Tag Archive for: Richard Hannon

BHA and Hannon moving on, as owner is removed from forfeit list

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The British Horseracing Authority has confirmed the removal of Prince Sultan Bin Mishal al Saud from the forfeit list after settling his dispute with Richard Hannon.

Prince Sultan had horses in training with Hannon, with A La Noche and Time To Hunt unsuccessfully representing the owner in 2023, although he had no runners last year.

He had amassed debts of £321,933.75 and as a result was disqualified from participating in British racing, but those fees have now been paid.

Hannon said: “I am extremely grateful to the BHA for the continued support they have shown to me, my yard and British racing as a whole in this matter. This has been a stressful period for us but we are all looking forward to enjoying our racing in 2025.”



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Owner placed on forfeit list due to £321,000 debt

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Owner Prince Sultan Bin Mishal al Saud has been added the British Horseracing Authority’s forfeit list after racking up debts of more than £321,000.

Prince Sultan had horses in training with Richard Hannon, with A La Noche and Time To Hunt unsuccessfully representing the owner in 2023, although he had no runners last year.

The owner was placed on the forfeit list with debts of £321,933.75 and is disqualified from participating in British racing until the sum is paid.

Hannon said: “This is a disappointing situation and is now a matter for the BHA. I will not be making any further comment at this time, but I am incredibly grateful for the actions taken by the BHA to date and its continued support to resolve things.”



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Ascot favoured for Shouldvebeenaring farewell run

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Middleham Park Racing are preparing to “roll the dice” with Shouldvebeenaring, who is set to seek top-level honours when making his swansong in the Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes later this month.

Richard Hannon’s son of Havana Grey has been a consistent performer for his connections, winning six of his 28 starts and rarely finishing out of the frame.

The four-year-old is bound for Kildare to stand at the Irish National Stud at the end of his on-track career and is entered in the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards Challenge Stakes at Newmarket on Friday ahead of Qipco British Champions Day.

He has previously placed in Haydock’s Sprint Cup and the Prix de la Foret when competing at the highest level and his team rightfully dream of finally getting that elusive top-table success under his belt in his final outing.

“I think we will probably role the dice in the Champions Sprint,” said Middleham Park Racing’s Tom Palin.

“It’s a not so secret, secret, that he is going to stand at the Irish National Stud and after speaking to them, we are more than likely going to try to get that Group One that he more than deserves.

“He’s been very unlucky previously and we will try to get one of them and it’s probably one of the only races we could roll the dice in at the end of the year.

“I don’t think he’s got a Breeders’ Cup in him. It would either be a two-turn mile or the sprint would have him stood on his head, so Ascot will likely be his last day.

“He more than deserves his swansong and has been a joy of a horse who gives his all. He will probably not get his ground there and it might be miraculous if he was to, but it’s a great game and strange things can happen.”



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Hannon elects to draw stumps with Rosallion for this year

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Richard Hannon has decided not to run Rosallion again this season with the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot nominated as his first major target of 2025.

Having won the Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes he was being prepared for a big clash in the Sussex Stakes with Notable Speech and Henry Longfellow.

However, the day before the race he was ruled out with a respiratory infection and while Hannon had at one stage not completely dismissed the possibility of another run this year, that has ultimately curtailed his season.

“I think that is correct (that he will not run again this season). He’s got nothing to prove now,” Hannon told Nick Luck’s Daily Podcast.

“He wasn’t right for Goodwood and he would have run terrible. He had a lung infection, we put him on antibiotics and after three weeks he was bang ready to go again.

“The ground has gone now so let’s look forward to next year – look forward, not back.”

With a top-quality colt on his hands, Hannon is targeting all the big mile races.

He said: “His (first) big race will be the Queen Anne (at Royal Ascot), there’s obviously the Lockinge, maybe the Sussex then all those big races, maybe the Breeders’ Cup.

“He’s definitely staying in training next year. He’s the dream horse really and he’s a pleasure to have about.

“I just think he’s had a long break and he gets pretty big, he’d need loads of work beforehand, 99 per cent of the time it is very soft ground on Champions Day and I would hate to finish the season on a bad note.

“I would much rather the winter went much quicker looking at a St James’s Palace and an Irish Guineas winner.”



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Haatem setback ‘nothing serious’ but season still over

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There will be no further action this season for Royal Ascot hero Haatem, with owners Wathnan Racing focussing on a 2025 campaign following the setback he suffered prior to the start of the Prix Jacques le Marois.

