Richard Hannon has decided not to run Rosallion (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) again this season, with the G1 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot being nominated as his first major target of 2025.
The three-year-old was due to contest the Sussex Stakes after he'd established himself among the best of his generation with back-to-back top-level victories in the Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh and St James's Palace Stakes at the Royal meeting, but he was forced to miss Goodwood after being found to be suffering from a respiratory infection.
Hannon is now looking forward to what Rosallion might be able to achieve as a four-year-old, with the likelihood of soft ground this autumn one of the key factors behind the decision to draw stumps for the campaign.
“I think that is correct [that he will not run again this season],” Hannon told Nick Luck's Daily Podcast.
“He's got nothing to prove now. He wasn't right for Goodwood and he would have run terrible. He had a lung infection, we put him on antibiotics, and after three weeks he was bang ready to go again. The ground has gone now so let's look forward to next year–look forward, not back.
“I just think he's had a long break and he gets pretty big. He'd need loads of work beforehand and 99 per cent of the time it is very soft ground on Champions Day. I would hate to finish the season on a bad note.
“I would much rather the winter went much quicker looking at a St James's Palace and an Irish Guineas winner.”
“He's definitely staying in training next year,” Hannon added. “He's the dream horse really and he's a pleasure to have about.
“His big race will be the Queen Anne and there's obviously the Lockinge, maybe the Sussex. There's all those big races, maybe the Breeders' Cup as well.”
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