Only three horses in the world finished the season with a rating higher than Addeybb (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}), and certainly none of them have won Group 1 races in two hemispheres within 2020.
Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum’s homebred 6-year-old may not have received the recognition he deserves for his exploits throughout the year, but it is safe to say that he is fully appreciated by his trainer William Haggas and jockey Tom Marquand. It is also not an exaggeration to say that, as much of the racing world went into lockdown and the start of the British turf season was delayed by more than two months, Addeybb’s first Group 1 strike, in the Ranvet S. at Rosehill in March, brought a collective cheer to his home town of Newmarket when it was badly needed.
“It was extraordinary really,” says Haggas as he reflects on an ambitious Australian raid with Addeybb and Young Rascal (Fr) (Intello {Ger}), who won the G3 Manion Cup and was seventh in the G1 Sydney Cup before joining the Ballarat stable of Archie Alexander.
“Essentially I thought that was the place for Addeybb as he had struggled to win a Group 1 in England, and I thought that if it rained he must have a chance of winning a Group 1 in Australia,” he continues.
“The only blip we had was in the Sydney Cup [with Young Rascal] but the rest of it went absolutely swimmingly. I said to [former assistant trainer] Harry Eustace when he got back, ‘We’ll try it every year now but it will probably never go that well again’. We had the right people, the right conditions, and the right horses for the right races. And we had a jockey who knew the place and who was English and hungry and was able to come and sit on the horse a few times before he ran. It just went to plan, it was very fortunate.”
For Marquand, who is not officially stable jockey to Haggas, but who rides out for him regularly and is generally first preference for the stable’s mounts, the Ranvet victory was an important milestone in an extraordinary season. From that first Group 1 success, he added another two on Addeybb, in the Queen Elizabeth S. at Randwick and the QIPCO British Champion S. back home at Ascot. He also notched a first British Classic in the St Leger aboard Galileo Chrome (Ire) (Australia {GB}), as well as a first win at Royal Ascot. All that, and still Marquand has been somewhat usurped by his equally high-achieving girlfriend Hollie Doyle, with the pair currently sitting in second and third position in the jockeys’ table for the year.
“It has been a remarkable year for them,” says Haggas. “For Tom, who I know better and have obviously worked with a lot this year, it has been a really interesting year. He’s obviously still a very young man but he lost the ride on English King (Ire) in the Derby then finished second on an outsider. Then the real irony was that he took the ride back on English King for the St Leger and then they rerouted [the horse] on declaration day to the Grand Prix de Paris. Tom was going to be without a ride in the St Leger but then Shane Crosse tested positive for Covid and Tom got the ride on the winner. The luck has to go your way in life, and in racing in particular luck went his way this year.”
He adds, “Both the jockeys we are using at the moment, Tom and Cieren [Fallon Jr], have had nothing but progression all their racing lives but we have to prepare them for the bump in the road, which is inevitable.
What Hollie has achieved is remarkable, and she and Tom are both very level-headed, normal people. And all the stories that can be gleaned from Hollie’s success in particular are fantastic for our sport.”
While Doyle stayed in Britain through last winter, plying her trade on the all-weather, Marquand became quite the darling of the Australian race fans and media during his fruitful spell in Sydney. His return to the UK and continued association with Addeybb saw the pair score their biggest home win on British Champions Day, the same day that Doyle landed her first Group 1 in the Sprint with Glen Shiel (GB), trained by Haggas’s former assistant Archie Watson.
Haggas is understandably protective of Addeybb. He says, “He’s sort of been a little bit under the radar for most people because of his love of soft ground. The more dour performances come on this type of ground but you’ve still got to win it. Champions’ Day, rightly or wrongly, is often run on soft ground, so that’s an obvious target. A lot of the field were known to be suited by soft ground too, so it’s not as if they all failed. I watched him the whole way and, I shouldn’t really say this because it sounds arrogant, but it was never really in doubt. He got a good position, travelled well and waited until the two, then he kicked and that was it.”
Addeybb has subsequently enjoyed a well-earned spell in the paddock but has recently returned to Haggas’s Somerville Lodge in preparation for another trip to Australia in 2021.