Trained by Richard Hannon, the son of Phoenix Of Spain won the Craven Stakes before placing in both the 2000 Guineas and Irish equivalent for former owner Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah earlier in the campaign.

A key signing by Qatari operation Wathnan in the build-up to Royal Ascot, he successfully dropped back to seven furlongs at the summer showpiece to outbattle Kikkuli in a thrilling finish to the Jersey Stakes.

Haatem was then a leading contender for his proposed return to Group One level at Deauville last month, but big-race jockey James Doyle was unhappy with his mount on the way to the start and he was subsequently withdrawn as the opposition began to load for the key mile contest.

Investigations revealed the cause of Haatem’s setback, and although it is described as “nothing serious”, and with the colt holding entries for races such as the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Qipco British Champions Day later in the autumn, connections have made the decision to call time on his three-year-old campaign.

Haatem and James Doyle after winning the Jersey Stakes
Haatem and James Doyle after winning the Jersey Stakes (John Walton/PA)

Richard Brown, racing adviser to the owners, said: “We’ve got to the bottom of what was troubling him that day and, the good news is, it’s nothing serious.

“But it would be a race against time to get him back for the obvious end-of-year targets, so we’ve drawn stumps and hope to have him back in top form for the big mile races next season.”



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Shouldvebeenaring given Sprint Cup target

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Last year’s runner-up Shouldvebeenaring is in line for a second tilt at the Betfred Sprint Cup following another fine effort in defeat at York last week.

Making his first appearance since landing a Group Three prize at Deauville in early July, Richard Hannon’s admirable grey placed third in the City of York Stakes behind shock winner Breege at Group Two level on the Knavesmire.

With a career at stud calling after this season, owners Middleham Park Racing are keen to enhance his stallion value with a Group One victory and the Sprint Cup at Haydock on Saturday week – in which he was narrowly denied by Regional last season – is viewed as a suitable next port of call.

“He’s all over a Group performer and can compete at Group Two and Group One level no problem. Our job now is to secure that Group One and/or Group Two victory before he goes off to stud,” said Middleham Park’s Tim Palin.

“The other day (at York), it was just unfortunate that the rails were dolled out and that extra 32 yards after seven furlongs just eked into his stamina a wee bit – he is a six- come seven-furlong horse.

“Oisin (Murphy) said he went to beat the favourite (Audience) and win the race. Maybe they got racing a bit far out and maybe that meant he was a bit weaker at the line, but it was another cracking run and it sets him up for what is traditionally a good time of the year for him.

“Richard Hannon’s words were ‘that will put him spot on’, because he’d had a little bit of time off, having scoped dirty and missed the Prix Maurice de Gheest and then we had to get him back to fitness.”

Palin added: “Haydock is where we’ll go. He does go a little bit better on quicker ground and the forecast is good at the minute, so hopefully we get a dry week to bring everything nicely on point.

“York will have blown away any cobwebs and Haydock is nearly us playing at home. He’s been there twice and been beaten by two horses only, one was Little Big Bear in the Sandy Lane and the other was Regional in the Sprint Cup last year.”

Shouldvebeenaring will race on beyond Haydock, with trips to France and America under consideration.

Sean Levy and Shouldvebeenaring at Newmarket
Sean Levy and Shouldvebeenaring at Newmarket (David Davies/PA)

“He was third in the Prix de la Foret last year, so that is under consideration, and he is also in the Park Stakes at the Leger meeting at Doncaster,” said Palin.

“Last year we nearly ran him in the Challenge at Newmarket, so that’s an option, and while it’s a bit of a long shot at the minute that we’d finish our career at the Breeders’ Cup, don’t rule it out.

“I don’t know what the terms are like and what the weather will be like. It would be a long way to go for a Breeders’ Cup Mile on soft ground as obviously that wouldn’t suit him, so we’ll see.”



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Haatem camp hopeful Deauville setback was only minor

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Haatem appears to have escaped serious injury following his dramatic late withdrawal from the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville on Sunday.

Winner of the Craven Stakes on his three-year-old debut, Richard Hannon’s colt went on to finish third in the 2000 Guineas before pushing his esteemed stablemate Rosallion close in the Irish equivalent.

After subsequently being snapped up by prominent owners Wathnan Racing, Haatem enjoyed his day in the sun with a narrow success in the Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot and hopes were high ahead of his return to Group One level in France.

