Breeders' Cup Mile under consideration for Canford Cliffs

Trainer Richard Hannon sent out Strong Suit to win the Group 3 Jersey Stakes for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs in the first race at Royal Ascot on Wednesday, but there was bigger news from the Hannon camp, with a trip to the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Churchill now considered a strong option for Canford Cliffs, who won the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes on Tuesday and ranks as Europe’s top miler.

Canford Cliffs took the measure of champion Goldikova in the Queen Anne, and a rematch between the pair in the BC Mile would be highly anticipated. Canford Cliffs could start next in the Sussex Stakes, where he might meet unbeaten 3-year-old Frankel, but Canford Cliffs's connections have more international goals after that.

“Obviously, Canford Cliffs will have an important second half of the season, and we will probably have to consider the Breeders’ Cup, and also Japan and Hong Kong, but this horse could go anywhere,” Hannon said in a news update posted on his website. “He is that good – the best I have trained in 40 years.”