It won’t worry him but, in a way, Tom Marquand will be in the hot seat when he pushes the English visitor Lake Forest out of the starting gates and into action in the Champions Mile at Flemington.
It won’t have worried Zac Purton either, but, in theory, the Hong Kong Champion Jockey’s ears could still be ringing with the scathing criticism he received when he rode Lake Forest to a last place finish in the King Charles III Stakes at Randwick on Everest Day when a well-supported second favourite.
That criticism came from Maureen Haggas, the wife of trainer William Haggas, who, amongst other things stated, “It was about the worst ride I’ve seen in my entire life. I was appalled, absolutely appalled” … and … “it just makes you realise how lucky we are with the jockeys we have in England, Ireland and France.”
Lake Forest famously won the $10 million Golden Eagle in his one-race raid last year … or infamously, if you like, because that race was only decided after a messy finish and a double protest with the Haggas runner ultimately keeping the race, but only after jockey Cieren Fallon picked up a month’s suspension and a massive fine of $100 000 for a ride which the Chief Steward stated was ‘bordering on reckless.’
So, Lake Forest’s two career runs ‘down under’ to date have attracted more than their fair share of controversy.
Both of those runs were in Sydney and whether any drama will follow Lake Forest down to Flemington remain to be seen.
Marquand is one of the world’s leading jockeys, but even if he and Lake Forest are at their very best, they still face an ominous task against an extremely formidable set of opponents which includes, amongst others, the likes of Mr Brightside, Ceolwulf, Treasurethe Moment, Pride of Jenni and Leica Lucy.
The race should be an absolute cracker!