However, with James Doyle unhappy with how his mount was moving on the way to the start, the son of Phoenix Of Spain was quickly declared a non-runner.

With an immediate X-ray failing to reveal any abnormalities, Haatem has now returned to Britain for further evaluation and connections are hopeful there is no major damage.

“He’s travelled back and travelled well. I think we were all keen to get him back as quickly as possible,” said Wathnan’s European racing adviser Richard Brown.

“We are giving him the once over and we’ll probably know more in the next 24 to 48 hours, but certainly the early indications are that it’s nothing serious.

“James said he took a few bad steps and he just didn’t feel he was right, so he pulled him up straight away and we’ll see where we are in the next day or so.

“We don’t think it’s anything serious but we’ll take every possible precaution.

“All plans are on hold for the moment.”



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2024 return not ruled out for Rosallion following Goodwood absence

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Richard Hannon has left the door open for Classic and Royal Ascot hero Rosallion to return to the track this season providing he makes a full recovery from the respiratory infection which ruled him out of the Sussex Stakes

The talented colt was set for a Goodwood showdown with Notable Speech before the ailment set in, a race that had looked one to savour after he finished second to Charlie Appleby’s charge in the 2000 Guineas in May.

The son of Blue Point then ousted stablemate Haatem to claim the Irish equivalent before gaining revenge on his Newmarket conqueror in the St James’s Palace Stakes at the Royal meeting.

Rosallion and Notable Speech were poised to lock horns for a third time in last Wednesday’s Sussex Stakes at Goodwood before Hannon’s colt was declared a non-runner 24 hours prior to the race after the discovery of a “slight respiratory infection”.

Next month’s Prix Du Moulin at ParisLongchamp was mooted as a suitable option for Rosallion’s comeback, but that contest may come too soon for a peak Rosallion to make a trip to the French capital as he continues to recover from his setback.

A wet autumn and the prospect of soft ground is another variable which could come into play and put the participation of Sheikh Mohammed Obaid’s colt in future events in doubt, but his trainer stressed his season is not over at this stage.

Hannon told the PA news agency: “Paris and the Moulin may well come too soon and then after that there are many options left in the year. However, those options could well be affected by soft ground, which he won’t run on.

“There are many options left for him during the year, presumably when he gets over this infection and everything is fine and there is fast ground.

“I didn’t put him in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes because the ground can be heavy and there’s not much chance of it being fast ground.

“But there’s lots of options and he’s not finished for the season – but he could be if we are unlucky and he takes longer to get over this than we think and it’s a very wet autumn.

“He’s getting better every day and he will get back to his best, but then we’re ground dependent and if it doesn’t happen ground wise, then he has nothing left to prove this year.

“He’s staying in training next year, but after speaking with Sheikh Mohammed Obaid there are also many options left for him this year.”



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Haydock now the top target for Shouldvebeenaring

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Shouldvebeenaring missed Sunday’s Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville due to a similar ailment which ruled stablemate Rosallion out of the Sussex Stakes.

Richard Hannon was forced to pull his Irish Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes hero Rosallion out of the Goodwood highlight last week with a respiratory infection.

Sprinter Shouldvebeenaring was among the favourites for the Deauville Group One on Sunday but never made it to France, with his tracheal wash showing an elevated reading.

“Whatever Rosallion had, he had the same thing,” said Tim Palin of owners Middleham Park Racing.

“The reading showed that a respiratory infection was on the way, we were on the same trajectory as Rosallion and we are pretty sure a respiratory infection was coming on.

“Richard rang me to say they always take a reading before they go, he was 40 minutes down the road on Friday but then the results of the test came through, so they had to turn the wagon around before he got to Dover.

“It’s frustrating, as we believed that was one of his best shots at a Group One, but the saving grace is the race saw a proper winner in Lazzat.

“He’s six unbeaten now and won by three lengths and that was always my fear that one of the three-year-olds, like Inisherin or Elite Status, would come along and do that.

“So, we’ll aim for Haydock now, and that is currently 7-1 the field, so the division is wide open.”

He went on: “The Maurice de Gheest and the Haydock Sprint Cup were always our two big aims this season and we’ll just see how he is to see if he runs before Haydock.

