Hallasan shades tough battle to claim valuable victory

Hallasan continued his upward trajectory by claiming a lucrative success in the Weatherbys Scientific £300,000 2-Y-O Stakes at Doncaster.

Charlie Appleby’s youngster was a beaten favourite on his first three starts, but was placed on each occasion and rewarded those who kept the faith when opening his account in some style at Nottingham in July.

The gelded son of Pinatubo was a 15-2 shot on his return from a mid-season break and quickened up smartly to grab the lead inside the final two furlongs under a positive ride from William Buick.

Ryan Moore produced 11-4 favourite Camille Pissarro with what looked like a winning run shortly afterwards but try as he might, he could never quite get on terms with Hallasan, who the judge confirmed had clung on by a nose after the pair flashed by the post almost as one.

“He dug really deep. He’s sort of been in front a long time, but he kept responding and I’m delighted with him,” Buick said of the winner.

“He’s a horse who showed plenty of ability early on and he might just be fulfilling it now.

“He may get seven (furlongs), although he is a sharp horse. It’s a lovely race to win, he hadn’t run for a while before today, so he’s obviously improving at the right time of year.”

Appleby’s assistant Alex Merriam added: “Will was very pleased with him, he’s toughed it out well and showed plenty of speed.

“He’s a small horse and we thought he was going to be an early one, but actually he’s just taken a little while to come to himself.

“He’s obviously a Pinatubo, so it’s nice for us to win a nice race with one of his.

“I’ve just spoken to Charlie and he said he thought he might be a nice horse to take to Dubai.”