Racing: Hurricane's victory rolls back years for Hannon

There was a time when winning the Craven Stakes seemed to be worth it, a passport to immediate celebrity and the station as ante-post favourite for the 2,000 Guineas. There were those times but they seemed long dead when the old trial was conducted over the Rowley Mile on yesterday's sunny afternoon here.

The Craven is a conspicuous victim to the modern rhythms of the Flat season. No longer is it considered compulsory for a Guineas horse to have a prep race. Most notably, the top teams of Godolphin and Ballydoyle shun not only Craven the race, but also Craven the meeting. Godolphin do not even leave their Al Quoz winter headquarters until a few days before the opening Classic.

The result is that the comparative rabble now squabble over what remains of the Group Three race. We get winners like Hurricane Alan, who might have won most pleasingly yesterday but is nobody's idea of a Classic winner. Not even his trainer, Richard Hannon, who would throw in a cartwheel if the colt finished in the first three. So would the bookmakers. Hurricane Alan is generally a 25-1 shot for 3 May.

History apart, it was difficult to view yesterday as a realistic trial. There were just seven runners which was false practice for the stampede in just over two weeks' time. And then there was the early cortège pace. Splendid Era led for much of the way, but he was swamped inside the final two furlongs, when first Lundy's Lane promised without delivery and then Hurricane Alan swept by.

"I thought it was a pretty good performance considering there was no early pace," Jimmy Fortune, the jockey, reported. "But they really ran over the last three. He's gone by them like he's a very good horse. He certainly deserves to take his chance [in the Guineas], but it will be a tall order."

Richard Hannon, the trainer, is used to that sort of challenge in the Guineas and he has a formidable pedigree in the race on the back of Tirol (1990), Don't Forget Me (1987) and Mon Fils (1973). He also has the Greenham Stakes third, Mister Links, in the Classic. "I've got two live wires and it's about my turn again," Hannon said.

"My instinct is that this is a pretty good horse. He's got that turn of foot you need in a Guineas and he'll come on from here and run a big race. But Jesus, I'd be happy if he was in the first three." Hannon will also be satisfied with his cut of the prize-money. There will be no grand punt. "I'm not a gambler. Any more," he said. "A game of cards maybe on the plane, but that's about it."

The Feilden Stakes is another contest run under a bogus premise, that of a dress rehearsal for the Derby. It, too, had a comical opening as Zariano ran away with Darryll Holland. That left Magistretti as the leader of the legitimate horses and Neville Callaghan's colt stayed there until the line, by which point his margin had been whittled down to a head by Barry Hills's Dunhill Star. It all looked like a slog. It also looked like a poor race.

Magistretti's owner, Michael Tabor, will be a cross man if he cannot unearth a likelier lad for Epsom. Hold That Tiger, for example. Callaghan is happy just to be going back. "I won the Lingfield Derby Trial with Corrupt [in 1991]," the trainer said. "He was joint-favourite for the Derby [when sixth to Generous] but he wasn't good enough was he? But then I knew that before the race. He wasn't as good a horse as this one, who'll probably start off at 50-1 [40-1 is available with William Hill]. I think this is a horse you'll hear more of."

Kieren Fallon, too, will be searching for a more talented accomplice when it comes to 7 June. Magistretti was the middle leg of a treble for the Irishman on a track he claims to loathe. "I've always liked this horse," the jockey said. "He was one of the nicest two-year-olds I was riding last year but he did not show it on the racecourse."

2,000 GUINEAS (Newmarket, 3 May) Coral: 9-4 Hold That Tiger, 6-1 Refuse To Bend, 7-1 Lateen Sails, 8-1 Trade Fair, 9-1 Muqbil, 14-1 others; Ladbrokes: 5-2 Hold That Tiger, 7-1 Trade Fair, 9-1 Lateen Sails, 10-1 Refuse To Bend, 12-1 Muqbil & Tout Seul, 16-1 others.