“Richard has said Rosallion will be aimed at the Prix du Moulin and while that is seven weeks away, that doesn’t mean he won’t be right for seven weeks, just that Haatem runs in the Jacques le Marois and the Moulin is the next option, whereas we’ve got options at Newbury in the Hungerford and York, both over seven furlongs.

“We’ll just see how long he takes to come right, hopefully it won’t be too long.”



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Gheest glory would be well deserved for Shouldvebeenaring

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Grabbing Group One glory in Sunday’s ARC Prix Maurice de Gheest would be “the icing on the cake” for Shouldvebeenaring’s proud connections.

The Richard Hannon-trained four-year-old has been a grand servant for Middleham Park Racing, earning just under £500,000 in prize-money for his six career wins and numerous placed efforts in high-class company.

He returns to Deauville in fine form following a gutsy Group Three success in last month’s Prix de Ris-Orangis and now goes in search of a first triumph at elite level.

Shouldvebeenaring went down by just a neck in the Sprint Cup at Haydock last September and may eventually bid to go one better there, but the unique set-up of this weekend’s French contest is expected to play to his strengths even more.

Tim Palin of Middleham Park Racing said: “You’d say Deauville and Haydock are him playing at home and you’d say anything between six and seven furlongs is him playing at home.

“If I had to choose between six furlongs and seven furlongs, I’d really struggle to say which is his ideal distance, because six and a half is his ideal distance.

“The ground last weekend was on the quick side, so that’s a little bit of an issue, but this has been one of his two major targets of the season – this and Haydock – so we’re laser focused on Deauville on Sunday.

“He’s got that place at the Irish National Stud at the end of the season, he’s already a dual Listed winner, a Group Three winner, he’s been placed in two Group Ones – and if he could win a Group One, that would be the icing on the cake before going off to stud.

“He was a Listed winner at two, a Listed winner at three and he seems to be getting better with age, like a fine wine.

“His two Group One placed efforts were at the back-end of last year and getting touched off by a nose in the Duke of York this season, although that was a Group Two, it was a Group One line-up.

“So, he deserves to dine at the top table and hopefully he’ll be on the podium at the weekend and maybe even pick up a gold medal.”

It was Jane Chapple-Hyam’s Mill Stream who edged out Shouldvebeenaring at York in mid-May and Palin is looking forward to renewing that old rivalry.

Dante Festival 2024 – Day One – York Racecourse
Mill Stream (second right) shades Shouldvebeenaring (rails) at York (Mike Egerton/PA).

He added: “In our head-to-heads, we’re 3-2 down against Mill Stream and it would be nice to level that score up.”

Mill Stream of course claimed Group One honours in the July Cup on his last start and seeks back-to-back top-level victories with William Buick aboard once again.

Charlie Hills’ dual Royal Ascot winner Khaadem was well held in that Newmarket event, but is involved once again, while Irish raider Matilda Picotte has not been seen since running at the Curragh in May and trainer Kieran Cotter is expecting a bold show from the front-running four-year-old.

He said: “The plan all last year was the Prix Maurice de Gheest would be her target this season, so we didn’t campaign her much in the early part of the season.

Matilda Picotte returns from a break in Deauville
Matilda Picotte returns from a break in Deauville (Nigel French/PA)

“I know she went to Saudi Arabia, but this race has been in mind for a long time and she’s going there a fresh horse.

“We’re looking forward to it and I think the track will suit her – the track and trip, the ground, everything seems right. We’ve got our fingers crossed and we’re looking for a big run from her. I’m fairly confident she will run well.”

Andrew Balding’s Flora Of Bermuda had Marco Botti’s Great Generation in fourth when claiming York’s Group Three Summer Stakes and now both step up in grade, while Archie Watson’s Saint Lawrence gets a second bite of the Prix Maurice de Gheest cherry having finished a narrow third 12 months ago.

The six-year-old was half a length adrift of Nicolas Caullery’s King Gold in 2023 and the defending champion arrives in good order having landed the Prix de la Porte Maillot in June.

Jerome Reynier’s unbeaten Lazzat and Jean-Claude Rouget’s Prix Jean Prat one-two of Puchkine and Havana Cigar are others with leading claims for the home team.



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Rosallion may return to action in Prix du Moulin

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Rosallion could head to the Prix du Moulin having missed out on a third clash with Notable Speech in the Sussex Stakes.

Richard Hannon’s Irish 2,000 Guineas and Royal Ascot hero was the favourite to take a 2-1 lead in his rivalry with Charlie Appleby’s Classic winner at Goodwood, but was cruelly ruled out of the race on Tuesday due to a respiratory infection.

