Paul Hanagan hopes the new Flat season will fulfil his Classic ambitions. Britain’s champion jockey talks to STEVE CARROLL.

LOOK at the figure – 205 winners in 2010. If you’re wondering how on earth Paul Hanagan is going to post a target like that again, you are not alone.

“To get 205 winners in a year was just incredible and sometimes I do think ‘how did I manage that?’ says Malton’s champion jockey. “But once you get the ball rolling, it is great.”

That ball is about to start rolling once more.

Six months after it ended at Doncaster, the new Flat campaign begins again on Town Moor on April 2.

The last time he was there, Hanagan was a shadow of himself.

Worn from the constant travelling, tired from the pressure of holding off the stubborn challenge of Richard Hughes, the 30-year-old felt little but relief when he clinched the title by just two winners.

But they say time is a great healer. So it has proved in Hanagan’s case.

Refreshed and eager for the fight once more, he can now answer the question that has been asked from the moment he dismounted from the last of his 1,214 rides last season.

Will you have another crack at it?

“It’s a question I have been asked a lot,” he says. “If the chance came again then, yes, I would have to. I don’t feel I am under any pressure. I have done it and no one can take that away from me.

“I would be more disappointed in myself if I said no. I am only 30 but it is very, very hard work. People don’t understand how hard it is. It is 24/7 up and down the country – but it was all worth it in the end.

“It has sunk in now (being the champion). It took a while to do so and it took two or three weeks to wind down after the season finished. I had a nice holiday in Mauritius and had time to reflect on things.

“I think I had to have a break. I was nearly on fumes for the last two or three weeks of the season. I just really did need it. It has done me the world of good and I won’t take that long off again.”

He has returned to the saddle in scintillating form. Building up his race fitness for the start of the turf campaign, Hanagan rode a double at his first meeting back at Wolverhampton last month – getting off the mark with his very first ride.

Now, having won the title, the jockey is turning his attentions to Classic ambitions this year.

He has a great chance in the first – the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket at the end of next month – with Wootton Bassett.

The three-year-old won all five of his starts last season, including big-priced sales races at York and Doncaster and the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at Longchamp on Arc day.

He has reportedly wintered well at Richard Fahey’s Musley Bank yard and, despite having had a small issue which kept him out of work for three weeks, Hanagan is confident.

“That will be the next step for me – to try to get a Classic winner,” he said. “I couldn’t be happier with Wootton Bassett. I sat on him the other day and he has filled out and grown. He is five from five and he has won three very good races. You couldn’t ask for any more from him.

“I know you have got Frankel (even money favourite and Dewhurst Stakes winner) in that race but I will go there quietly confident.

“Whether he is good enough to beat Frankel, I don’t know. I do know he won’t be disgraced.”

First up though is the Lincoln meeting at Doncaster, where Hanagan has good memories of a year ago. He rode a four-timer on the first day and a double on the second – six winners which gave him a championship lead which he never surrendered.

Key to that was the form of Fahey’s horses. They provided 101 of the rider’s winners last year and Hanagan can sense a repeat performance on the cards.

“I have great memories of last year at Doncaster,” he said.

“The start I had there was amazing – four winners on the first day, and two on the second. If I can get that kind of start again then who knows?

“The horses are ready to run. It just shows what a great team we have at Musley Bank. We have got a great gallop which works in all kinds of weather. We hardly missed a day over the winter. The only problem was getting to the gallop with it being icy.

“It is a bit early to say who might be good this year, especially with the two-year-olds, but I am quite looking forward to riding Rose Blossom. She has done well over the winter.

“Last year, in the Nunthorpe, we probably made a mistake putting a visor on her. She just did a bit too much and I don’t think we would put blinkers on her again.

“She has definitely got the talent, though, and I think she could win a Group 2.”

Happy with life at Musley Bank – Hanagan has been with Fahey for 14 years – he is also hoping his new status as champion jockey can secure him those prized Classic rides.

Having only previously ridden in two, being champion jockey can surely do him no harm.

But put the prospect of another title in front of him, a Classic victory, or the continued success at his Malton base, Hanagan plumps for the latter every time.

“The main thing for me is that the yard has another good year,” he states unequivocally.

“That is top of the list and it comes before being champion jockey again.

“As long as the yard keeps carrying on and progressing, that’s the main thing.”


Fahey wooed by Wootton Bassett

WOOTTON Bassett remains firmly on course for next month’s 2000 Guineas after delighting connections in a workout.

The Iffraaj colt signed off an unbeaten juvenile campaign with Group 1 glory in Longchamp’s Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, but a minor setback at the start of this year threatened to derail his bid for Classic success.

However, Malton trainer Richard Fahey is thrilled to report his star turn’s preparations are now back in full swing and he could not be happier with the colt’s current condition.

“He just had a breeze over six furlongs this morning and we were delighted with him,” Fahey said. “He’s moving well and looks fantastic – he’s done very well over the winter. His first run will be the Guineas.”