Can Newbury king Richard Hannon grab a first Rose Bowl success and add to his father's five?

Richard Hannon at Herridge Racing Stables
near Marlborough

Richard Hannon: has a good chance with PrincipalityCredit: Edward Whitaker

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Richard Hannon might be the king of Newbury, but he has yet to add to his father’s five victories in this race since he took over the reins at Herridge. Two seconds from eight runners in the last ten seasons of this Listed race is a frustrating return for a trainer who has had the most winners at the track in the last five seasons, so can he improve that this year?

He appears to have a sound chance with Principality, who was only a length and a half behind Saturday’s Superlative winner Ancient Truth on his debut at Newmarket and was thought good enough to contest the Railway Stakes at the Curragh after his Goodwood novice win.

Principality trailed in last, beaten ten lengths by the Aidan O’Brien-trained winner Henri Matisse on that occasion, but he became unsettled in the stalls and surely didn’t show his true colours. The son of Calyx has a good chance provided he bounces back from that run.

Alice Haynes saddled Asadna to finish third last year and she has another strong candidate in Big Cyril, who was an impressive winner of a 6f maiden at Ayr 27 days ago.

The well-held runner-up that day is a subsequent winner and the first two pulled four lengths clear of the third, so there is every chance Big Cyril can make the step up to Listed class.
Analysis by Graeme Rodway

Ground and weather

Conditions at Newbury are expected to continue drying with warm temperatures forecast. The going is good to soft, good in places but the ground could quicken before racing.

Clerk of the course George Hill said: "The ground will definitely dry out further and it's warmer both today and tomorrow. I wouldn't be surprised if we got to good ground all over."

What they say

Alice Haynes, trainer of Big Cyril
He's come on massively from his last run at Ayr and I'm happy the ground is drying out. We had him in the July Stakes last week but the ground was good to soft and hopefully it'll be on the quicker side of good here. He's in really good order.

Karl Burke, trainer of Jungle Drums
He was green on debut when left four or five lengths at the start and it wasn't the strongest novice in the world. He's improved a lot on his first run and he's a lovely big, scopey horse and hopefully he can run a big race.

Marco Botti, trainer of Spirit Of Leros
He won nicely at Lingfield and we're stepping up in class. He's improved and we've found that he's more switched on. The ground is drying out, which is good because he wouldn't want it soft.

Richard Spencer, trainer of Yah Mo Be There
He's come out of Ascot well and hopefully we can get back on track with him. Nothing went right at Ascot so hopefully we can put a line through that and have a bit more luck.

Adam Ryan, assistant trainer of I Got Soul
She's progressed with each run and she's a sweet filly. She tries hard and I thought she won well last time, when she was strong at the finish and six furlongs won't be a problem. It's a step up in grade, but she deserves a crack at it.

Steve Brown, assistant to Julie Camacho, trainer of Two Shoes
We were pleased with her at Carlisle and she galloped out well. We thought the step up to six furlongs was the logical thing to do and we're dipping our toe in at Listed level. It's competitive but we hope she can run well.
Reporting by Liam Headd

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