Mohamed Obaida's Dubai Honour (Ire) (Pride Of Dubai {Aus}) defeated dual Group 1 scorer Mo'unga (NZ) (Savabeel {Aus}) and nine-time Group 1 winner Anamoe (Aus) (Street Boss) to win the G1 Queen Elizabeth S. at Randwick during the second weekend of The Championships on Saturday.
The William Haggas trainee claimed the G1 Ranvet S. at Rosehill in March, and his two top-level victories have his trainer feeling “pretty keen” to add an Australian satellite yard to his operation.
Haggas, who would likely share the base with Andrew Balding according to Australian reports, told Sky Racing World, “[Balding] He's very keen and I'm pretty keen so we'll see what happens.
“Anamoe is a great horse, take nothing away from him. But this horse has come forward for being here and he's won well today. Don't underestimate him. He's a pretty good horse and he was never quite right last year and he was boxing against some good horses–top, top horses.”
The 5-year-old gelding, who won a brace of Group 2s in 2021, was reunited with regular pilot Tom Marquand, who pulled off the Ranvet/Queen Elizabeth double with the Haggas-trained Addeybb (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) in 2020. That gelding would repeat in the latter in 2021, again with Marquand in the irons.
Marquand said, “For the boss to target the Queen Elizabeth with another horse and pull it off, it's just insane.
“Genuinely, I've jumped aboard this horse on the right day at the right time and it's everyone else behind it that got the job done. All I had to do was point and shoot.”
Another international race, the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin in Hong Kong, is one of the probable targets for Dubai Honour on Apr. 30.
British success in Australia! 🏆 @TomMarquand and @WilliamHaggas have done it again!!
Dubai Honour cruises home to win the G1 Longines Queen Elizabeth Stakes 👏@aus_turf_club | @SkyRacingAU pic.twitter.com/Id1wxJLmW5
— Champions Series (@ChampionsSeries) April 8, 2023
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