‘He Deserves Another Group 1 Win’: Hannon Looking To Rosallion To Shine Again

[Wandering Eyes]

It has been a compelling few days at York, but it all comes to a head this weekend with an abundance of high-class action including a new British Group 1 in Saturday's City Of York. Upgraded to become the country's first seven-furlong contest to carry the status, it has duly attracted one of the best of the domestic brigade in Rosallion. While the son of Blue Point has met with three defeats so far this term, the last two when denied in photos in the Queen Anne and Sussex only serve to confirm his standing as one of the elite milers of his time.

Although he was an Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James's Palace winner last term, this return to seven could be the ideal scenario and it holds no fears for Richard Hannon. “It's back to seven furlongs, but two of his best performances have been at this distance, in the Pat Eddery Stakes at Ascot and Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere,” he said. “I don't think there is anybody who I've seen while racing who doesn't think he deserves another Group 1 win and he's been a model of consistency all year. Hopefully he gets his reward for it.”

While Juddmonte's Qirat (Showcasing) denied him in the Sussex when left to his own devices as a rogue pacemaker, this represents an entirely different test and he is unlikely to be ignored now the cat is out of the bag. The Golden Eagle hero Lake Forest (No Nay Never), Summer Mile winner Never So Brave (No Nay Never) and Prix Jean Prat runer-up Maranoa Charlie (Wootton Bassett) add ballast, but Rosallion looks to have a class edge.

Morny Caps Big Weekend For The Juveniles…

Sunday's G1 Sumbe Prix Morny is a true gem, with five juveniles who have shown a large degree of talent. Ballydoyle's impressive Coventry winner Gstaad (Starspangledbanner) needs no hyping after that display and bids to emulate his half-brother Vandeek's victory of two years ago. The fact that David Armstrong's Coppull (Bated Breath) was so well-beaten in that Royal Ascot feature before recording a convincing win in Goodwood's Richmond says it all about the potential quality of the Rosegreen representative.

It is not impossible that Coppull has improved past Gstaad in the interim, while the Albany and Duchess of Cambridge winner Venetian Sun (Starman) has been boosted by the York exploits of Royal Fixation. Godolphin's Wise Approach (Mehmas) is also firmly in the mix, having finished second to Charles Darwin over five in the Norfolk before taking apart the Gimcrack runner-up Rock On Thunder back over this trip in Newbury's Listed Rose Bowl Stakes. Then there is the small matter of the much-vaunted Outfielder (Speightstown), Amo Racing, Jayson Werth and Wesley Ward's potential superstar who left such a lasting impression at Churchill Downs in May.

Ahead of this feast, there are the Group 2 contests at The Curragh on Saturday which should tell us a lot more about next year's Classic picture. Ballydoyle have their customary strong representation in both the Futurity and Debutante, with Wootton Bassett's Galway winner Constitution River and Silver Flash winner Composing set to head to post as favourites for each prize.

Composing has proven Pattern-race form already and looks a cut above the Anglesey scorer Suzie Songs (Starspangledbanner) and Albany third Balantina (Ten Sovereigns), while the Futurity is perhaps more of a poser with the impressive Killarney and Curragh maiden winners A Boy Named Susie (Starspangledbanner) and Geryon (Lope De Vega) just as valid as Constitution River at this stage.

There are more avenues for the two-year-old fillies on Sunday, with Deauville's G2 Sumbe Prix du Calvados seeing the Princess Margaret winner Fitzella (Too Darn Hot) upped to seven furlongs to encounter an exciting Godolphin-Fabre project in My Highness (Ghaiyyath) and Goodwood's G3 Prestige Fillies' Stakes offering a fascinating clash between some genuine 1,000 Guineas types. The latter is part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In and the winner will be guaranteed an automatic berth in the $1-million John Deere Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Leading them is Cheveley Park Stud's unbeaten Moon Target (Cracksman), who has won her maiden and novice by a combined margin of 13 lengths and bids to emulate the operation's 1996 winner Red Camellia for Sir Mark Prescott. Ballydoyle have one in here too in the Cork maiden winner Precise (Starspangledbanner), while Al Shaqab and Amo Racing's course-and-distance maiden scorer Aylin (St Mark's Basilica) is another who ticks a lot of boxes.

Prescott said of Moon Target, “I've been a while without one for Cheveley and I had a marvellous run for them with Pivotal, Red Camellia who actually won the Prestige, and Hooray, who often gets forgotten and was champion two-year-old filly. I liked her much, much more once I worked her as she always went very, very well without apparently doing anything. Initially I thought the others must be very bad because of the way she just did it, so she's been interesting and I think she caught everybody by surprise when it turned out at home she could go.”

Dream Scenario In The Romanet?

There are so many sub-plots throughout the weekend it will take a while to digest once the dust is settled. While not exactly a sidenote as a Group 1 race for fillies and mares, Sunday's Sumbe Prix Jean Romanet is usually one of the lighter of its type staged in Europe and this year's edition is no exception. With Ballydoyle's Bedtime Story (Frankel) yet to recover her two-year-old form, it represents an ideal opportunity for Godolphin's Cinderella's Dream (Shamardal) to follow up her Falmouth success provided she sees out this mile-and-a-quarter trip. She was second in last year's 11-furlong Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf, but that was at Del Mar and there are some strong-staying fillies in here including the Aga Khan Studs runner Cankoura (Persian King) who took the G3 Prix de Pysche and was third in the Prix de Diane.

Other honourable mentions over the two days must go to Juddmonte's Greenham winner and Poule d'Essai des Poulains runner-up Jonquil (Lope De Vega) in Goodwood's feature G2 Celebration Mile, taken on by the progressive three-year-old filly Saqqara Sands (Oasis Dream) who dead-heated in the Oak Tree last time, Lordship Stud's still-promising TDN Rising Star Bowmark (Kingman) in York's G3 Strensall Stakes on Saturday and Wathnan's Copper Horse Stakes winner French Master (Frankel) under top weight in the meeting's feature Ebor Handicap.

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