Haggas expects Maqsad to push for Oaks
Trainer keen to replicate success of Dancing Rain Salouen out to avenge Coronation Cup defeat
Eight years after Dancing Rain, William Haggas can win a second Investec Oaks today with Maqsad, Sheikh Hamdan’s runaway winner of Newmarket’s Pretty Polly Stakes. Victory would be a watershed moment for jockey Jim Crowley, who has yet to win a Classic.
Today’s Oaks looks a classy edition, with the majority of the trial winners there, many arriving on the back of wide-margin victories.
They include the John Gosden pair of Frankel fillies, Mehdaayih and Anapurna, winners from Chester and Lingfield respectively, while Maqsad left Shambolic standing to win by five lengths at Newmarket.
Of course, Aidan O’brien’s No 1 filly Pink Dogwood, the mount of Ryan Moore, is bound to improve for her first outing of the season and no one believes a Listed race at Navan is going to be the height of her achievements this season.
The sister of Irish Derby winner Latrobe, she can also enlist the help of her stable companions Peach Tree, Fleeting and Delphinia to ensure a test of stamina.
There is a tendency to switch off after a race like the 1,000 Guineas, but you could not help but be impressed by Maqsad two races later at the start of the month and, though she galloped through the line that day, the only worry is that she has too much speed. “She has a lot of class,” said Haggas. “Whether she lasts the trip is the interesting bit. My gut feeling is that if she does stay, she’ll go very close.”
The trainer is not ruling his second filly, Frankellina, out of it, either. She dead-heated for second, in the Musidora on what was only her second start. She is sure to come on for the experience and the step up in trip.
“It’s hard to know what to make of the bunch finish in the Musidora,” Haggas said. “I’m certain she’ll get the trip, but she lacks experience and has an unhelpful outside draw in 14.” He added: “I’ve got two good jockeys, I’m pleased with the condition of both fillies and, bar running Frankellina again, there’s not much more I could have done.”
If one of the less-fancied horses were to cause a surprise, it could be Ralph Beckett’s Manuela De Vega, who has 4½ lengths to make up on Mehdaayih. She did not have the run of the race that day, probably needed it and gave the winner 3lb.
There are some big shots in the Investec Coronation Cup, but there would be no more popular winner than Salouen, who was just touched off by Cracksman in last year’s race.
He comes here on the back of a win at Ascot and if Sylvester Kirk’s old warrior runs to the same level he will take some beating.
Moore will ride Sir Dragonet in the Derby tomorrow, for which 13 were declared yesterday. The colt, one of seven Ballydoyle runners, is drawn widest in stall 13, which may not be ideal for one so inexperienced, although there tends to be less emphasis on the draw in a field this size. Godolphin’s Line of Duty is in stall one, the “coffin box”, while Telecaster is drawn next to him in stall two. Norway, who might be doing some of Ballydoyle’s donkey work, has drawn the lucky stall 10, which boasts 10 Derby winners.
Other key jockey bookings for Ballydoyle include Frankie Dettori for Circus Maximus, Seamie Heffernan for Anthony Van Dyck and the trainer’s son Donnacha, who probably will not get too many more chances to ride a Derby winner given the way his weight is likely to go, on Broome.
‘My gut feeling is that if she does stay, she will go very close’