‘If he wins, he’ll be sleeping in my house’
Richard Hannon feels Barney Roy’s best days are ahead of him, writes Marcus Armytage
If training racehorses ever happened to go pear-shaped, Richard Hannon junior (right) could, at least, have his own show at the Edinburgh Fringe – such is the entertainment to be had during an hour in his company. The stream of humour and ribbing of his father, lieutenants and anyone else within earshot is relentless. Having bought 108 yearlings at the recent bout of sales and sold 100 of them already, that is not about to happen and he firmly believes that he can add to his 178 winners so far this year by winning the Qipco Champion Stakes with his flagship Group One performer this season, Barney Roy. Yesterday, the colt looked in tremendous shape as we watched him striding out in a six-furlong confidence-boosting gallop.
He gave two 90-rated stable companions a fivelength start and clocked 40mph as he eased past them towards the finish. “The whole idea has been to get him to relax in behind other horses,” Hannon explained.
The yard has a good recent record of unearthing superstars like Toronado, Olympic Glory, Toormore, Canford Cliffs and Sky Lantern, but Hannon still hopes the colt will stay in training in 2018 to bolster whatever contributions next year’s three-year-olds make.
“I hope he stays here,” he said. “If he wins the Champion Stakes, he will be sleeping in my house on Saturday night! I hope Sheikh Mohammed feels the same way.
“He would have an excellent chance at Royal Ascot next year and, if he relaxes [in his races], he has every chance of getting a mile and a half. It was just too big a step for him this year.”
Although it seems a while since Barney Roy hit the headlines by winning the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, Hannon has had more winners than last year. The miler is not his only hope on Saturday, he also runs Tupi (Sprint) plus Oh This Is Us, George William and The Grape Escape (Balmoral Handicap) and looks like having a full yard next year.
“Last year I didn’t have a runner on Champions Day but I went for lunch and crept around hoping nobody would see me,” he recalled.
“But if I didn’t have a runner I’d still go this year because it’s such good racing. Even the old man is going.”
Richard Hannon snr is still at the yard every day. “He’s in at 6.30 and says he doesn’t smoke, but usually has one on the go by 6.50,” said Richard jnr.
“The last time he came racing was Guineas day and we had six seconds so he said he was never coming again, but he says he’s coming on Saturday.”