Richard Hannon: “Our colt is getting better every day and his work has been excellent so I’m very hopeful”

A very quiet weekend for us with just two runners but I think it’s a case of quality over quantity. A lot of the horses are being wound down now as we approach the last few weeks of the season and the likes of Mums Tipple and Threat are finished for the year but we are looking at taking Billesdon Brook out to America for a crack at the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf over 1m2f on the Saturday of the two day meeting at Santa Anita. She’s come out of her Sun Chariot win in great form and handles any type of ground so hopefully she has a great chance. As I’ve said before, her owners have been very sporting by keeping her in training and it will be great if she can cap what has been a brilliant season which also included winning at the Qatar Goodwood Festival. She’s very tough, has a great attitude and I think she’ll be suited by the way the race is run out there.

Raymond Tusk will not run in the Caulfield Cup and the plan is to go straight for the Melbourne Cup on November 5th. He’s currently 25 on the ballot and the maximum field is 24 so we need one horse to come out to ensure we get a run, which will hopefully happen, but he’s in great form and I’m told he’s moving very well.

ASCOT

3:20 G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes

King of Change (Sean Levey)

We won this race with Olympic Glory (then a 3-y-o) when he beat the older horses in 2013, and the ground was soft that day, so let’s hope lighting can strike twice! Olympic Glory had a lot of experience going into his QEII unlike King Of Change but I have no doubt he’s a class horse and the best is yet to come. We deliberately gave him a long break after finishing second in the 2000 Guineas and our patience was rewarded when he won the Listed Fortune Stakes at Sandown in good style when we probably left a little bit to work on so were particularly pleased with what he did that day. That was on Good ground but I think he’ll have bo problem with the Soft as his half brother, Century Dream, has won on soft and heavy and his sire, Farhh, won the Champion Stakes on the same so there should be no reason he won’t handle it. This is obviously a very good race with some proper Group One milers taking each other on but our colt is getting better every day and his work has been excellent so I’m very hopeful. We may consider taking him to Dubai as there’s a good program for horses like him out there but we’ll get Ascot out of the way before thinking about anything else.

WOLVERHAMPTON

7:15 Fillies’ Handicap

Alhakmah (Rossa Ryan)

She ran very poorly at Chelmsford on her penultimate run but we found a very small issue so gave her a short break and brought her back at Kempton last week where she ran very well to finish third. She’s off the same mark here and I think she’ll strip a little fitter for that comeback as well. It’s an open little race but I fancy her to go extremely well.