Another successful season for Marlborough trainer Richard Hannon - and a hope for Champions Day at Ascot
CoulstyRichard Hannon Jnr's second season as trainer at the Herridge and Everleigh stables near Marlborough has been another resounding success. So far in the season he has had 174 UK winners, with prize money of nearly £3.5 million - including the 2000 Guineas winner, a winner at Royal Ascot and seven Group 1 winners.
Coming up to the flst racing season's grand finale, the Qipco British Champions Day at Ascot (Saturday, October 17), the Hannon yard's hopes rest with the four year-old bay colt Coulsty. He will run in the Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes - now a Group 1 race with prize money of £600,000.
In August Coulsty was beaten by half a length at Newbury under Frankie Dettori on good-to-soft ground over seven furlongs. So perhaps the recent deluges will be good for him. On his September outing at Doncaster he came in fifth of fifteen runners - again over seven furlongs.
Coulsty will be running against a rare entry in a British race from a training yard in Singapore - Emperor Max.
Richard Hannon Snr retired at the end of 2013, but is still part of the Herridge team. His amazing career began in 1970 with nine horses and he went on to be champion trainer five times and bring home over 4,000 winners. The family have been at Herridge for 20 years.
It has in one respect been a strange season for the Hannon family. Their long-term stable jockey (and champion jockey) Richard Hughes (Richard Jnr's brother-in-law) retired and is now training for the flat just over the border in Hampshire.
At the start of the season the yards had about 270 horses. By this stage of the year many have been sent to the sales or are already at the winter quarters. When Marlborough News Online visted Herridge on the wettest of wet Tuesdays, Richard Hannon was at the Newmarket sales.
The yearling on the right was sired by Sir Prancealot - a sprint specialist trained at Herridige and retired to stud in November 2012 after three wins from his four races.They have already taken in a new cardre of yearlings - and some of them were out exercising on the all-weather circuit. In all the stables expect about 100 yearlings to be broken-in and exercised over the winter.
Richard Hannon had two other horses entered for Champions Day: Toormore and Burnt Sugar.
Four year-old Toormore has been one of the stable's stars this season - winning the Qatar Lennox Stakes at Goodwood in July. And travelling to Turkey's Veliefendi Racecourse last month to win the International Topkapi Trophy two-and-a-half lengths clear of Perfect Warrior.
He ran in Longchamp's post-Arc Sunday card gaining 'an honourable bronze'. His lifetime earnings to date are just shy of £900,000. He will now be rested until he goes to race in Hong Kong in December.
Three year-old colt Burnt Sugar was entered for Champions Day Balmoral Handicap. And although BBC Radio 4's Today programme tipped him to win the £112,000 prize in last Saturday's Totescoop6 Challenge Cup at Ascot - he had already been declared a non-runner due to a sore hind foot.
Illuminate - showing her speedFinally, here is a Hannon-trained horse to watch next season: Illuminate. This compact two year-old bay filly started the season with an unbeaten run of victories in May, June and July. Then last month at Newmarket she was beaten by half a length in the Group 1 Chieveley Park Stakes - ironically by the horse named Lumiere.
The Hannon website recorded that neither trainer or jockey, Frankie Dettori, 'felt she lost anything in defeat'. Hannon said: "lluminate travelled well and she has run right up to her form - she beat Besharah a neck at Newmarket and now the superiority was a neck - but she just got leg-weary on the rising ground."
"That will be it for this season, but we still look at Illuminate as a 1000 Guineas filly, and she'll have her prep-race in the Fred Darling at Newbury in April."
Certainly a filly to keep a close eye on next season.