Canford finished for season Richard Hannon has elected to bypass Canford Cliffs' invitations to the Far East and the top-class colt has run his last race of the season. Hannon discussed the options of Hong Kong and Japan with connections of the triple Group One-winning colt and decided to call it a day. He explained: "With the JRA doubling the prize money under a bonus scheme, for which Canford Cliffs qualified, there was £1.5m on the table should we win, which is both generous and very tempting. "But the welfare of the horse comes first and we have decided that he has done enough for the season. "Remember, he has been in full work since being prepared for the Greenham at Newbury in April - he ran in two Guineas, Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood, and you don't have an easy race winning these top races. "While I left the owners to decide what to do, I am very happy with the conclusion that they have reached. "It is a long journey to Japan and I have always thought that those big foreign races at the back-end are best left to the older horses rather than the classic generation. "Canford Cliffs can now have a long holiday and come back for a four-year-old career. He has improved physically and mentally since Ascot and I am sure that he'll progress again through the winter. "We will probably get him ready for the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury in mid-May en route to the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot, and the fact he will start off that much later next year means that if the owners want to go globe-trotting in the autumn, they will still have something left in the tank to do so." Paco Boy will represent the Hannon stable in the Breeders' Cup Mile in Kentucky on November 6th, but Hannon observed: "That is a totally different ball-game. "Paco Boy is five and this will be his last race before he goes to stud at Highclere, so there is nothing to lose, whereas Canford still has another year's racing in front of him before he joins the Coolmore team."