In Rosallion’s absence, Notable Speech took full advantage to bounce back from his St James’s Palace Stakes disappointment and add a second Group One to his Newmarket success earlier in the season.

Although frustrated the colt he holds in the highest regard never got the opportunity to replicate the Everleigh team’s Canford Cliffs and Toronado, Hannon was full of praise for the resurgent winner, while suggesting the ParisLongchamp Group One on September 8 is a possibility for his star performer.

Hannon told Racing TV: “I thought the winner won very well, gutted not to be there obviously, but I’d rather not take part than stand there afterwards thinking ‘what just happened’?

“It’s a big shame for Goodwood, a lot of people have come up to me in the last couple of days to say ‘I’m very sorry about your horse’ and that’s lovely.

“Nobody died and he’s there to fight another day, and because he’s the horse that we know he is, we’ll take no chances. Sheikh Mohammed Obaid (owner) was very keen that we looked after him.

“The Moulin is a possibility, if we’re there in time. There’s loads of races after that.

“We did target this race, so we might have to rejig a bit, but he’ll be back in no time.”



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Rosallion forced to miss big Sussex clash

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Rosallion will miss the Qatar Sussex Stakes at Goodwood on Wednesday due to a respiratory infection.

Runner-up to Notable Speech in the 2000 Guineas on his three-year-old debut, the Blue Point colt went one better in the Irish Guineas before turning the tables on his Newmarket conqueror when landing the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Richard Hannon’s colt was again set to clash with Notable Speech, who disappointed at the royal meeting, and the St James’s Palace runner-up Henry Longfellow in the Group One feature on day two of the Qatar Goodwood Festival.

However, he was officially declared a non-runner shortly after 11am on Tuesday, with a respiratory infection put forward as the reason for his defection.

Hannon posted a statement on www.richardhannonracing.co.uk which read: “We are very disappointed to release the news that Rosallion will be a non-runner in the Sussex Stakes tomorrow at Goodwood. He has got a slight respiratory infection, and just isn’t his usual self at home.

“It has not been a difficult decision to make, considering how incredible he has been for the whole yard and how much he means to the team and to his owner. We have to put his welfare at the very top of our priorities.

“He will miss this one, but there is still a big chunk of the season to come, where he will be able to be the horse we all know and love.”



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Shouldvebeenaring heading back to France after Deauville Group Three win

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Shouldvebeenaring will return to France for the Prix Maurice de Gheest after gaining a deserved first Group-race success at Deauville last time out.

Trained by Richard Hannon, the grey has come close on numerous occasions but had a habit of finding one or two too good.

However, in the Group Three Prix de Ris-Orangis last time out he beat James Tate’s promising Electric Storm to book a place at stud at the end of the year.

“He thoroughly deserved his day in the sun as he’d been knocking on the door in all the big races,” said Tim Palin of owners Middleham Park Racing.

“That was a Group Three win and his form entitled him to win.

“We toyed with taking him to Ireland this weekend but we’re going to wait for the Prix Maurice de Gheest and then back to Haydock for the Sprint Cup – they are his two Derbys if you can say that about a sprinter.

“He runs well at both tracks so it just makes sense. At Deauville he’s been fifth in a Prix Jean Prat and obviously won last time and at Haydock he’s been second to Little Big Bear in the Sandy Lane and just been touched off by Regional in the Sprint Cup.

“He likes top of the ground so we’ll need a sunny week so hopefully he gets that.

“He retires to the Irish National Stud at the end of the season so we’ll have a couple more cracks at the highest level.”



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Group One engagement next for Shouldvebeenaring

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Shouldvebeenaring has a Deauville return in the diary after his maiden Group race victory in the Prix de Ris-Orangis on Sunday.

The Havana Grey colt has done his owners proud so many times in pattern events, going down only narrowly in valuable contests such as the Sandy Lane, Sprint Cup, Prix de la Foret and the Duke of York Stakes.

The latter run came earlier this season, where was beaten by a nose in a finish so tight that the judge had to split the winner and the runner-up.

Despite now earning just shy of £500,000 in prize money, victory had proved elusive for the grey as his last win came in the Listed King Charles II Stakes at Newmarket in early May 2023.

The wait for a sixth career success ended at Deauville on Sunday, where the four-year-old was contesting the Group Three Prix de Ris-Orangis for trainer Richard Hannon and owners Middleham Park Racing.

