There was a time in the not-so-distant past when a three-and-a-half length success in the Craven Stakes over the same course and distance as the 2,000 Guineas in 16 days’ time would have fast-tracked the winner to the top of the Classic betting. Haatem, by contrast, can be backed at 20-1 for the Guineas on 4 May, despite powering well clear of his field in Newmarket’s traditional Classic trial on Thursday.
This was still a race that offered some clues ahead of the Classic meeting, however. The difference is that they were to be found in the unsaddling enclosure rather than out on the track.
Richard Hannon, Haatem’s trainer, was suitably diplomatic about the winner afterwards, suggesting that he deserves to take his chance back on the Rowley Mile in two weeks’ time and what happens on the course is more important than form on the gallops.
The subtext, though, is that Hannon and Sean Levey, his stable jockey, seem reasonably sure that Haatem’s stable companion, Rosallion, is their strongest candidate for the 2,000 Guineas; a race that Hannon won with Night Of Thunder in 2014 and his father, Richard Hannon Sr, took three times between 1973 and 1990.
Rosallion won three of his four starts last year, culminating in a one-length defeat of Unquestionable, the subsequent Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner, in the Group One Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on Arc day in Paris. Haatem’s juvenile career, on the other hand, was busier but less auspicious, with nine starts and two wins, including the Group Two Vintage Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.
Ayr 1.20 Jackpot D’Athou 1.50 Lily Du Berlais 2.20 Scipion 2.50 Jet Plane 3.20 Doddiethegreat 3.55 Royal Mer 4.30 Plaisir Des Flos 5.00 Benefit Ben
Fontwell Park 1.30 All Authorized 2.00 Joe Cotton 2.30 Beat The Heat 3.00 Siam Park 3.30 Mister Murchan 4.05 Lady Caro
Newbury 1.42 Ant Colony 2.12 Grand Traverse 2.42 Beeley 3.12 Arabian Tribe 3.45 Robert Johnson (nb) 4.15 Dashing Darcey 4.50 Pride And Power
Bath 4.10 Conservative 4.40 Washington Dancer 5.15 Clyde Bay 5.45 Adaay In Devon (nap) 6.15 God Bless America 6.45 Black Smoke 7.15 Johnjay 7.45 King Of Speed
Exeter 4.25 Vincenzo 4.55 Johnny Blue 5.30 Paddy In The Caddy 6.00 Bullets Hill 6.30 Cooleenymore 7.00 Dunstall Rambler 7.30 Kap Quest 8.00 Hearts Corner
Haatem was also no match for City Of Troy, the odds-on favourite for the 2,000 Guineas, in the Dewhurst Stakes in October, but is bigger and stronger for another winter and made short work of his opponents on Thursday.
“This is the racecourse and this is where it matters,” Hannon said. “He [Haatem] is a good horse and he always has been. He won the Vintage with a subsequent Champagne Stakes winner [Iberian] behind him, and he was fifth in the Dewhurst. I don’t think you can say that was an average performance, he looked pretty good there.
“He and Rosallion do a lot of work together. Rosallion is a horse with an awful lot of speed, whereas this horse gets the trip extremely well. Rosallion will get the mile [in the Guineas] and they both will probably run.
“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 has an exceptional chance and one has a better chance than he had before.”
With only one recognised 2,000 Guineas trial – Saturday’s Greenham Stakes at Newbury – still to be run, City Of Troy is clear favourite for the Classic at 8-11, with Rosallion, at 11-2, the only other horse quoted at single-figure odds. Charlie Appleby’s Notable Speech, who took a minor race on the all-weather at Kempton earlier this month, is 12-1, and it is 16-1 bar three.
