Flying Pirate aiming to plunder Haynes Hanson prize Eve Johnson Houghton is convinced Flying Pirate can be a genuine contender in the Haynes Hanson & Clark Conditions Stakes at Newbury on Friday, if cheekpieces continue to keep a lid on his wild streak. The son of Blackbeard has already been gelded despite connections holding him in high enough regard to start him off with a win in the same Salisbury novice as they did Zavateri 12 months before. Johnson Houghton had to withdraw him at Newbury on what would have been his third start and also ran him in cheekpieces at Haydock last time, where he bolted up, not as an aid to concentration but to stop him seeing the jockey getting on his back. “If we hadn’t gelded him he would be unrideable. Well, not unrideable at home but he just wouldn’t be a racehorse,” said Johnson Houghton. “Cheekpieces are not for concentration in the race, they are to aid the jockey getting on! “We just couldn’t get on him before. At home Dolly Daydream could ride him, he never even picks up the bridle. But when he gets to the racecourse he would not let the jockey get on him. “The idea is so that he can’t see the jockey getting on him. It worked at Haydock and hopefully it will work again because he’s got a serious engine in him. “He has been as good as gold at home and hopefully he is now going to improve and get over it or grow up and grow out of it, but we will have to see. It is just a question of managing him and keeping him sweet and going in the right direction.” Flying Pirate, who won by eight lengths at Haydock, faces stiff competition, including easy Nottingham scorer Apulia Bay, trained by Simon and Ed Crisford, and Charlie Appleby’s well-touted Bin Jahwar. The latter, a Ghaiyyath colt, holds entries in the Royal Lodge and the Futurity Stakes at the back-end of this season and is already high up in the betting at 25-1 for the Derby next season. Another of note in a race with an illustrious roll call that numbers the likes of Henbit, Shergar, Rainbow Quest, Unfuwain and Nayef, is the Andrew Balding-trained Impasto, second in Ascot maiden first time out and engaged in the Futurity at Doncaster.
