Richard Hannon talks Marcus Townend through some of his big hopes for the new Flat season.
Optimism envelops every Flat stable in the Spring but few trainers have more cause to look forward to the 2025 season than Richard Hannon.
In Rosallion he has potentially the best older horse in training and the Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes winner is being readied for an imminent return alongside his Jersey Stakes winning stablemate Haatem.
Adding further depth and strength to the Hannon hand, he now also trains Unquestionable, who won the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf before finishing fourth in last season’s Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes for Aidan O’Brien. All three horses are currently due to clash in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.
As he outlined prospects for his string to sportinglife.com, Hannon said: ‘‘We had horses like Dick Turpin, Canford Cliffs, Havana Gold, Sky Lantern and Toronado all in one hit and then nothing for five years. When you have had them and then don’t, boy do you miss them in your life. It is not just the winning, it is looking forward to the big races.’’
The 2024 season ended prematurely for both Rosallion and Haatem but their Royal Ascot exploits were the highlight of 2024 for Hannon, particularly Rosallion’s St James’s Palace victory. He had won the Irish 2,000 Guineas but his narrow defeat to Charlie Appleby’s Notable Speech in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, which he avenged at Ascot, had really stung.
‘‘It was one of the best days of my life,’’ Hannon reflected. ‘‘It was not about being proved right. It was a real kick to be second in the Guineas after he looked like he was going to bolt up.
‘‘The winner was a good horse but I feel mine was the best, although you are going to, aren’t you? Royal Ascot is where it’s at and there were four group one winners behind him. To cut them down and come from where he did, it was exciting.’’
AL ARBEED
We thought he was a nice horse last year and he won on his debut in a seven-furlong maiden at Southwell last month. I think was a decent race. Hopefully, he can work through the ranks and there is a conditions race at the Newmarket Craven meeting where he could go next.
CLASSIC
He has been gelded, which he needed. Owner Julie Wood took a fair bit of convincing that was the right thing to do. He is a very capable horse but he is just a bit acidic, he wants to be out of control and always makes it look like he is not settling. I took him to Newbury last month because I wanted to take that fizz out of him.
His runs last season included sixth in the Golden Mile at Glorious Goodwood. He is a very capable horse on his day but have seen him nearly win a lot of races. Hopefully, the gelding will be make a difference.’
CIRCE
I am not sure she stayed at Doncaster on her comeback in a seven furlong handicap because she got to the front travelling great and got run out of it and finished fourth. I would like to think she could get some black type once we have exploited her handicap mark.
DARK THIRTY
He will improve for his winning comeback race in the six-furlong handicap at Doncaster’s Lincoln meeting. I thought he was beaten but it was lovely to see how he dug in.
He has been gelded since last season and he is a very capable horse. We don’t work him at home because he does enough on his own. The aim of the Doncaster run was to put him right for the race he won last year at Newmarket’s Craven meeting so he will go there again.
He didn’t manage to follow up that win up last year and I think the handicapper slightly overreacted. Going up and down five or six pounds makes a huge difference to these sprinters. Mine always seem to up the thick end of that and come down in ones!’
EUPATOR
He was placed twice as a two-year-old over a mile at Salisbury and seven furlongs at Kempton but, to be honest, I was a little disappointed with both his runs. I think he just wants a trip. He is a son of Persian King and a horse we have always really liked. He has grown into a very nice horse and it was always going to be about his three-year-old career. We would like to win his maiden and then go looking for something over a mile and a quarter or a mile and a half. Timmy Murphy rides him every day and thinks he will stay that far.
GREAT BEDWYN
I didn’t want to lose him when owner Prince Faisal decided to sell him at the end of last year so we bought him back at the Horses-In-Training sales. He won a mile and a half handicap at Newbury last year and was third in a mile and three-quarter handicap Glorious Goodwood. He can be a bit up and down but he is moving great now. I think a mile and a half is his limit.
HAATEM
He hasn’t run since being pulled out just before the Prix Jacques Le Marois in August. He was lame and I am so glad James Doyle had the sense not to go any further even though it was disappointing on the day. When we brought him back X-rays couldn’t find anything and so he went to Newmarket for a scan and they found something in his shoulder.
He has had plenty of time and looks amazing. I am going to bring him back in the Group Two bet365 Mile on April 25 before he also goes for the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot where he will clash with Rosallion. They are owned by different people so they will take each other on during the year. It is not something I am mindful to avoid but I think he may get a mile and a quarter which would open up races later in the season.
KING OF CITIES
A good-looking horse with a very nice pedigree. He won at Chester last season and was second in the Haynes, Hanson and Clark Stakes at Newbury. We took him back there at the end of March and he worked very well on the grass. He could go straight to the Lingfield Derby Trial to see if he gets a mile and a half and we will then be able to make a plan.’
LINWOOD
A three-year-old by Inns of Court, who won at Newbury and Ripon last year before finishing unplaced in a Listed race at Haydock. He is a very nice horse who will back to Haydock for his comeback. He could be one for something like the Hunt Cup.
MEBLESH
A Sea The Stars three-year-old colt who was third on his debut in a seven-furlong Doncaster maiden at the Lincoln meeting. You will see a proper horse when he goes a mile-and-a-half. We all knew seven furlongs would be too sharp but I just wanted to get him out and have a run. He might have been a bit keen if we had gone a mile and a half straight away. He will probably go a mile and a quarter next time and is entered at Newbury on Friday.