Partnered as usual by Sean Levey, Shouldvebeenaring was one of a five-strong British contingent and brought the prize home when prevailing by a short neck from James Tate’s Electric Storm.

Group One opportunities await the colt now, and he will return to Deauville to contest the Prix Maurice de Gheest before aiming to go one better in the Sprint Cup at Haydock.

“We were relived to get that first Group win because he’s been knocking on the door in Group Ones and Group Twos, he was devilishly unlucky at York in the Duke of York Stakes,” said Tim Palin of Middleham Park.

“It’s great to set that record straight and get a first Group win under his belt. It was a great ride from Sean, who was really tenacious through that final furlong when he was a bit blocked up.

“He had to come round and pass half a dozen in the final furlong and a half, it was a thoroughly deserved victory.

“He does seem to like Deauville, he’s been there twice now and he was fifth in the Prix Jean Prat, he probably lost a couple of places in the final furlong in the soft ground there.

“We’ve described him as having two Derbys this season – if you can use the word Derby to describe a sprint race – the Prix Maurice de Gheest, which is where he’ll go next, and then off to Haydock for the Sprint Cup.

“He seems to go well at both of those venues, so it’s back up to Group One company to try to get that icing on the cake.”

Shouldvebeenaring is already engaged to start a new career once his racing days end, with the Irish National Stud adding him their roster of stallions following the conclusion of the season.

“He will retire to the Irish National Stud at the end of the season, we’re looking forward to that chapter in his career already,” said Palin.

“There’s a little bit of unfinished business for us to be focusing on between now and then!”



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Shouldvebeenaring claims overdue victory at Deauville

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Shouldvebeenaring ended a 12-race win drought when swooping late in the Group Three Prix de Ris-Orangis at Deauville.

Richard Hannon’s sprinter has run some big races in defeat in that time, most notably when placed in Group One company in the Haydock Sprint Cup and Prix de la Foret at the end of last season.

He went close at York in May but had been well beaten in his last two races at the Curragh and Royal Ascot.

However, the four-year-old travelled sweetly in the hands of Sean Levey and finished off powerfully in a race dominated by the British-trained runners.

James Tate’s Electric Storm appeared to have made a race-winning move under Ryan Moore but Levey came up on the opposite side of the track to win by a head, with a neck back to Archie Watson’s Shartash.

Levey said: “It went very well for him. He’s had some funny ones this year. I think his perfect conditions are this trip on a flat track on fast ground and when he doesn’t get what he likes, he can throw in a bad run.

“You could see on his run at York, six furlongs on a flat track, he ran a good race, but then a stiff track at Ascot, he didn’t raise a gallop. When he turns up, he can be quite good.

“He’s always been a laid-back customer and he didn’t miss a dance last year, with every run he went up a couple of kilos, he’s always been a good doer. He’s maybe older and wiser now too.

“He travelled extremely well today and never looked like losing. He’s been here twice and run really well twice, so I imagine the Prix Maurice de Gheest will be on the agenda.”

Fair Angellica (right) won at Newmarket last season
Fair Angellica (right) won at Newmarket last season (Tim Goode/PA)

Moore may have been out of luck on Electric Storm but he teamed up with Richard Hughes to win the Listed Prix Amandine on Fair Angellica.

The giant filly disappointed in the Sandringham Stakes at Royal Ascot but regained the winning thread in fine style.

Moore tracked Owen Burrows’ Miaharris until two furlongs from home, when he ranged up alongside and made his bid for glory.

Fair Angellica immediately took two lengths out of the field and had no trouble maintaining a clear advantage to the line, winning by a length and three-quarters.

Miaharris just lost out in a photo for third.

“I’m over the moon. We came here for a bit of black type and if she won, it was going to be a bonus,” Hughes told Sky Sports Racing.

“She’s won really well at Kempton prior to Ascot but I was very concerned about the mile at Ascot. It had been the plan, but she didn’t stay.

“Seven furlongs is perfect, Ryan said she could come back to six, certainly on slower ground anyway, but she’s a very nice filly and has done nothing but please us since she came to the yard.

“I believe there’s more to come, she’s over 500 kilos, she’s more grown up now than she’s ever been, the fact she was able to travel over here and put up a performance like that proves it.

“I’ve an eye on the Oak Tree (at Goodwood) but we’ll see.”



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