th April - “Bon Souple 3,3”

3YO (F) Listed - 2,100m - €25,150

2:07.35 (Réduction KM 1:00.64) - Finishing Speed 104%

Lapotheose (Barberot) has now won all 3 starts to date and appeared to take this in her stride, even winning with Christophe Soumillon half a kilo overweight. She had scrambled home to win on debut at Angers, but was a more comfortable winner in a Class 2 at Toulouse last month. On the bare form, she was 3 lengths ahead of Roseninsel last time and less than 2 lengths clear this time despite that rival setting very decent early fractions with a clear lead. However, I would have to argue that Christophe Soumillon was nursing her into the race and she traveled like the winner to lead with a furlong to run. He seemed reluctant to use the pro-cush and gave her just 2 reminders in the straight. Although perhaps a little reluctant to go past, she did put her head down to get the better of the runner-up and maintain her perfect record.

Hatanka Fal (Groualle) won the Prix de Porquerolles at Cagnes-Sur-Mer earlier in the year. She found the Prix Rose de Mai at Saint-Cloud a little too hot, but she finished only 4 lengths behind the winner (Arkansas) and only the winner was quicker over the final 600m that day according to the McLloyd tracking data. She looks to be good value for her official rating of 44 kilos and now has some Black Type on her CV. She traveled well enough and having battled with the winner over the final 400m, she emerges with plenty of credit. I don’t think she is likely to reach beyond this level and she did have more experience than most of her rivals here, but there ought to be plenty of opportunities at Listed level for her later in the year and she may well have bumped into a Group horse on Sunday.

Temapica (Mosse) ran a huge race on just her 2nd start. She was given a patient ride by Marvin Grandin, who is riding superbly this year, but I really liked the way that she finished her race and her closing splits of 11.07 and 11.51s were both faster than the winner. She won the Prix Monade on debut at Saint-Cloud and gave that form a significant boost. She has picked up some Black Type here, but shapes like she will stay further and ought to continue to improve.

Summary

It can be hard to assess a race like this where the winner is clearly not putting it all in. LAPOTHEOSE is clearly talented and if she can be persuaded to consent, she may well prove to be a class above this field, but she does look to be a difficult ride and will need to be cleverly handled to be seen at her best. The form has a solid look to it and I would be adding the placed horses from TEMAPICA’s debut at Saint-Cloud to the tracker if you haven’t already after she confirmed the promise of her debut run on Sunday.