‘It’s an impressive place’ – English trainer Haggas stops by Riverside ahead of Queen Elizabeth Stakes showdown
Master English trainer William Haggas flew into Sydney yesterday ahead of Saturday’s mouthwatering Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) and wanted to stave off jetlag by staying awake.
Known for taking all the right steps in a Sydney autumn, he couldn’t have picked a better place to achieve his goal than amid the sense-assaulting cacophony of his first Inglis Easter yearling sale.
Haggas, who’ll saddle up Dubai Honour – the English raider by the Australian sire in Pride Of Dubai (Street Cry) – against Godolphin’s wonder from Down Under Anamoe (Street Boss) on day two of The Championships – touched down in the morning, headed to Canterbury’s quarantine centre to see his horses, then made his way to Riverside.
“It’s an impressive place,” he told ANZ Bloodstock News. “They look nice horses, the prices are ok, much as I would expect. I didn’t want to go to sleep until nighttime, so I thought I’d come and see what it’s like.”
Haggas, a regular at sales around the world, said his first Australian auction – strictly as an observer – evoked for him another antipodean location.
“It reminds me a lot of the Cape Yearling Sale in South Africa. You get a table and you get fed,” he said, happily tucking into his salmon.
Easter also reminded him of France’s Arqana sale, but most definitely not of England’s famed Tattersalls auctions. Not only do those unfold gently in an atmosphere more redolent of Sotheby’s than the Australian “eight-hour race call” style, they go a lot slower, with some 20 lots moved per hour compared with roughly 30 here.
“The quickest are the Americans, by a mile, although I haven’t seen much here yet,” he said. “Tatts are a bit unique. They take their time, much to the chagrin of some of the people who have to be there.”
The softly-spoken 62-year-old sounded very much the polite Englishman when asked how Tatts could up their ante in the speed stakes.
“I wouldn’t get involved in that sort of discussion,” he said, before showing another side of his reputation by doing exactly that.
“They say they’ve got to be fair to vendors and purchasers, which I understand, but I do feel that, especially at some of the sales where we have to work with our customers in the evening, it doesn’t help if the sales finish at half past nine.”
Haggas has been something of a trail-blazer in terms of visitors from Britain and Ireland, particularly with targeting the Sydney autumn more than the Melbourne spring. With $5 million on offer in the Queen Elizabeth, and considering the strength of Europeans over its 2000-metre journey, it makes quite some sense.
The Newmarket trainer twice brought his outstanding gelding Addeybb (Pivotal) out for the race in 2020 and 2021, and twice returned victorious, relegating the best horse from these parts, Verry Elleegant (Zed), to second in two epic battles.
Something similar looms this Saturday when Dubai Honour takes on Anamoe, with both sharing favouritism at around $2.50 last night.
Dubai Honour arrived in Sydney as a winner of two European Group 2 races over roughly 2000 metres, though he was also second at the top level in Ascot’s 2021 Champion Stakes (Gr 1, 1m 2f) over the same trip. He posted his credentials here with a stunning four-and-a-half-length win over the distance in Rosehill’s Ranvet Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) on March 18.
Haggas’ other visitor this time, Protagonist (Wootton Bassett) landed with a surging win over the mile-and-a-quarter in Rosehill’s Sky High Stakes (Gr 3, 2000m) before finishing midfield in Saturday’s bog track Doncaster.
“We have had a bit of luck here,” said Haggas, when asked what the trick was. “The answer is probably identifying the right horses. Both Addeybb and Dubai Honour came out as pretty top horses in Europe. Not the very top, but they were multiple Group winners, and they’ve got to Group 1 level here. Addeybb did it here, then he went home and won the Champion Stakes at Ascot.
“Plus, we do a lot of work at home before they come here. They’re pretty fit when they come, and then we use their time in quarantine basically for them to adjust after their journey.”
Haggas may have offered a thinly veiled tip, or at least a huge vote of confidence, in Dubai Honour ahead of his clash with Anamoe, who has to step up from the 1500 metres of his George Ryder Stakes win this Saturday.
Asked to compare Dubai Honour – still a four-year-old by northern time – with Addeybb, who won his Queen Elizabeth Stakes at six and seven, he said: “He’s not far off him. Addeybb was a warrior, and he was a bit older. Dubai Honour’s a bit younger, but he’s the right type to come here.”