William Haggas is as intrigued as the next person to see which horse can emerge triumphant in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes
In many regards, William Haggas is your quintessential Englishman: respectful, measured and not prone to hyperbole.
If he had a choice, he would shun the microphone and let his horses do the talking on the racetrack.
But having arrived in Australia this week ahead of Saturday’s highly anticipated Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) showdown between his top galloper Dubai Honour and local champion Anamoe, Haggas finds himself in the spotlight.
Unable to make the trip Down Under for Addeybb’s two all-conquering autumn carnival missions in 2020-21 due to COVID restrictions, Haggas will be trackside at Randwick this year and while describing him as excited might be a stretch, he admits his game face will be on come race day.
“Excitement? It’s not really my first name,” Haggas said after watching his team work at Canterbury on Wednesday.
“I’m a bit like a duck. On top of the pond, it looks serene and calm and then underneath my legs are going like hell. I will be a bit tense on Saturday.”
Dubai Honour made a resounding Australian debut in the Ranvet Stakes (2000m) on ground that wasn’t supposed to suit him, thumping multiple Group 1 winner Montefilia by more than four lengths.
With Randwick expected to be rain-affected this weekend, logic dictates the UK raider will be better again.
Haggas, however, is cautious.
“We felt he wanted to have a race before the Queen Elizabeth and I would have preferred a wetter track, but (jockey) Ryan (Moore) actually said he moved great and he felt really good and he said, ‘I’ll be surprised if he really likes soft ground’,” Haggas said.
“But his form is on soft ground, so I don’t know really. We’ll see.”
While Haggas has a mighty reputation worldwide, particularly through the achievements of his champion Baaeed, he is best known in Australia for his feats with Addeybb, the nemesis of Australia’s now-retired middle-distance star Verry Elleegant.
Haggas watched from the other side of the world as Addeybb defeated Verry Elleegant in the 2020 and 2021 Queen Elizabeths, this time he will be front and centre at Randwick.
And he isn’t sure if that is a good thing.
“(There is) nervousness from me because you want it all to go right,” he said.
“I haven’t been for (those) two years and it has gone right and as soon as I appear it will probably go pear-shaped.”
If Dubai Honour can lower the colours of nine-time Group 1 winner Anamoe, Haggas and his team will have worked their magic again.
The UK trainer has had nine Group 1 runners in NSW for four wins and a placing, an incredible strikerate and one that might have any other trainer a little bullish.
But again, Haggas is respectful of the opposition, loathe to get ahead of himself, and more interested in the spark that the presence of Dubai Honour and Japan’s Unicorn Lion have given Saturday’s great race.
“I’m not a great one for expecting too much,” Haggas said.
“I am very respectful of Anamoe, and the others too.
“I think he (Dubai Honour) adds a bit of flavour to the race and if the Japanese hadn’t come and we hadn’t come, he’d (Anamoe) be threes-on and would probably win.”
