Richard Hannon entertaining hopes of Champion Stakes win for Barney Roy

If the training ever happened to go pear-shaped Richard Hannon 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 ear-shot is non-stop.

Having bought 108 yearlings at the recent sales and sold 100 of them already, that is not about to happen and he is firmly of the belief that he can add to his 177 winners so far this year by winning Saturday's Qipco Champion Stakes with his flagship Group One performer this season, Barney Roy.

On Tuesday the colt looked in tremendous shape striding out in a six furlong confidence boosting gallop giving two 90 rated stable companions a five length start and clocking 40 mph as he eased passed them towards the finish. “The whole idea has been getting him to relax in behind,” he explained.

He concurs with the general theory that Barney Roy did too much in the International at York taking on Churchill from so far out setting up the race for Ulysses, a horse he had finished just inches behind in the Eclipse. “We took each other on three furlongs down which very much played into Ulysses’s hands,” he said. “I bet he couldn’t believe his luck. We won’t be doing that again.”

The yard has a good 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,” he said. “If he wins the Champion Stakes he’ll be sleeping in my house on Saturday night! I hope Sheikh Mohammed feels the same way. He’d have an excellent chance at Royal Ascot next year and if he relaxes he has every chance of getting a mile and a half. It was just too big a step for him this year.

Though it seems a while since Barney Roy hit the headlines winning the St James’s Palace, Hannon has had more winners than last year, he also has Tupi (Sprint) and the trio Oh This Is Us and The Grape Escape in the Balmoral Handicap on Saturday and looks like being full 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.”

Hannon has yet to uncover a superstar two-year-old this year but that is, in part, due to the evolving type of juvenile the Hannon now has. “Barney Roy didn’t run until the middle of September – he had sore shins for a lot of the season. The days of having four of five in the Norfolk and Windsor Castle are over.

“For those speedy horses the season was over by July and you were praying for the season to end – now our year stretches out nicely and we’ve got two-year-olds still to run over a mile and a mile and a quarter. We’ve got a 550,000 euro yearling by Frankel and break most of them ourselves so there will be a few thrills and spills over the winter. But if we fill up again (250) next year we must be doing something right.”

‘The Old Man,’ Richard snr, is still there every day. “He’s in at 6.30 and says he doesn’t smoke but usually has one on the go by 6.50,” explained Richard jnr.

“A lot of people come and ask me at the races ‘how’s your dad?’ as if he’s sitting in a corner dribbling but he’s in great form. All his mates come round on a Saturday morning. 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.