Caballo De Mar bounces back to form in Doncaster Cup Caballo De Mar bounced back from disappointing efforts at Royal Ascot and York to win the Betfred Howards Wright Doncaster Cup. Questions had been raised over whether the five-year-old still had the stomach for the fight after coming home last in the Gold Cup and stopping quickly before finishing fourth in the Lonsdale Cup at York. But after taking up the running a furlong from home on Town Moor under Oisin Murphy, the George Scott-trained stayer proved his doubters wrong, pulling away from Beylerbeyi to land odds of 5-6 favourite by a length and a quarter. Scott is now looking forward to seeing his charge defend his title in the Prix du Cadran on Arc weekend at ParisLongchamp. He said: “We needed to see that from him today if we wanted to go back to Paris with him, as he’s two from two there – we just have to hope Scandinavia doesn’t turn up there. If he doesn’t then he’s going to be a player. “He loves Longchamp, he loves the tempo of the races and two-mile-four is right up his street. “I thought he was value for a bit more today, he had to commit earlier than he wanted.” The Doncaster Cup was been robbed of its likely favourite after Queenstown was pulled out and there was also drama beforehand when the Emmet Mullins-trained Winday gave trouble at the start. Having worked himself up into a sweat, he failed to the fire in the race itself, finishing a tailed off last of seven. But on this occasion Caballo De Mar was as good as gold, much to the delight of his trainer. “His last two races have been in a Gold Cup against two of the best stayers we’ve seen, and he was third until the furlong pole, and last time at York they went a hell of a gallop and he was in the thick of it the whole way. York is a funny track too, they can misfire and he did,” Scott continued. “Today was a much more of an even set up for him, so I think it’s more down to circumstance than anything. “This horse has been amazing for us for two years – he’s had two bad runs, so what – some horses go off the boil for a year before coming back but we got him back within three weeks. “I said to Sheikh Nasser (owner) this morning, he’s a world class athlete and you can train in the gym all you like but if you come out in the afternoon in the heat of battle, that is when you see true colours. “In the paddock I knew he was on it and Oisin said straight away ‘he’s here’. “Victorious Racing put an awful lot of trust in me so it is a relief he’s won today. I know that if it goes wrong they have got my back.”
