Hanabad looks up to the task

HANABAD, a horse who has never run over the minimum trip, gets the vote to show that sprinting may well be his true vocation in the five furlongs Listed Abergwaun Stakes at Cork this afternoon.

John Oxx’s colt, a creditable second to the classsy Mingun over a mile at the Curragh and successful over that distance at Limerick, dropped down to six furlongs for the first time this season at the Curragh last month.

He ran a cracker, looking the likely winner for most of the journey. In the end it wasn’t to be, as Hanabad, in front with less than a quarter of a mile to run, was grabbed close home and beaten a head by useful English challenger, Fayr Jag.