Williams Haggas has issued a positive bulletin on star three-year-old Economics (GB) as he prepares for his showdown with French challenger Calandagan (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) in Saturday's G1 Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot.
Economics heads the ante-post betting for the £1.3 million feature contest at a general 5-4, having gained his fourth victory from as many starts this season when making the breakthrough at the top level in last month's Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown.
Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was the last horse to complete the Leopardstown/Ascot double in 2019, beating the Haggas-trained Addeybb (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) for the second of those wins. Addeybb then went one better the following year to give his Newmarket trainer a first success in the race, with Economics poised to try and double that tally at the weekend.
“His form is there and he seems very well,” Haggas said of the son of Night Of Thunder (Ire). “As long as he can stay well and run to his best, I think he is sure to run a good race. He battled well in Ireland and was tactically good. He fought hard when he had to in a top-class race and I was pleased he won a Group 1 as that makes things a lot easier.”
Haggas has had his fair share of difficult calls to make with Economics in 2024, including the decision to skip the Derby after the imposing colt had put himself firmly in the picture for Epsom with a six-length success in the G2 Dante Stakes. Instead, he spent three months on the sidelines after that York win, before warming up for Leopardstown with victory in the G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano at Deauville.
“It's history and you can't worry about it,” Haggas added of the decision to miss the Derby. “What has happened has happened, and what you have done this morning you can't remove. What you do tomorrow you can change before it happens.
“We just have to look at the horses, train them as we see fit, and hope the owners buy into what we are trying to do. If you look at him, he is a very big horse who should do well with a winter on his back.”
Golden Eagle on the Radar for Fallon and Lake Forest
Champions Day at Ascot might be one of the final acts of the Flat season in Britain, but Haggas still has international targets in mind for some of his other stable stars beyond Saturday, including the three-year-old Lake Forest (GB).
Haggas is no stranger to big-race success in Australia, notably winning back-to-back editions of the G1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes with the aforementioned Addeybb, and the trainer now has the A$10 million Golden Eagle in his sights with last year's Gimcrack winner.
Last seen filling the runner-up spot in the G3 Hackwood Stakes at Newbury in July, Lake Forest is set to be ridden by Cieren Fallon when he makes his next appearance at Rosehill on Saturday, November 2, with regular rider Tom Marquand likely to be in action at the Breeders' Cup.
“We'll need a lot of luck and a nice draw,” Fallon said of the challenge. “It's a big race worth a lot of money and hopefully he acclimatises well. He's got a lot of speed and it's round a bend, not just a straight. He can be a tad slow away, which isn't ideal in a big field like that as they tend to go two-by-two, so we'll need a bit of luck with a couple of gaps up the home straight.”
He added, “Racing is a roller-coaster ride and I've had some highs and some lows this year, but it's a great opportunity and hopefully he can perform on the day and things go our way.”
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