Rosallion (right)© Photo Healy Racing
Richard Hannon has left the door open for Classic and Royal Ascot hero Rosallion to return to the track this season providing he makes a full recovery from the respiratory infection which ruled him out of the Sussex Stakes
The talented colt was set for a Goodwood showdown with Notable Speech before the ailment set in, a race that had looked one to savour after he finished second to Charlie Appleby’s charge in the 2000 Guineas in May.
The son of Blue Point then ousted stablemate Haatem to claim the Irish equivalent before gaining revenge on his Newmarket conqueror in the St James’s Palace Stakes at the Royal meeting.
Rosallion and Notable Speech were poised to lock horns for a third time in last Wednesday’s Sussex Stakes at Goodwood before Hannon’s colt was declared a non-runner 24 hours prior to the race after the discovery of a “slight respiratory infection”.
Next month’s Prix Du Moulin at ParisLongchamp was mooted as a suitable option for Rosallion’s comeback, but that contest may come too soon for a peak Rosallion to make a trip to the French capital as he continues to recover from his setback.
A wet autumn and the prospect of soft ground is another variable which could come into play and put the participation of Sheikh Mohammed Obaid’s colt in future events in doubt, but his trainer stressed his season is not over at this stage.
Hannon told the PA news agency: “Paris and the Moulin may well come too soon and then after that there are many options left in the year. However, those options could well be affected by soft ground, which he won’t run on.
“There are many options left for him during the year, presumably when he gets over this infection and everything is fine and there is fast ground.
“I didn’t put him in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes because the ground can be heavy and there’s not much chance of it being fast ground.
“But there’s lots of options and he’s not finished for the season – but he could be if we are unlucky and he takes longer to get over this than we think and it’s a very wet autumn.
“He’s getting better every day and he will get back to his best, but then we’re ground dependent and if it doesn’t happen ground wise, then he has nothing left to prove this year.
“He’s staying in training next year, but after speaking with Sheikh Mohammed Obaid there are also many options left for him this year.”
