By Tom Frary
Signs at Newmarket on Friday were that the William Haggas stable is taking off and the best of his trio that came home first on the card could turn out to be the Listed King Charles II Stakes winner Saber Strike (Night Of Thunder).
Seen only once at two when successful at Redcar in November, Victorious Forever's 230,000gns Tattersalls October Book 1 purchase was delivered from last by Tom Marquand to surge by Cerro Blanco (Wootton Bassett) a furlong out and take the seven-furlong contest by 1 1/4 lengths from that well-regarded Godolphin colt.
“He is exciting,” Marquand said of the 11-2 shot. “His work has been nice at home, but he's a super casual customer so you wouldn't get a full gauge of what he's fully doing. I set him a bit of a job and popped him back and in behind, because I didn't want to sit on the wing and teach him nothing.”
“The Godolphin horse looked lovely and took a bit of running down, but he found the line great,” he added. “He's probably still waking up to it all as well, which is probably the most fun bit. He's a very exciting horse with a few doors he could step through.”
Victorious Forever's racing manager Billy Jackson-Stops said, “We're trying to be here on the big days and that was exciting. We tested him out on the ground today and he passed that, he didn't do it the easy way so he's clearly very talented. We'll talk about targets with Sheikh Nasser and see how he comes out of it, we have a couple of options at Royal Ascot—the Jersey and St James's Palace are there, so we'll see.”
Haggas added, “He is a nice horse and doing really well. I was comforted by the way his workmate Division ran at Ascot–he probably should have won the Pavilion Stakes. This horse is inexperienced and we've had a debate about the trip. The owners' team think he's a miler and I think he's a sprinter, so that's why we went over seven today. He didn't look like he wanted to drop back to six today and to me he looks like a horse for the Jersey Stakes.”
The dam Swiss Air (Oasis Dream) is a daughter of the dual Listed-winning and Flying Childers-placed Swiss Lake (Indian Ridge) who was a five-furlong specialist later responsible for the four black-type performers Swiss Diva (Pivotal), Swiss Spirit (Invincible Spirit), Swiss Dream (Oasis Dream) and Swiss Franc (Mr. Greeley) with the first two winning at Group 3 level.
Swiss Air's triple Listed-winning full-sister Swiss Dream is in turn the dam of Dark Angel's G3 Hackwood Stakes-winning sire Yafta, while the family also features the G3 Prix Eclipse winner Eddie's Boy (Havana Grey). Swiss Air's two-year-old full-brother to Saber Strike named Marco Polo was a 525,000gns purchase by M V Magnier and White Birch Farm at Tattersalls October Book 1, while she also has a yearling filly by Blue Point.
PERTEMPS NETWORK KING CHARLES II STAKES-Listed, £60,000, Newmarket, 5-1, 3yo, 7fT, 1:25.52, g/f.
1–SABER STRIKE (IRE), 131, c, 3, by Night Of Thunder (Ire)
1st Dam: Swiss Air (GB), by Oasis Dream (GB)
2nd Dam: Swiss Lake, by Indian Ridge (Ire)
3rd Dam: Blue Iris (GB), by Petong (GB)
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. (230,000gns Ylg '24 TATOCT).
O-Victorious Forever; B-Rabbah Bloodstock Limited; T-William
Haggas; J-Tom Marquand. £34,026. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0,
$51,254.
2–Cerro Blanco (GB), 131, c, 3, Wootton Bassett (GB)–
Duneflower (Ire), by Dubawi (Ire). 1ST BLACK TYPE.
O/B-Godolphin; T-Charlie Appleby. £12,900.
3–Stellar Sunrise (GB), 131, c, 3, Space Blues (Ire)–
Herecomesthesun (Ire), by Invincible Spirit (Ire). 1ST BLACK
TYPE. (130,000gns Ylg '24 TATOCT). O-The Royal Ascot Racing
Club; B-Carmel Stud; T-Andrew Balding. £6,456.
Margins: 1 1/4, 3, 3/4. Odds: 5.50, 2.00, 1.25.
Also Ran: Ellusive Butterfly (Ire), Maximized (GB), Jel Pepper (Ire).
SABER STRIKES 🟥⬜️
Commonwealth Cup entry Saber Strike makes it 2-2 with victory in the Listed King Charles II Stakes.
An exciting 3yo for the @WilliamHaggas team.@NewmarketRace | @V_ForeverUK pic.twitter.com/j0oAlyGJO0
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) May 1, 2026
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