Greenham run likely to define Rashabar’s Classic target

Rashabar’s Classic target is likely to become clearer after his return to action in the Watership Down Stud Too Darn Hot Greenham Stakes at Newbury on Saturday.

A shock 80-1 winner of the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot last summer, Brian Meehan’s colt went on to prove that victory was no fluke with narrow defeats in both the Prix Morny at Deauville and the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at ParisLongchamp at the end of his juvenile campaign.

“I wouldn’t say he’s fully tuned because obviously it’s a long year ahead, but he’s been working very well and he’s in great shape,” said the Manton handler.

“I think he’s going to improve when he gets up to a mile and the Greenham is there just to get him started. He’ll come on a lot for the run.

“It was fast ground at Royal Ascot and he measured very well on that, so we’re good to go.”

The son of Holy Roman Emperor is entered in the Betfred 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 3, but could instead head across the Channel for the French equivalent.

When asked whether he was leaning towards one race or the other, Meehan added: “Not really, I’ll see what happens on Saturday and see where that leaves us.”

Rashabar is taken on by a couple of less experienced but no less exciting horses in John and Thady Gosden’s Chancellor and the Andrew Balding-trained Jonquil.

Chancellor won two of his three juvenile starts in the colours of Cheveley Park Stud, but had to be withdrawn after bursting through the stalls prior to the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster in September and connections are hoping he is better behaved on his three-year-old debut.

“When he races properly, which we’ve seen him do twice, he looks very good,” said Cheveley Park’s managing director Chris Richardson.

“His mother (Queen’s Trust) was highly talented and he’s shown that he has inherited some of her ability, but we’ve got to hope that he grows up mentally from two to three.

“He needs to give himself the best chance of running to his best ability rather than making it a concern. He’s just got that sort of spark in him which sometimes you get when you breed those top-class horses.

“All we can do is hope he behaves on the day and if he doesn’t, we’ll have to go back to the drawing board.”

Jonquil overcame a troubled passage to make a winning debut at Sandown last summer, but subsequently failed to fire as a hot favourite for Doncaster’s Flying Scotsman Stakes.

He makes his stable debut for Balding following the retirement of former trainer Sir Michael Stoute.

Barry Mahon, racing manager for Jonquil’s owner-breeders Juddmonte, said: “He’s in good form, Andrew has been very happy with him.

“Obviously Michael held him in very high regard last year, he won very impressively I thought at Sandown the first day and we probably ran him back a little bit quick. Nothing really worked out for him the second day at Doncaster and he came out of it a little bit sore.

“There’s a lot of inexperienced horses in the race on Saturday, apart from Brian Meehan’s, and it’s hard to know what to make of them, but Jonquil has come through the winter well, he’s settled into Andrew’s well and he says he’s working nicely, so I think we’re hopeful of a good run.”