Dewhurst Stakes: trainers on the chances of their runners in Saturday's Group 1

Darley Dewhurst Stakes (Group 1) | 7f, 2yo | ITV/RTV

Two unbeaten horses, two sets of owners determined to try to capture the Darley Dewhurst Stakes and one trainer charting a path between worries about the track and enthusiasm for the wellbeing of his runners.

That is the scenario for Richard Hannon as he prepares to unleash Chindit and Etonian in the 7f Group 1 on Saturday with both juveniles having earned a shot at the prestigious contest following impressive wins last time and eyecatching workouts this week.

"Both owners wanted to go for the race and it's the next logical step for both of them too so it makes sense," said Hannon. "They both have a very good chance and I don't want to separate them really going into the race."

Chindit, the flashier of the two horses at home according to his trainer, was last seen landing the Group 2 Champagne Stakes at Doncaster, while Etonian overcame trouble in running to take the Group 3 Solario Stakes at Sandown in August.

"I'm happy with the pair of them, particularly Chindit as his last piece of work was really nice," Hannon said.

The major concern for Hannon is the ability of the duo to handle the undulations and Newmarket, and he added: "I don't think either of them are ground dependent, it's more about the track. I do worry about the track for them."
Peter Scargill

'The better the ground the better Thunder Moon's chance' says O'Brien

What better way to get over the agony of Arc weekend and the feed fiasco that forced the O'Brien family to withdraw all their runners from Longchamp last Sunday than win what is arguably the most prestigious prize for juveniles.

Pinatubo, Churchill, Dawn Approach and Frankel have all won the Dewhurst in the last decade and Joseph O'Brien is hoping the unbeaten Thunder Moon can follow in their footsteps and make it three from three for the year.

Thunder Moon was last seen streaking away with the National Stakes at the Curragh on what was only his second start and O'Brien liked what he saw there.

The trainer said: "The National Stakes was a messy race and I thought he did very well to get himself out of a hole there. He needed lots of pace to do so. The Dewhurst has been the plan for him ever since then.

"We're a little worried about the ground for him, though. We'll walk the track tomorrow morning [Saturday] before deciding what we'll do. The better the ground, the better chance he has anyway."
David Jennings

What they say

Angus Gold, racing manager for Hamdan Al Maktoum, owner of Alkumait and Albasheer
Alkumait was very impressive at Newbury the other day and he's been training well since. The big question with him is will he stay? He's a fast horse and is bred to be quick and showed good acceleration last time. There's only one way to find out these things. I thought Albasheer lacked a little experience last time. He's a really nice horse in the making but whether he's up to winning a Dewhurst on his third start is hard to say.

Jessica Harrington, trainer of Cadillac
He's a good horse, I think he's very good. We will find out here just how good and whether he's a Group 1 horse or not.

Brian Meehan, trainer of Decisive Edge
He’s a very nice horse and I was pleased with his win at Chelmsford, which I think's good form. He's come out of the race in good shape and I'm pleased to have William Buick on again. He worked very well last week and, while we can't be sure about the ground. I think he'll be fine on it.

Aidan O'Brien, trainer of St Mark's Basilica and Wembley
Wembley came home very well in the National Stakes. We always liked him a lot. We were delighted with the way he ran at the Curragh and he's done well since. We really wanted to split these two colts up and the race in France was earmarked for St Mark's Basilica, but unfortunately he didn't get to show up there.

John Warren, bloodstock and racing manager for the Queen, owner of Tactical
He ran a tremendous race in the Middle Park and Andrew Balding has been very happy with the way he came out of the race. It will be interesting to see how well he gets the seven furlongs.

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