Richard Hannon Stable Tour including Rosallion

Hannon has enjoyed a great start to the 2024 Flat Season, with high profile victories at Newmarket’s Craven Meeting and Newbury’s Greenham meeting.

THREE YEAR OLDS

Rosallion

"He’s done very well over the winter. He lost seventeen or eighteen kilos when he won in France. It was a very hot day when he won the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere in record time. Since then he has put on another 25kg, which is a lot. He has looked as though it is July all through the winter - Paco Boy used to do the same thing.

"Timmy Murphy, who rides him every day, has done a great job with him. I’m really happy with the way he has been working. It’s a bit of an unknown territory for us not having a run before the Guineas, but I didn’t want to take the chance on running him on soft ground. I’d rather go there fresh and fit from a racecourse gallops.

"He’s always shown an awful lot, his work is electric. He’s very relaxed and behaves like the good ones do. They walk and nothing bothers them. Winning Group 1’s as a 2yo is nigh on impossible, especially what we consider the top ones, and the fact he has done that makes him highly qualified to run extremely well in the Guineas."

Haatem

"I kept going back to six furlongs with him after he won the seven-furlong Group Two Vintage Stakes at Goodwood, and I’m not sure that was the right thing to do. He loved the mile at Newmarket in the Craven and it’s clear he’s much better the further he goes. I didn’t expect him to win like that, but physically he looks like a monster. He’s got to be a very good horse. Don’t tell me the Craven Stakes is ever a bad race."

Star Style

"We’ve always liked her and she was very impressive the other day at Newbury. She hit the gates, made the running and bolted up. That was really pleasing to see. It’s only her first run and she could do no more than beat them like she did. I’m slightly worried about the undulations at Newmarket, but if she copes with them and she’s able to go from the gate, she’s got to have a chance of running very well. She’s a good filly and she looked it the other day.

"I’d taken her to Newbury for a racecourse gallop before that race and she was sticking out then working with pretty decent colts. It’s nice to see her reproduce that in a race. She pulled muscles behind last year and was a big girl but she’s always shown plenty and been a lovely mover and looked very solid. We were very happy, with her being so big, to leave her until this year. "

Voyage

"I was surprised how easily he won at Newbury but I watched the race again last night and there was nothing flukey about it at all. This horse won easy, he was on the bridle the whole way and actually quickened, he was impressive.

"Both him and Star Style will improve massively for their first runs. Julie Wood is very much looking forward to the Epsom Derby, and if you try and talk her out of that you’re a better man than me. She gets an idea about a horse and she’s not afraid of anything and I love that. She’s had a lot of horses over the years, she is extremely loyal and a good mate. It would be great to see her have one run well in a Classic, be that the Guineas or the Derby.”

Serene Seraph

"She won’t run in the 1000 Guineas. She’s going to have one run and then go for the Sandringham at Royal Ascot. I’d almost be embarrassed to take her to the races as she looks like a teddy bear. She’s moving great and still has her enthusiasm, but she just isn’t there in her coat and that will take another month.

"She ran so bad on her final start at Newmarket last season. I said to Richard Brown, who manages the horses for Wathnan Racing, that it would have been a lot worse if she’d have been beaten fair and square. She was never at the races that day and was favourite for good reason, but she didn’t turn up. It was probably too late in the year for her and one step too far. We’ll use that to our advantage and go down the handicap route at Royal Ascot."

Son

"I was really pleased with his run in the Greenham Stakes at Newbury. For the first time he showed a bit of guts when he looked like he could have cried enough. He was unlucky not to be second, it was really pleasing. We’re not going to run him in the Guineas, we’re going to find something else a little smaller."

Persica

"Persica is not the fastest horse and he probably wants 1m2f but I was pleased with his run at Kempton. He’s another one that has looked amazing all winter, and he still does, but I think in time we will be going up in trip. He’s hopefully a very nice horse and he has matured a lot. He used to be a bit sweaty but he’s over all that now."

Dapper Valley

"I’m quietly hoping he could be a nice horse for the Carnarvon Stakes at Newbury on Lockinge day. I was delighted with that first run back at Newmarket and it appeared there was a bit of a draw bias, but I was delighted with that as he had a long time off. Physically he looks great and is in for a big year."

Houstonn

"The handicapper brought him in at 92, so I rang him as I thought that was ridiculous. He didn’t win a maiden and I’m now left with a maiden that is rated 92. He’s mentally very relaxed and is a physically good-looking horse. I’d like to think he could win a nice handicap this year."

Circe

"She was very unlucky at Newbury. Sean did the right thing, he kept filling her up waiting to press the button and she looked as though she was going to win. Just as he was about to press the button, she suffered interference. She’s another one we’ll be looking for a bit of black-type with this year and she could take in the Sandringham as well."

Lakota Spirit

"She did run well at Kempton last time out. She may have bumped into a decent filly. She didn’t pick up like I thought she would, but she too has had a long time off the track. That first run would have brought her on a lot and done her a lot of good. I’d expect her to win next time."

OLDER HORSES

Dark Thirty

"He could run well in a Stewards’ Cup or a Wokingham. He’s already won a nice handicap and hopefully he can win some more. He’s not far off ‘Listed’ class so we have that option. He’s in great form, looks great and has been going well for about a month now. He’s a Saturday horse."

Bosh

"He is a lightly raced horse and the type of horse we wanted to keep. He won on Good Friday and he ran another good race at Newbury’s Greenham meeting. He’ll pop up lots of times through the year. He’s not the type of horse you could target a race with as he isn’t like that, but he will win his races. He’s in great form at the moment."

Talis Evolvere

"He ran a super race the other day at Newbury and he obviously won on Good Friday at Newcastle. It was a very valuable race that day. He’s a massive horse and Charlie Austin is going to have a lot of fun with him this year at all the big meetings."

Shouldvebeenaring

"I thought he was the one horse who would go to Newmarket and run extremely well, but he was never at the races. I don’t know why because we were really happy with him. He’s a very good horse and he will win a Group race. Sprinters can tend to do that though. They can have their low and then take off. He was only beaten narrowly in a Group One last year. He’s a very, very good horse and the soundest minded horse you could probably get. He’s never had a problem in his life."

The Big Board

"Don’t worry about her run at Newmarket the other day. She’s just rusty and is getting herself back. She’s not quite there in her coat. A lot of time this helps bring them on a lot and hopefully we get a bit of nice weather and she will improve massively for that."

Starnberg

"He may get 1m4f this year. He was very consistent last year and is a good looking horse. He likes to be out in front and dictating things and hopefully he can win a few races."

TWO YEAR OLDS

Hawaiian

"The first thing Sean (Levey) said when he got off him was, if he’d made the running he’d have been more impressive. For me he was very impressive, but he’s never been off the bridle at home. When he was asked to go and win the race, he didn’t know what to do. He will have learnt more from that race than most horses.

"I’m very tempted to look at the Lily Agnes or the National Stakes or both. I have a feeling he is a speed horse and if he goes to Royal Ascot it will be the Norfolk Stakes, though Sheikh Mohammed Obaid thinks he wants six furlongs.

"He’s a nice horse to have around and he is an out-and-out two-year-old. He won a Newbury maiden and they are always decent. We always try and save a nice horse for those maidens. I think he definitely showed he was very decent."

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