‘Special filly’ Happy Romance adds to Hannon family tradition
Richard Hannon completed a terrific weekend with his two-yearolds when Happy Romance ran out a comfortable winner of the Weatherbys Super Sprint at Newbury, not long after the trainer’s Ventura Tormenta chinned The Lir Jet in the Prix Robert Papin over in France.
The Super Sprint has become something of a Hannon family heirloom since it was devised by Lord Carnarvon with no little help from Richard Hannon Snr in 1991. In 1992 they teamed up to win it with Lyric Fantasy and Hannon won it a further six times. Happy Romance, the 100-30 favourite, was a third winner in the race for Hannon Jnr following Tiggy Wiggy in 2014 and Ginger Nut in 2018, the filly beating Jojo Rabbit 2¾ lengths.
Hannon, who also teamed up with Sean Levey on Saturday when they unleashed Fly Miss Helen in a maiden, was delighted. “She’s becoming quite a special filly,” he said of Happy Romance. “Normally when you bring them for this it’s their Derby, but she is more than that. It’s lovely when they win like that, when they’re going to win all the way and something happens when you press a button. I find the more I shout the slower they go!”
Happy Romance is owned by the Mcmurray family, who paid £25,000 for her. “I met them here at Newbury and they said they might like to buy a horse,” Hannon said. “A lot of people say that, but don’t go through with it. They probably don’t realise how difficult it is to do this with your first horse.
“It’s an important race to bring new people into racing, with prizemoney down to 10th.
“She’s a filly for next year and she’ll get seven furlongs so she could go for the Sweet Solera, the Lowther, a valuable sales race, the Cartier Awards!”
The trainer credited Tim Palin of owners Middleham Park for supplementing Ventura Tormenta in the Papin. “I felt we were beaten a short head but I didn’t throw my phone down,” Hannon said.
Michael Bell felt The Lir Jet, the Norfolk winner who was in front a stride before the line and a stride after but lost it on the nod, had not run to the same level that he showed at Ascot.
Ger Lyons, who won his second Classic of the season on Saturday night when Even So won the Irish Oaks, has put Frankie Dettori on standby for Siskin in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood next week, if regular jockey Colin Keane decides not to travel because of the twoweek quarantine in Ireland.