Richard Hannon enjoyed a successful start to the Dante meeting in 2025 and looks to have a strong hand going into 2026.
Hannon saw Dark Thirty (a winner on this card in 2023) finish second in the Churchill Tyres Handicap and Best Rate filling the same spot in the Conundrum HR Consulting Handicap before Great Bedwyn won the Stuey Weston & Friends Getting Out Handicap to complete a double having already saddled Ballistic Missile to win the five furlong novice.
It may be a bit much to expect lightning to strike twice but the Wiltshire handler looks to have assembled another strong squad to send up to a course where he saddled five winners from just 21 runners in 2025.
Hannon is responsible for a quarter of the entries in the opening British Stallion Studs EBF Novice Stakes with Shane Foley jocked up on Blatantly - as he is for the same owners' Martial Order, trained by Karl Burke - with Sean Levey's name appearing alongside Cut A Dash and the once raced Persian Spring.
Fandom is a fascinating runner in the Churchill Tyres Handicap.
Trained by Wesley Ward in his juvenile season, Fandom contested the Coventry Stakes on his second start, finishing in midfield behind River Tiber. He won two Listed races at three (one for Brad Cox) before joining Joseph O'Brien for whom he failed to show his best form and was next seen under the care of Olly Murphy, twice finishing second at St Moritz on the snow.
Fandom shaped with promise under an apprentice over five furlongs on debut for Hannon at Goodwood when sent off at 40/1, keeping on into midfield after being outpaced; a run which saw him dropped by 3 lbs to 95 having started life for O'Brien off 104. The furlong longer trip promises to suit this five-year-old who has relatively few miles on the clock and he could yet recapture the sparkle of his early career.
He could be taken on by the aforementioned Dark Thirty who now represents John and Sean Quinn. He's rated 1 lb lower than last year and 2 lb lower than when winning here and should be cherry ripe after a couple of spins this spring. It might also be worth keeping an eye on Miraculous after a luckless run at Chester on Friday which saw him finish full of running in a close-up fifth. The race on the Roodee may well have been his primary aim given his good course form (never run at York) but he's clearly in good heart and on a workable mark.
First Legion is another who could step up in distance for the Conundrum HR Consulting Handicap.
A novice winner on debut at last year's meeting, he placed in the Listed National Stakes at Sandown second time out but struggled thereafter in a busy juvenile campaign although he was only beaten a length and a half into seventh in a competitive course nursery in August. First Legion has come down 5 lbs from his career high mark but looks to be running into form having improved from his seasonal reappearance to go close at Newmarket and this track clearly suits.
In contrast Hannon's other entry, St Anton, could be asked to drop back in distance after winning over a mile at Newmarket where he came from off the pace, a tactic that might not be the easiest to pull off at York in a large field. Joe Leavy suggested St Anton could get 10 furlongs in his post-race debrief which is perhaps no surprise given St Anton was stepped up to a mile as a juvenile having been beaten on his first two starts over seven.
Great Bedwyn is back to defend his title from a 4 lb lower mark which immediately catches the eye. He's failed to win since but will be fit and ready after two runs on the all-weather (a surface he's one from 12 on as opposed to three from 15 on turf) and has run well on two other visits to the Knavesmire, albeit without winning.
Make American great again
Hannon has Aramram in the Go Local Stores Minster Stakes and he's not too far off the best of these on official ratings, indeed he's only rated 3 lb lower than Group 1 winner American Affair and the trainer believes there's more to come.
American Affair was one of the stories of the last season, progressing markedly for Jim Goldie before winning the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot.
It will be fascinating to see the six-year-old back on the track but Goldie recently told the Press Association that he wasn't expecting too much from American Affair on his first start since that famous day in June.
"He’s very well, but he’s probably a few weeks behind the southern horses because we’ve had a very late spring,” said Goldie.
“He’s still hanging onto his winter coat and he’s probably two or three weeks behind where we were with him this time last year.
“He’s had a racecourse gallop and he’s come out of that well so the plan is to go to York for what is now the Minster Stakes, then probably to Haydock and back to Ascot. It’s never guaranteed but hopefully we can get him back to something like the same form as last year. He seems very well but it’s been a very late spring in Scotland and we are a fortnight behind where we where last year."
Powerful Glory and Big Mojo are other Group 1 winners in the entries and the former will be trying to prove this season that his 200/1 British Champions Sprint Stakes success wasn't a flash in the pan; the usually consistent Big Mojo was below form in tenth that day.
Course form at York is never a bad thing with the track not seeming to suit every individual and it's one thing that Elmonjed has in spades having won three times from just five visits, most recently in a Listed race in September. Improvement is needed at this level but time and again we've seen the gap bridged by the sprinters and Elmonjed should be all the better for his reappearance in the Palace House Stakes.
Record breakers
The leading trainer in the Tattersalls Musidora Stakes is Sir Henry Cecil who claimed the Group 3 on nine occasions but John Gosden - training now with son, Thady - could draw level if Legacy Link or Symbol Of Majesty prevail.
The latter isn't entered in the Oaks for which Legacy Link is a general 25/1 chance having last been seen finishing fourth behind Precise in the Fillies' Mile. She is out of a sister to Frankel and Noble Mission and is obviously an exciting prospect for the season ahead.
This hasn't been a race that Aidan O'Brien has targeted but his two wins have come in the last five years courtesy of Snowfall and Whirl; they, respectively, went on to win the Oaks and finish second, beaten a neck by Minnie Hauk.
Moments Of Joy is out at 66/1 for Epsom glory and has a couple of lengths to find with Legacy Link from Newmarket but she does have the benefit of a run under her belt and the Chesham third could take a big step forwards from the Curragh.
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