Johnson Houghton targets Ascot with Woodcote second

Royal Ascot beckons for Eve Johnson Houghton’s eyecatching Woodcote runner-up Havana Hurricane.

The Havana Gold colt won on his debut at Goodwood in May and despite missing the break at Epsom, ran on to be beaten just a length and a half by Godolphin’s £720,000 breeze-up buy Maximized.

Royal Ascot now beckons, with the Windsor Castle and Norfolk Stakes possible targets for the shrewdly-bought 9,000 guineas purchase.

“He’s great, he’s been very well and is such a laid-back horse,” said Johnson Houghton.

“Horses don’t know how much they cost, they haven’t got a clue. Once we get them in the yard we don’t really care what they cost either, we treat them all the same.

“He could go for the Windsor Castle or the Norfolk, he’ll be entered in both.

“He’s got bags of pace, clearly, even when he does give the rest of them a head start! A stiff five at Ascot has got to really suit him.”

Havana Hurricane holds an entry for the Weatherbys Super Sprint Stakes at Newbury in mid-July, for which he would carry a relative feather weight as allocations are based on purchase price.

Johnson Houghton added: “He’s in the Super Sprint, we’ll see how Ascot goes of course, but it’s very tasty prize-money for us to look at and I think he’s pretty useful.”