“I think we’re going to try for the same again,” says the trainer. “The beauty of last year was the travelling. He travelled immaculately and when he came back he was eight kilos lighter than when he left, which is extraordinary. He’s old and he’s a gelding, but he’s a dude now and he doesn’t take too much out of himself. He’s had a little time in the field, he looks big and well and his preparation will be geared up towards returning.”
The return of Addeybb may not be music to the ears of Chris Waller, whose Verry Elleegant (NZ) (Zed {NZ}) finished runner-up to him in both his Group 1 victories, but Sydney’s champion trainer can at least count Haggas among the many owners in his stable. Humbolt Current (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) joined Waller’s stable from Haggas after the 2018 season and his former trainer ended up buying a share in the Queen’s homebred, who, appropriately, has won three times in Queensland this year.
Haggas explains, “Chris bought a horse from Her Majesty, and he bought him at the right time. I said to him that I thought he was the soundest horse I’ve ever trained. When Mathilde [Texier] vetted him she said she couldn’t find one bit of him that wasn’t perfect. So I rang the two people who had owned [G1 Doomben Cup winner] Beaten Up (GB) with us and I said ‘Your trainer has just bought this horse and I think you should buy a share in him’. So they did, and then Chris rang me and said, ‘If he’s such a nice horse would you like a share?'”
Addeybb is likely not to be Haggas’s lone challenger in Sydney next year. The trainer also hopes to send Sinjaari (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) and Favorite Moon (Ger) (Sea The Moon {Ger}).
“Sinjaari was just beaten in a listed race the other day and is a good, solid 106,” he says. “He should be competitive in mile-and-a-quarter races but probably not the Queen Elizabeth. And I’m looking at sending Favorite Moon, who won two staying handicaps at Haydock last year. He’s done really well and I quite fancy going for the Manion Cup with him, and trying to win it, and then going for the Sydney Cup.”
Though many in British racing have ongoing concerns over prize-money, which falls way below the pots on offer at Sydney’s The Championships, Haggas points to the fact that it is not only the UK which has suffered Covid-related cuts at the top end.
He says, “I am concerned but I think we are far too negative at the moment. The bookmakers, the racecourses and the government will sort it out. This industry isn’t going to collapse overnight. We just have to be more positive because negative talk puts the fear of God into the customers.”
He continues, “Although the Queen Elizabeth was a huge prize to win, it got chopped in half, so it was a $4 million race when we left England and it was £2 million by the time we raced. I know that is still a lot of money, I’m not saying it’s not. I’d also like to point out that One Master has won the Prix de la Foret three years in a row and in 2018 she won €176,000, in ’19 she won €181,000, and this year she won €101,000, so it’s not a problem only for England. I think we mustn’t forget that.”
While the gelding Addeybb remains in training with another global campaign in his immediate future, his main rival for the title of stable star, Lael Stable’s One Master (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) has now been retired to the paddocks after her honourable career. Her owner-breeders Roy and Gretchen Jackson recently purchased promising 2-year-old Aunty Bridy (Ire) (Camacho {GB}) through Haggas’s son Sam of Hurworth Bloodstock at Tattersalls’ December Sale and she will be joining the team at Somerville Lodge.
“The Jacksons have been wonderful,” says Haggas. “They’ve been fabulously loyal ever since they bought into Superstar Leo in 2000—so that’s 20 years—and every member of each branch of the family that they train comes to us. They never interfere and they deserve every bit of success.”
He adds, “They are very sporting as well. They came out last year for the Foret, and they are in their mid-80s but they flew over to Paris, and they came to Hong Kong the year before, and to Ascot. They absolutely love it. It was Roy’s idea to race One Master as a 6-year-old. I said, ‘ No you can’t do that, she needs to go off to stud,’ and he said, ‘Well we’re old and we might not be around to see her children.’
“Aunty Bridy is coming to me to start with. Hopefully she’ll be a top filly and they can race her here and then we can come for the Breeders’ Cup or for the Beverly D. We’ll see how we get on with that.”
The trainer also has One Master’s 2-year-old half-sister Arousing (GB) (Kodiac {GB}), who won her only start comfortably, as well as the promising York maiden winner Ready To Venture (GB) (Kingman {GB}).
He says, “I’ve had some nice 2-year-olds for the Jacksons this year so they have a bit to look forward to next year.”
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