Tag Archive for: Craven Stakes

Haatem boosts Hannon hopes for 2000 Guineas bid

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Haatem could join esteemed stablemate Rosallion in next month’s Qipco 2000 Guineas after throwing his hat into the ring with a dominant victory in the bet365 Craven Stakes at Newmarket.

Rosallion, who won three of his four juvenile starts including the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on Arc weekend at ParisLongchamp, is very much Richard Hannon’s first string for the season’s first Classic on May 4, with only the unbeaten and much-vaunted City Of Troy ahead of him in ante-post lists.

Haatem himself kept good company during a busy two-year-old campaign, most notably winning the Vintage Stakes at Goodwood as well as finishing second and fifth behind City Of Troy in the Superlative and Dewhurst Stakes respectively, but looked more exposed than most ahead of his three-year-old debut.

Making his reappearance and 10th career start in one of the key Guineas trials, Haatem was sent off at 17-2 in the hands of Sean Levey and quickened up smartly racing out of the dip to pull three and a half lengths clear of Dewhurst third Eben Shaddad.

“The way he did it has surprised me, but you can’t say that was a fluke. He’s obviously improved a lot physically – he’s a big, strong, impressive horse,” said Hannon.

“He’s a good horse and he’s just won a Craven by three and a half lengths. He won a Vintage Stakes with the subsequent Champagne Stakes winner behind him and he was fifth in a Dewhurst.

“Funnily enough, I said to Sean after the last race I thought he’d get the trip well and it seems the horses who have been making the running all week have been winning and have been hard to peg back. I know he didn’t make the running, but I don’t think you can say that is an average performance, he was pretty good there.”

Haatem and Sean Levey after winning at Newmarket
Haatem and Sean Levey after winning at Newmarket (Bradley Collyer/PA)

Coral cut Haatem to 25-1 from 66-1 for the 2000 Guineas, with Aidan O’Brien’s City Of Troy their 4-6 favourite and Rosallion rated his biggest threat at 5-1. Betfair and Paddy Power make Haatem a 20-1 chance.

Hannon is ready to let both of his pair line up at Newmarket next month, but did mention a couple of potential alternatives for Haatem.

He added: “This is the racecourse and this is where it matters and on what he has done today, the 25-1 on offer for the 2000 Guineas could be generous to me.

“Rosallion is a horse that contains an awful lot of speed, whereas this is a horse who gets the trip extremely well. Rosallion will get the mile and they will both probably run (in the Guineas).

“We’ve made no secret about how good we think Rosallion is. This horse has surprised me in the manner in which he did it, but I don’t think he should ever have been a 20-1 shot for the race like he was yesterday. It’s nice to have two very good milers on our hands and two with very good chances in the Guineas – one with an exceptional chance and one with a better chance than he had before.

“He’s in the German Guineas and Irish Guineas as well and I think he will be a force to be reckoned with wherever he goes. I’m delighted and the owners are delighted – they deserve it.”

Levey said: “No doubt he (Haatem) is exposed, but I thought he brought a lot of good form to the table. He was a big horse last year and I always thought he was doing well to do as well as he did because I knew he would get better in time.

“I wasn’t expecting that sort of run today, he’s obviously been hiding a bit from me at home. I thought he wanted a mile and a quarter, but I think he has done that really well and he’s going to show his hand in the Guineas now.

“Rosallion is a good horse and it gives you a bit of confidence to see this lad win the way he did. I hope I’m right (when I say) that he (Rosallion) is exceptional.”



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Native Approach primed for big Craven test

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Native Approach could strengthen Charlie Appleby’s Classic hand by providing the trainer with a fourth victory in the last six runnings of the bet365 Craven Stakes at Newmarket.

Subsequent Derby hero Masar was the Moulton Paddocks handler’s first winner of this recognised 2000 Guineas trial in 2018, while Master Of The Seas and Native Trail struck Craven gold in successive years in 2021 and 2022 before filling the runner-up spot in the Guineas less than three weeks later.

Ancient Wisdom, who enjoyed a racecourse gallop on the Rowley Mile on Wednesday morning, and the unbeaten three-time Kempton winner Notable Speech appear Appleby’s two chief contenders for the first Classic of the season on May 4.

But Native Approach – narrowly beaten on his Kempton debut in January before going one better the following month – gets an opportunity to stake his claim on Thursday.

Appleby said: “Like a lot of these horses that come off the all-weather, we’re testing them on the turf now.

“I’m not trying to sit on the fence. He looks great at home but he’s got to go and switch it on on the turf now.

“I’m always one who would rather just sit before I get too bolshy over what they have achieved or what they could achieve – like Notable Speech, he’s doing it at a different level at the moment.”

He added: “At the end of the day, from the outside looking in, the only way you can beat City Of Troy is by an unexposed three-year-old, because what he beat last year, I don’t see anything reversing the form myself.”

Andre Fabre saddles Alcantor in Thursday's Craven Stakes at Newmarket
Andre Fabre saddles Alcantor in Thursday’s Craven Stakes at Newmarket (PA)

Native Approach’s task is far from straightforward, with a number of horses with Group One form also in contention for this Group Three contest.

Andre Fabre’s Alcantor was last seen being touched off by David Menuisier’s Sunway in the Criterium International at Saint-Cloud in October and crosses the Channel for a race his legendary trainer won with Xaar in 1998.

“He’s done well over the winter, I’m pleased with him and I think running him in the Craven will be good experience for him – and for me,” said Fabre.

“He has no plan to come for the English Guineas, the French is a possible option.”

