Too Darn Hot to make his return in Greenham

The unbeaten Too Darn Hot is on course to run in the Greenham Stakes. Picture: Steven Cargill/Racingfotos.com

Too Darn Hot, who is expected to be one of the leading lights in this year’s QIPCO British Champions Series, is set to make his eagerly awaited reappearance in the Greenham Stakes at Newbury on April 13.

The seven-furlong Group Three contest, a traditional trial for the QIPCO 2000 Guineas, is sponsored for the first time this year by Watership Down Stud – the breeding operation of Too Darn Hot’s owners, Lord and Lady Lloyd Webber.

Frankel used the Greenham as a stepping stone to Classic glory in 2011.

Too Darn Hot, trained by John Gosden, was rated the best juvenile since Frankel and Dream Ahead when awarded the same rating of 126 to top the 2018 European Two-Year-Old Classifications this month, having completed an unbeaten campaign with victory in the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket.

Simon Marsh, general manager of Watership Down Stud, said: “We are delighted to be involved with a new sponsorship at Newbury racecourse which will see the first running of the Watership Down Stud Greenham Stakes.

“It is also a wonderful coincidence to have the promising Too Darn Hot as a potential contender for the race. The Lloyd Webbers have such a close association with this racecourse and are big supporters of the industry which makes this partnership even more meaningful.”

Watership Down Stud have agreed to sponsor the Greenham in a three-year deal and the value of the race will be increased to a total prize fund of £70,000.