NORMAN’S CAY
My first two-year-old runner of the season and narrowly won the Brocklesby Stakes at Doncaster. I thought they might go too fast for him and he may get startled and run on late.He did and David (Egan) said he couldn’t have gone any faster. I liked the way he knuckled down. He was a bit coltish in the paddock and was very green. David said he was whinnying throughout the first furlong and he did that in the winner’s enclosure as well so he obviously had a bit left. He’ll want six furlongs.
NIGHTIME DANCER
Was third on his only start as a two-year-old in a seven-furlong novice at Newmarket in November and was a good winner of a valuable mile-and-a-half novice at Southwell on his comeback. He is by Ghaiyyath, who looks like being a good stallion. He has shown us enough for us to know he is a very decent horse. He has an Irish Derby entry and he is in the German Derby too. I would love to think he was up to running in one of those but he will have to prove that.
PERSICA
He did really well last year, winning mile-and-a-quarter handicaps at Epsom on Derby day and Sandown on Eclipse day. He won the Doonside Cup at Ayr and ended up finishing eighth in the Champion Stakes at Ascot. He improved massively last year and, physically, he is as nice a horse as you would see.
‘He didn’t stay the trip when third to Royal Champion in the 1m 3f Winter Derby at Southwell in February. He’ll go to Newmarket for one mile, one furlong Earl of Sefton Stakes at Newmarket and I will put him in the Lockinge Stakes in case it turns up soft ground. He’ll be a nice horse to go group racing with.’’
RAEDWALD
A three-year-old by Saxon Warrior, who has only had one run when seventh in a mile maiden at Newbury in August. He is owned by Michael Pescod and he looks a decent horse.
ROSALLION
I am delighted with him. It is quite hard not to sound too enthusiastic where he is concerned. If we had run him the Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood last year, we could have done a bit of long-term damage. He had a lung infection and it was quite serious. He has been here all Winter and he looks great. I am looking forward to the Lockinge Stakes and it will be all fairly logical after that, the Queen Anne Stakes and the Sussex Stakes. The only thing is he will not run on soft ground.
I’d love to win a Breeders’ Cup at the end of the year. His high cruising speed would be ideal for racing in America but whether he goes there is a decision for (owner) Sheik Obaid.
SON
Gelded since last season when he was fourth in the Greenham Stakes and unplaced in the Jersey Stakes. He ran a few good races when I least expected it. It seems the better the race, the better he runs. He needs to step up if he is to be a black type horse but, if not, can be a capable handicapper.’’
STAR STYLE
She is a very good filly but we just need to get her to relax. She has always been quite big and heavy. It did not surprise me when she won a seven-furlong maiden at Newbury in April last year and she just went too quick when unplaced in the 1,000 Guineas. She has had a nice break to get her relaxed and hopefully she can come back and run some nice races this year. We may need to go back to six furlongs with her but I would love to think she could get a mile.
STEM
Was impressive when winning on his only run at Newbury last year when he loved the soft ground. Ryan Moore rode him and liked him very much. He took a long time to become himself last year after he came back from the breeze-up sales He is a proper horse. I have left him alone and he has grown. He didn’t need to but he is a big horse now.
He is in the Irish Derby so things will happen a bit later with him. Whether he gets a mile and a half, we will see but he certainly looks like he will. We don’t know yet where we are with him and only racing will tell us but, potentially, he could be our nicest three-year-old. I am not going to get him ready for a particular race. When he is ready, we will find it.
TALIS EVOLVERE
I didn’t run him in the Lincoln because he was a bit quiet. He is a sound horse who belongs to me and Charlie Austin and we are looking forward to running in big handicaps all season. He won the Mile on All-Weather champions day last year and finished third in the Newbury Spring Cup. He has been great fun and I am sure he will be again this year.
UNQUESTIONABLE
He is obviously a great horse to be sent having won the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf and finished fourth to Rosallion in both the Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes last season. A mile looks his trip but he could go back to seven furlongs. I want to go to the Paradise Stakes at Ascot on the Royal Ascot trials day on April 30 and then he will go for the Queen Anne Stakes at the royal meeting.
WITCH HUNTER
He is a dude of a horse who belongs to the right man who just loves him and cries every time he wins. He is there good or bad and it is a family event. He hasn’t won for ages but last season his runs included third in the Lockinge, fourth in the Queen Anne, second in the Hungerford Stakes and third in the Balmoral Handicap, a race he won in 2023 as well as the Buckingham Palace Stakes. He will run in all the same sort of races, Listed and handicaps.
He has won around £500,000 and is the yard favourite. We call him the ambulance because if someone comes in and we are not sure how well they can ride, we put them on him and he will look after them.
ZIP IT UP
A four-year-old filly who won over six furlongs at Kempton in September before finishing second at Lingfield in December. She got a little bit light so she went back to her breeders, Barnane Stud in Ireland, and has only just come back. She has put some weight on and looks really good. Hopefully, she can produce the sort of form when she bolted up first time. She is very quick. She shouldn’t take too long to get ready.
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