By Tom Frary
Britain will have at least one key player in the Derby after TDN Rising Star Maltese Cross (Sea The Stars) battled to prevail in Saturday's Listed Lingfield Derby Trial for the William Haggas stable.
After a thrilling tussle with fellow Brit Bay Of Brilliance (New Bay) in the extended 11-furlong prep, George Waud's flagbearer who took a key Newbury Derby pointer last month edged that Ralph Beckett-trained colt by a neck as they pulled 6 1/2 lengths clear of Balzac (Japan) in third.
“He did well at Newbury, but I must admit I was a little bit disappointed there as he's a very talented horse,” Tom Marquand said. “The fast ground and extra trip helped him and he answered all the questions today. He surprised me with the pace he showed to close up and gave me the feel that the pace in the locker is enough for the Derby. George Waud and William want a Derby horse, so I'd imagine all paths will lead one way.”
“I think he's starting to show his racing style and I got more of a feel of him and what he's about today,” Marquand added. “He's had to battle a couple of times now and I still don't think I've quite found out where his ceiling is, which is the bit I'm most happy about. He's every bit ready to go in the Derby and we'll find out if he's good enough on the day.”
Haggas added, “He's going to have a shot at it if he's alright. Obviously the team across the water are pretty strong, but why can't we have a go? I think Tom felt he was much better today, he was like me a bit underwhelmed at Newbury, as we were expecting better. He said he got there too early today and had a bit of a fight and Ralph's horse ran very well and is obviously a useful horse.”
George Waud is ready to live the dream at Epsom and said, “We are going to the show! It's sort of inconceivable to end up with such a good one and I have to give credit to my agent Sam Haggas and my manager Gav Chengalanee. It's quite emotional actually.”
“I used to be in films,” he added. “I produced a bit of theatre as well. I'm also the chairman of Old Gold Racing, which is a multi-owner syndicate business–we've got 40 horses in training, 30,000 owners now, so, you know, that's going very well. All the way with this horse from Malcolm Bastard having him in pre-training to William going to see him, they just had a feeling about him.”
A thrilling finish to the William Hill Lingfield Derby Trial! 🤩
Maltese Cross fends off the rallying Bay Of Brilliance in a cracker at @LingfieldPark…@WilliamHaggas | @TomMarquand pic.twitter.com/h1xxhFF8x0
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) May 9, 2026
Maltese Cross is the third foal out of Nabatea (Camelot), whose first was the Listed-placed Namouria (Adlerflug). She is a half-sister to the aforementioned Classic-winning sire Nutan and also to the Grosser Preis von Berlin heroine Nymphea (Dylan Thomas) and the Group 3-winning Prix Jean Romanet third Navaro Girl (Holy Roman Emperor). One of her other two half-siblings with black-type is the Listed scorer Nazbanou (High Chaparral) whose two Stakes winners include the Grosser Preis von Berlin runner-up Nerik (Ruler Of The World).
The third dam Night Teeny (Platini) produced the G2 Oaks d'Italia heroine Night Of Magic (Peintre Celebre) and is the ancestress of the dual Preis von Europa heroine Nightflower also by Dylan Thomas, another G2 Oaks d'Italia winner in Nachtrose (Australia) and the Prix Jean Prat hero Intellogent (Intello). The family also features the Preis der Diana heroine Night Petticoat (Petoski) and her Deutsches Derby-winning son Next Desert (Desert Style) and Preis der Diana-winning daughter Next Gina (Perugino). Nabatea's two-year-old colt by Persian King was a €65,000 purchase by Jeremy Brummitt for Quantum Leap Racing at Arqana Deauville August.
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