Hills can land the champagne

He may not have the catchiest name ever to grace the turf, but Haafhd looks the one they all have to beat when a clutch of leading two-year-olds clash in the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster.

It usually takes a high-class performance to land this £120,000 contest, and tomorrow's renewal looks well up to scratch. Mark Johnston's Lucky Story is plainly a leading contender after completing a hat-trick with an emphatic success in Goodwood's Champagne Stakes, while Sir Michael Stoute has paid £12,000 in order to supplement his impressive Ripon winner Auditorium into the line-up.

James Fanshawe's Azarole is also on an upward curve, but on recent evidence Haafhd looks the one to be on.

It's always a good sign when a twoyearold improves considerably from his first run to his second, and Haafhd (nb), the mount of Richard Hills, progressed from his narrow Newmarket debut win with an easy success in a Listed race at Newbury.

Hills never had to get remotely serious-with his mount that day, yet Haafhd powered five lengths clear of the useful Orcadian and Milk It Mick. The visual impression was backed up by a fast time.

Tomorrow's opening race, the Amco Corporation Conditions Stakes, sees couple of well-regarded three-year-olds on the comeback trail.