William Haggas

Lake Forest, the 2024 winner of the lucrative Golden Eagle at Rosehill in Australia, will return Down Under in the coming months, according to co-owner Tony Bloom's racing manager Sean Graham. In October is the A$20-million G1 The Everest, and then the No Nay Never colt will defend his Golden Eagle title in November. Trained by William Haggas for Bloom and Ian McAleavy, the chestnut was second in the G2 Lennox Stakes at Goodwood in July and in the August 23 G1 City Of York Stakes last weekend. Sean Graham,...

G2 Great Voltigeur runner-up Carmers (Wootton Bassett) is one of 15 horses remaining in the G1 St Leger at Doncaster next month at the latest entry stage. Trained by Paddy Twomey, he represents Fiona Carmichael. A winner at Ballinrobe at first asking in May, Carmers added the Listed Yeats Stakes to his haul at Navan later that month before claiming Royal Ascot glory in the G2 Queen's Vase in June. The Great Voltigeur was his first defeat. "We were very happy with him at York last week, finishing second in...

Capping a golden mid-Sunday-afternoon hour that Tony Bloom and Ian McAleavy will forever cherish, Sky Majesty (Blue Point) followed the exploits of their star juvenile Venetian Sun at Deauville with her own power play in Sunday's G3 Tally-Ho Stud Irish EBF Ballyogan Stakes at Naas. Last year's G2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte and G3 Firth of Clyde winner, who had prepped with a course-and-distance win in last month's Listed Yeomanstown Stud Irish EBF Stakes, showed how much she had improved in the interim tackling a deeper contest. Always travelling easily under...

So obviously a Stakes horse operating in handicaps, More Thunder (Night Of Thunder) shed his thinly-veiled disguise once and for all on Saturday to dominate Newbury's G2 Hungerford Stakes. Narrowly denied in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot before narrowly on top in the Bunbury Cup at Newmarket's July Festival, the 6-4 favourite had ideal fast fractions to run at throughout the seven-furlong feature and delivered his customary powerful finale to beat the penalised Lennox winner Witness Stand (Expert Eye) by 2 1/4 lengths. "He's fulfilling all that we expected and...

Highclere Thoroughbred Racing's autumn dreams stayed alive against suitably dramatic Sussex skies on Thursday with the progressive Merchant (Teofilo) fighting his way through the G3 HKJC World Pool Gordon Stakes. Held up by Tom Marquand after the day's first flag start, the 6-5 favourite had to work to get by Wimbledon Hawkeye (Kameko) but may have had the most aptitude of the pair late on to prevail by a nose, with a gap of seven lengths back to the solid yardstick Windlord (Dubawi) in third. "It was tough and the...

Economics (Night Of Thunder), the winner of last year's Irish Champion Stakes, has been ruled out of the G1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot after pulling a muscle, according to a report by the Racing Post on Tuesday. Trained by William Haggas, Economics went unbeaten in his first four starts as a three-year-old, culminating with his maiden top-level victory at Leopardstown, before signing off with a below-par effort when sixth in the G1 Champion Stakes at Ascot in October. His return to action at Royal Ascot had been...

The G1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) sees G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) heroine Embroidery (Admire Mars) face 17 rivals in her quest to nab the second jewel of the Japanese Fillies' Triple Tiara. A winner of the G3 Queen Cup over 1600 metres in February, the Silk Racing colourbearer will be testing the waters beyond 1800 metres for the first time in her young career. Tied in the lead-up betting markets with Oka Sho third Lynx Tip (Kitasan Black), Embroidery was only a neck in front of the re-opposing...

Jockey Tom Marquand will reunite with William Haggas's Group 2 winner Lake Forest (GB) (No Nay Never) in the G1 FWD Champions Mile in Hong Kong on April 27. A winner of the A$10 million Golden Eagle at Rosehill in November, the 4-year-old son of No Nay Never won the G2 Gimcrack Stakea at York as a juvenile, and placed second in both the G1 Commonwealth Cup and the G3 Hackwood Stakes in June and July, all with Marquand in the irons. Cieren Fallon was aboard for the Golden Eagle...

It may have come three days later than expected, but Dubai Honour (Ire) claimed his third Australian Group 1, and fourth of his career, in Tuesday's rescheduled Tancred Stakes at Rosehill. The seven-year-old has been a model of consistency for his owner Mohamed Obaida and trainer William Haggas. He's not only won nine times, but he has also been placed nine times, in top-class contests from Ascot to Sha Tin, accruing prize-money in excess of £4.5m. Dubai Honour's sire Pride Of Dubai (Aus), winner of the G1 Blue Diamond Stakes...

It's going to get a little confusing this year with all these painters coming to the fore. Even more confusingly, Henri Matisse (Ire) and Camille Pissarro (Ire) are both by Wootton Bassett (GB) out of mares by Pivotal (GB), and, unsuprisingly, they are no ordinary mares.  Immortal Verse (Ire), the dual Group 1 winner bought for 4.7 million gns as a five-year-old, had already produced the Group 1 and Group 2 winners Tenebrism (Caravaggio) and Statuette (Justify) before Henri Matisse came along and, from a hard-working and high-scoring juvenile campaign...

We have seen him race just six times to date and there is good reason to hope that the best could still be to come for the strapping four-year old Economics (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}). Whatever else he goes on to achieve, it would be hard to surpass the delight he delivered for Shaikh Isa Salman Al Khalifa in securing his first Group 1 triumph in the race sponsored by the owner's home nation, the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes. The mind of the colt's trainer William Haggas is...

"Look away Mick Appleby, but there has arguably been no finer exponent of the new and improved all-weather programme in the last decade than the Gosden stable, home to a handful of Classic/Group 1 winners who learned the ropes at the likes of Kempton and Newcastle in the depths of winter." That comment featured in our first installment of Winter Watch, followed by a promise to put that illustrious roll of honour under the spotlight at a later stage when it seemed appropriate. Now, following a week in which John...