William Haggas is looking to the future after Baaeed's shock swansong defeat in the Qipco Champion S. at Ascot on Saturday by revealing the six-time Group 1-winning superstar's younger brother is set to make his debut soon.
Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {GB}) lost his unbeaten record on his 11th and likely final start on Champions Day when finishing fourth, beaten a little under two lengths, behind Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}). That was despite being sent off as a prohibitively short-priced favourite at odds of 1-4.
Haggas was magnanimous in the immediate aftermath, simply saying that. “Jim [Crowley, jockey] said he couldn't quicken.”
He added at the time, “When he pulled him out he hoped he'd do what he's done before on faster ground, but he simply couldn't quicken on that ground.
“Perhaps it's not the greatest surprise. In my experience, it's rare a horse who acts as well on fast ground as he does also acts as well on soft ground. He tried his best, but he couldn't pick up.”
Now that the dust has settled on that performance, Haggas is concentrating on unleashing Baaeed's juvenile half-brother by Nathaniel (Ire), the sire of this year's brilliant Derby winner Desert Crown (GB), before the season is out. The colt has been named Naqeeb.
Speaking on Monday, Haggas said, “Most people who have got a full-brother are nothing like their full-brother, so though this mare has produced a fantastic horse in Baaeed and another very good horse in Hukum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), there is a chance that he could be a good horse and we will campaign him as such.
He added, “But if he's somewhere near Hukum we'll be thrilled. We hope to run him this year. It'll be a mile maiden somewhere, I'd love to get him on the grass, but we're a bit tight for time now.”
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