Hurricane Alan rallies to Craven win

Hurricane Alan stormed home to win the Group 3 Craven Stakes at Newmarket on Thursday, rewarding trainer Richard Hannon with his fourth victory in the Craven, a key course-and-distance prep for the 2000 Guineas.

Last of seven at the quarter pole, the Irish-bred Hurricane Alan was pulled off the rail by Jimmy Fortune but had to be angled back in at the eighth pole, from where he accelerated to defeat Lundy's Lane by 1 1/2 lengths. Sent off at 9-1, Hurricane Alan was timed in a modest 1:39.93 for the straight mile.

Hannon, who had previously won the Craven with Tirol, Umistim, and King's Ironbridge, said that Hurricane Alan would line up for the 2000 Guineas on May 3, for which he is a 25-1 shot.

The Craven provided a footnote to racing history when its third-place finisher, Splendid Era, became the first horse bred in the United Arab Emirates to place in a group race. Bred by Darley Dubai, Splendid Era is owned by Maktoum Al Maktoum and is part of the first small crop of Thoroughbreds bred in the UAE.