Eben Shaddad (right) chases home City Of Troy in the Dewhurst Stakes
Eben Shaddad (right) chases home City Of Troy in the Dewhurst Stakes (Tim Goode/PA)

Eben Shaddad is a major contender for John and Thady Gosden on the strength of his third-place finish in last season’s Dewhurst Stakes behind Aidan O’Brien’s brilliant Guineas favourite City Of Troy.

Meanwhile, O’Brien and jockey Ryan Moore team up with Cambridge, who rounded off his juvenile year by finishing second in the Group Three Eyrefield Stakes at Leopardstown.

“He has a fair bit to find with the form horses Alcantor and Eben Shaddad, but he followed up his Salisbury win on lively ground for me with a decent second in a Group Three on deep ground at Leopardstown, and hopefully there is plenty of improvement in him at three,” Moore told Betfair.

“He will probably want further down the line but this is a good starting point for him.”

The Richard Hannon-trained Haatem and Jane Chapple-Hyam’s unbeaten pair of Sons And Lovers and Champagne Prince complete the field.



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Indestructible earns Guineas ticket with Craven success

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Indestructible made the best possible start to life with Karl Burke when winning the bet365 Craven Stakes at Newmarket – and paid a handsome compliment to Chaldean in the process.

Formerly with Michael O’Callaghan in Ireland, Indestructible was moved to Burke’s stables in Leyburn by owners Amo Racing and the transfer paid an immediate dividend.

The increasingly familiar purple and white Amo silks have enjoyed a stellar week at HQ, with Richard Hannon’s Mammas Girl winning the Nell Gwyn and propelling herself into the 1000 Guineas picture in the process being supplemented by the impressive victory of Persian Dreamer.

Andrew Balding’s Chaldean, due to run in Saturday’s Greenham Stakes at Newbury, beat Indestructible twice last season in the Acomb Stakes at York and the Champagne at Doncaster.

Joined at the head of affairs going into the dip by The Foxes, Indestructible stuck his head down for Kevin Stott and found plenty for pressure while The Foxes – who looked to go a length up a one stage – drifted over to the far rail.

In the end Indestructible ran out a length and a quarter winner, with Dancing Magic staying on for third. Charlie Appleby’s Mysterious Night, sent off the 15-8 favourite, was niggled from some way out and failed to get competitive.

“Thankfully the horses have started to hit form. If you’d been talking to me two weeks ago I was pulling what is left of my hair out, but things have clicked into gear,” said Burke.

“This is a lovely, scopey horse. I got a phone call just before Christmas asking if we’d take him and I’m not going to turn down horses like him.

“We had a couple of niggles with him physically after he arrived, nothing major, but because of those niggles I’m sure he’s having a good blow today and he’ll improve.

“He has worked well, especially in the last two weeks as with each piece of work he did leading into this he worked better each time, so I’m delighted.

“I’d say I’d have to fight Kia (Joorabchian, owner) now not to come back here in two weeks’ time (2000 Guineas). He deserves his chance, I’m sure.”

Balding’s wife, Anna-Lisa, said: “These trials are always a fact-finding mission and for him (The Foxes) he’s run really good and his best days are hopefully ahead of him still over a little bit further.

The Foxes is heading to York
The Foxes is heading to York (Steven Paston/PA)

“For Chaldean, he’s wintered well and Saturday will answer more questions.”

King Power racing manager Alistair Donald said of The Foxes: “We’re delighted. This was always going to be a prep for the Dante and the Derby is the main focus.

“We didn’t want to go to the Dante first time out. Today he’s travelled great, looked like he was going to win the race and just got tired. I think he was a bit lonely out in front there as well.

“It’s quite exciting and we’re perfectly on track for the plan.”



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Paddington more likely to represent O’Brien in Craven than Cairo

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Recent Naas winner Paddington may represent Aidan O’Brien in the bet365 Craven Stakes at Newmarket on Thursday.

The Siyouni colt carried a big weight to victory to win the Madrid Handicap on his return to action and is on course to step up in class for the Guineas trial.

O’Brien also has Cairo entered, last seen finishing well down the field in the UAE Derby on dirt. But soft ground has made him a very unlikely runner.

“We left in two and I’m not sure as the ground has gone soft. Paddington is the one that might run. It might be a step too quick, but he’s in and we are thinking about it,” said O’Brien.

“Cairo would have been a possible only the ground has gone soft. He’s fine and just didn’t face the dirt over in Dubai.”

O’Brien currently houses two of the ante-post favourites for the 2000 Guineas in Auguste Rodin and Little Big Bear and both are due to step up their work shortly.

“It’s so far, so good with the Guineas horses,” said the Ballydoyle handler.

“Little Big Bear is a quick horse and has not been asked to do a lot. His work will get more serious over the next few weeks.”



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The Foxes pencilled in for Craven Stakes return

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The Foxes could start his campaign in the Craven Stakes as he hopes to tread a path to the Derby.

The son of Churchill won for the first time in a Goodwood maiden in July last year, then taking a step forward to land the Group Two Royal Lodge Stakes at Newmarket in September.

The Craven Stakes, a Group Three event run over a mile at the same track in mid-April, is the probable starting point for the colt this term.

The Foxes (left) winning the Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes
The Foxes (left) winning the Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes (David Davies/PA)

The Dante, a Group Two step up to 10 furlongs, has been mentioned as the next target, after which a tilt at the Derby is under consideration for the King Power-owned three-year-old.

Trainer Andrew Balding said: “We are hoping that The Foxes might make up into a Derby horse this season.

“He is not in the 2000 Guineas but he will probably run in the Craven as a prep for the Dante.

“He is a horse that we have always rated and he looks the part. Hopefully he will be a smart horse this season.”



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