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• Haatem boosts Hannon hopes for 2000 Guineas bid

  Haatem could join esteemed stablemate Rosallion in next month’s Qipco 2000 Guineas after throwing his hat into the ring with a dominant victory in the bet365 Craven Stakes at Newmarket.

  Rosallion, who won three of his four juvenile starts including the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on Arc weekend at ParisLongchamp, is very much Richard Hannon’s first string for the season’s first Classic on May 4, with only the unbeaten and much-vaunted City Of Troy ahead of him in ante-post lists.

  Haatem himself kept good company during a busy two-year-old campaign, most notably winning the Vintage Stakes at Goodwood as well as finishing second and fifth behind City Of Troy in the Superlative and Dewhurst Stakes respectively, but looked more exposed than most ahead of his three-year-old debut.

  Making his reappearance and 10th career start in one of the key Guineas trials, Haatem was sent off at 17-2 in the hands of Sean Levey and quickened up smartly racing out of the dip to pull three and a half lengths clear of Dewhurst third Eben Shaddad.

  “The way he did it has surprised me, but you can’t say that was a fluke. He’s obviously improved a lot physically – he’s a big, strong, impressive horse,” said Hannon.

  “He’s a good horse and he’s just won a Craven by three and a half lengths. He won a Vintage Stakes with the subsequent Champagne Stakes winner behind him and he was fifth in a Dewhurst.

  “Funnily enough, I said to Sean after the last race I thought he’d get the trip well and it seems the horses who have been making the running all week have been winning and have been hard to peg back. I know he didn’t make the running, but I don’t think you can say that is an average performance, he was pretty good there.”

  Coral cut Haatem to 25-1 from 66-1 for the 2000 Guineas, with Aidan O’Brien’s City Of Troy their 4-6 favourite and Rosallion rated his biggest threat at 5-1. Betfair and Paddy Power make Haatem a 20-1 chance.

  Hannon is ready to let both of his pair line up at Newmarket next month, but did mention a couple of potential alternatives for Haatem.

  He added: “This is the racecourse and this is where it matters and on what he has done today, the 25-1 on offer for the 2000 Guineas could be generous to me.

  “Rosallion is a horse that contains an awful lot of speed, whereas this is a horse who gets the trip extremely well. Rosallion will get the mile and they will both probably run (in the Guineas).

  “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 with an exceptional chance and one with a better chance than he had before.

  “He’s in the German Guineas and Irish Guineas as well and I think he will be a force to be reckoned with wherever he goes. I’m delighted and the owners are delighted – they deserve it.”

  Levey said: “No doubt he (Haatem) is exposed, but I thought he brought a lot of good form to the table. He was a big horse last year and I always thought he was doing well to do as well as he did because I knew he would get better in time.

  “I wasn’t expecting that sort of run today, he’s obviously been hiding a bit from me at home. I thought he wanted a mile and a quarter, but I think he has done that really well and he’s going to show his hand in the Guineas now.

  “Rosallion is a good horse and it gives you a bit of confidence to see this lad win the way he did. I hope I’m right (when I say) that he (Rosallion) is exceptional.”

• Washington scales Abernant Heights for Ryan

  Washington Heights dug deep from the front to provide trainer Kevin Ryan with a record fifth victory in the Connaught Access Flooring Abernant Stakes at Newmarket.

  Previously successful in the Group Three contest with Hamza (2014), Astaire (2015) and the popular dual winner Brando (2017 and 2018), Ryan this year fielded a widely unconsidered 33-1 shot who had been off the track since landing a Listed event at Bro Park in September.

  Prior to his Swedish success the four-year-old had been placed in a number of competitive sprint handicaps and looks set to ply his trade at Pattern level from now on judged on a fine comeback win on the Rowley Mile under a well judged ride from Tom Eaves.

  Mill Stream also made a promising start to his campaign in second, beaten three-quarters of a length, as did Spycatcher who was only a short head further behind in third.

  Adam Ryan, assistant to his father Kevin, said of the winner: “He was a bit of an unlucky horse last year and he bumped into Shaquille first time out giving him weight.

  “The good thing about him is he is very consistent and he deserved to get his head in front in Sweden. This year was always going to be about if he could take the next step up and he has certainly done that.

  “He’s such a genuine horse and if you had 100 like him it would be an easy game. He’s always going to give you 110 per cent and once his head is in front he is always going to be hard to pass.

  “It’s a good starting point to the year and generally at this time of year the weather can be a bit in and out, but it’s usually all right here and it’s a nice place for these sprinters to start.

  “The Duke Of York or the Greenlands Stakes in in Ireland could be the next port of call and he’s an exciting horse to look forward to.”

  Cosmo Charlton, representing the winning owners, Hambleton Racing Ltd, said: “We’ve got quite a few of the syndicate here today and everyone was really excited.

  “He’s done well over the winter and was impressive over in Sweden last year so we were hoping he was going to run above his odds today.

  “He’s a horse who tried very hard in his races and he’s run loads of really good races for us. It was a strong Group Three today and almost a Group Two on paper and he just has a tremendous attitude and Tom just said he tries very hard for you and digs deep. I sort of knew he had won a furlong out to be honest.

  “Tom has given him a great ride from the front and has got the job done and he looks like a sprinter to follow for the season.

  “Kevin wins this race a lot and is a fantastic trainer of fast horses and it looks like he’s bought another really nice one for us. The owners have really bonded with him and to come here and win in Group company, hopefully there are exciting things ahead.

  “He has options and he’s in the Duke Of York and the Greenlands. They have great prize-money and will be fun days out and the dream is very much alive with this horse about where he could take us in the future.”

• First Conquest is Wood Ditton wonder for Appleby and Buick

  The front-running First Conquest narrowly denied the promising Lead Artist in a thrilling renewal of the bet365 Wood Ditton Maiden Stakes at Newmarket.

  The one-mile contest for unraced three-year-olds has been won by a whole host of high-class performers over the years, including 12 months ago when subsequent Dante third and Derby runner Passenger made a winning debut for Sir Michael Stoute.

  Representing the formidable combination of Charlie Appleby and William Buick, First Conquest was unsurprisingly prominent in the market for this year’s renewal at 4-1 and having dictated affairs from the off, had most of his rivals in trouble racing out of the dip.

  Lead Artist and Earl Of Rochester, two sons of Dubawi trained by John and Thady Gosden, came from the chasing pack to throw down a challenge with the former emerging as the biggest threat in the Juddmonte silks, but First Conquest dug in to prevail by a nose.

  As a gelding this year’s Wood Ditton winner does not have Classic aspirations, with Appleby eyeing a more low-key campaign.

  He said: “He’s been schooled up there at home and is from a family we have known. He worked with a nicer horse that ran well earlier in the week as well so we were confident, barring greenness. He hit the lids and was very professional throughout.

  “At the moment I hope he will be a nice, progressive handicapper and stepping up in trip in time he can be a proper mile-and-a-quarter type of horse.

  “The thing about the Wood Ditton is years ago when you’d win it you would have to throw them in at the deep end, but now with the change of the programme we can give these horses a chance and let them develop in their own manner.”