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Stablemates have both earned a crack
Richard Hannon is not ruling out the possibility of letting his two star juveniles Threat and Mums Tipple do battle in the Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday week.
Having bounced back from defeats at Ascot and Goodwood with victory in the Gimcrack at York last month, the Cheveley Park Stud-owned Threat successfully stepped up to seven furlongs when landing the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster on Saturday.
Having now proved his stamina over the longer trip, the Dewhurst comes into sharper focus.
However, with connections keen to avoid a clash with Charlie Appleby's superstar juvenile Pinatubo, Threat could instead drop back to six furlongs in the Middle Park – throwing up a potential clash with his stablemate and 11-length York sales race winner Mums Tipple.
Hannon said: "Threat has come out of Doncaster absolutely fine. He's in the Dewhurst and the Middle Park, so we'll see.
"They (Threat and Mums Tipple) have different owners, so they could (run against each other)."
Cheveley Park's managing director Chris Richardson is also not committing to either Group One prize just yet, but admitted the staggering display of Pinatubo in the National Stakes on Sunday has given Threat's team food for thought.
Richardson said: "He has come out of the race fine. We have now got to try and establish where we go next with him.
"I suppose the question is whether to go for the Middle Park or wait for the Dewhurst. We will just have to see what turns up.
"He came cruising through the race the other day and I thought he would win by two lengths, but when he hit the front he just did enough. It was a little bit heart in the mouth at one point.
"Mr and Mrs Thompson (owners) will make the decision on where he goes. We don't want to be avoiding one horse as a lot can happen between now and then, but at this point I think we will probably be avoiding that (Pinatubo), having watched him sluice up in Ireland.
"We will not make any rash decision and we'll just enjoy the moment. We don't want to run away from one horse as they can have bad days, but I guess we will just have to watch this space and see how things develop."
