Hannon feels Cliffs will be hard to beat

QUEEN ELIZABETH II STAKES:RIP VAN Winkle is set to try to secure Aidan O'Brien a third victory in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot on Saturday but the Ballydoyle star will have to overcome a pair of Classic-winning three-year-olds who appear to be coming into the weekend feature in top form.

The French-trained Makfi, winner of May’s 2,000 Guineas, was all the rage in ante-post betting for the QE11 earlier this week, but the favourite, Canford Cliffs, was the recipient of an upbeat bulletin from his trainer, Richard Hannon, yesterday.

“Obviously the race is three days away and with horses things can change quickly but we will have him scoped and if the reading is good I see no reason why he shouldn’t be very hard to beat,” Britain’s leading trainer so far this season said yesterday.

Canford Cliffs, winner of the Irish 2,000 Guineas, St James’s Palace Stakes and the Sussex Stakes this year, is as low as evens favourite for Saturday’s race which could decide the title of Europe’s top miler for 2010.

“A drop of rain wouldn’t bother us, though I’d rather we didn’t get too much as that would favour Makfi but there are no easy Group One races and that Canford will have to be bang on song to see off what looks a very hot competition,” Hannon said.

“However I’m just concentrating on my horse and I have seen Canford Cliffs improve so much both physically and mentally since Royal Ascot. He was difficult to settle in the spring but he now relaxes so well and looks a million dollars. Tony Gorman, my head lad, has described him as a beast and he’s probably right,” he added.

Despite that, confidence is also high in the Makfi camp with trainer Mikel Delzanges eager to return to Ascot after the colt finished sick after the St James’s Palace. “We knew we had an excuse but it’s never easy to come back to his best after he’s been sick but he was successful in Deauville and I hope he can be at Ascot. It definitely wasn’t the track. He was a little sick and I don’t think the track will be a problem.”

Big Zeb returns in Fortria Chase

CHAMPION CHASER Big Zeb is set to return to action in Navan's Fortria Chase (November 7th) and trainer Colm Murphy believes his stable star is stronger than ever ahead of the new winter campaign, writes Brian O'Connor.

Big Zeb is as low as 3 to 1 in ante-post betting to repeat his Queen Mother Champion Chase triumph at Cheltenham in March and Murphy is planning on a similar route to the festival this time round except for missing out on the Tingle Creek at Sandown.

“We will leave Sandown out of the equation this time but it will be much the same campaign otherwise. If he stays injury-free it should be great. He has been back in since the end of July and it is hard to believe he has got stronger again. I couldn’t be happier with him,” the Co Wexford trainer said yesterday.

Murphy also said Voler La Vedette, runner-up to Quevega in last season’s David Nicholson Hurdle at Cheltenham, is likely to be targeted at the two-mile Champion Hurdle this time.

“We will drop her back to two miles and hopefully she will improve enough to take on the big boys,” he said before indicating that the luckless Zaarito, who fell in half of his eight starts last term, will be kept to two miles.

“It could be we were riding him wrong so he will come back to two miles where he can use his pace and his jumping,” he added.