Hattan Books Leger Ticket

Hattan is firmly on course for next month´s Ladbrokes St Leger after delighting connections in his prep run at Windsor.

The three-year-old bounced back from a disappointing performance at Newmarket with a fast-finishing second behind Eccentric in Saturday night´s mile-and-a-quarter Winter Hill Stakes.

Trainer Clive Brittain was pleased to see the Halling colt return to the kind of form that saw him finish sixth in the Vodafone Derby, particularly over a trip that was probably on the short side.

'He ran back to his best form last night. He completely lost it at Newmarket but I think the preparation for the Derby and the race itself was just a bit too much for him,' he said.

'We have given him a bit of time to get over that since and he was very relaxed at Windsor and was maybe a little bit unlucky not to pull it off.'

Following his Windsor run, Ladbrokes now go 33-1 from 50s about Hattan´s chances in the Leger.

Hattan will be having a first try at the extended one-mile-six-furlong trip in the Leger but Brittain is confident he will get the distance.

'He is on course for the Leger and I don´t think he will have any problems with the trip,' added Brittain.

'I chose to run him over a mile and a quarter yesterday rather than the March Stakes as I didn´t want to extend him before Doncaster.

'I think there´s still some improvement in him and hopefully he will go well.'

(C) PA Sport