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Richard Hannon has raised the possibility of Dick Turpin tackling 10 furlongs before too long.

The trainer has two of the very best three-year-old milers at his disposal, with Dick Turpin and Canford Cliffs closely matched on three meetings already this season, and he would prefer the pair not to clash again in next Wednesday’s Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.

“I think Dick Turpin can go a mile and a quarter, but I don’t know where he would go at the moment. He is improving all the time,” said Hannon.

The John Manley-owned Dick Turpin beat Canford Cliffs, who belongs to a syndicate, in the Greenham Stakes and finished in front of his stablemate again when second in the 2000 Guineas. Canford Cliffs gained his revenge in the St James’s Palace, while Dick Turpin subsequently gained a deserved first Group One in the Prix Jean Prat.

Both looked on fine terms with themselves on Tuesday morning, with individual leg-stretches up one of Hannon’s gallops at Herridge.

“If they get rain, John will want to run at Goodwood,” said Hannon of Dick Turpin. “I don’t want them to meet again as they are two very good horses but they are owned by different people and I can’t keep them apart.

While a decision will have to be made about Dick Turpin, there is no doubt about Canford Cliffs’ destination and his trainer continued: “He runs in the Sussex. He is a lovely horse, very mature, and he has put on a lot of weight.

“I took him to Kempton on Monday and he worked over seven furlongs with one of The Queen’s horses, Quadrille.”

Hannon also revealed he is set to enjoy another season with his stable stars as both will race on as four-year-olds, with Canford Cliffs expected to take even higher order.

He contineed: “Both Canford Cliffs and Dick Turpin will stay in training as four-year-olds. He (Canford Cliffs) has improved beyond recognition and I am sure he is getting better. He is certainly going the way to be being the best horse I have ever trained.”

Godolphin have been forced to call a halt on the career of Australian import Denman as he will not be fit enough to do himself justice in next week’s Darley July Cup.

The four-year-old, a Group One winner at Rosehill back home, will now take up stud duties Down Under, which was always the plan for the son of Lonhro. Connections had hoped to run him in the highlight of the July meeting at Newmarket but have run out of time.

Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford said: “We are not going to run him in the July Cup because he is not fit enough.”

He added: “What the plan is, and what the plan has always been, is that there is a quarantine for Australia straight after the July meeting and the intention was that he would always return to the southern hemisphere and we don’t have time to find another race for him.

“Quarantine starts straight after the July meeting and he’s not ready to run so unfortunately we’ve run out of time.”

His impending withdrawal would free up Frankie Dettori for the ride on Fleeting Spirit, if that is the direction in which her trainer Jeremy Noseda decided to go, with Tom Queally, who partnered her to victory 12 months ago, also in the frame.

Another who will miss the race is Brian Meehan’s Arcano. One of last season’s leading juveniles, the colt has only been seen once this season, when well beaten by the Richard Hannon pair of Dick Turpin and Canford Cliffs in the Greenham Stakes at Newbury.

He had still been quoted by bookmakers for the sprint on the July Course but connections admitted it will come too soon.

Angus Gold, owner Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum’s racing manager, said: “Arcano is on his way back. His blood took a long time to get back right after Newbury, it was just a few silly little things that have taken him a bit longer than we hoped.

“We were hoping to get him ready for the July Cup next week but he’s not quite going to make it. I hope he will be back on the track in the next two to three weeks.”

Richard Hannon dominated the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot as Canford Cliffs oozed class to get the better of his stablemate Dick Turpin.

The winner was settled some way off the pace by a confident Richard Hughes, who held on to the 11-4 joint-favourite for as long as possible as Steinbeck led into the turn.

Dick Turpin went for home, but Canford Cliffs quickened up impressively to go past and win by a length, with Pat Eddery’s Hearts Of Fire running a massive race in third.

Hughes said: “The most important thing I had to do was to get my horse to settle very early in the race, slip the bridle out and ride him a race.

“I said all week I knew I was on the best horse, but I just needed a bit of luck in running.

“I could afford to give them five lengths riding on a horse like Canford Cliffs, but I could feel a shoe go turning for home and that was a bit of a worry.

“He just might have hit a flat spot and I soon got him going again and he’s beaten a very good horse in Dick Turpin too.

“Being on him is like getting into a Rolls Royce instead of a Morris Minor. The difference is unbelievable. You just sit on him and everything is smooth and is electric. He has so much speed and that’s his forte.”

Hannon added: “He’s got better and better and he only had to settle in his races. He has got to go for Group Ones, so I suppose the Sussex Stakes and the Jacques le Marois would be possibilities.”

Makfi, winner of the 2000 Guineas, was only seventh of the nine and his jockey Olivier Peslier reported: “He was running a good race until turning into the straight. I tried to go on the outside but there was no power – he found nothing.”