William Haggas has continued his love affair with Australian racing, plundering yet another feature with globetrotting stayer Dubai Honour who has upstaged a classy field to claim the Group 1 Tancred Stakes at Rosehill.
The gelding, who started $3.20 with online betting sites, remains unbeaten in Sydney after capturing the Ranvet-Queen Elizabeth Stakes double in 2023.
He produced another superb performance at Tuesday’s rescheduled meeting to defeat Caulfield Cup winner Duke De Sessa ($5.50) by three-quarters of a length, Vauban ($3.10 fav) a half-length away third.
Isabella Paul has been overseeing Haggas’ Sydney forays, including the stable’s successful Golden Eagle raid with Lake Forest last spring, and was thrilled to see Dubai Honour step up to the plate again.
“Anyone who knows me knows how special this horse is to me and to the whole team. He is just an absolute star,” Paul said.
“He’s seven-years-old and he has proved again he is still at top-class level.
“He is the most perfect horse to travel. He never misses a beat. I never worry about him.
“We joke that he’s like a labrador because he is like my pet. I’m just so proud of him.”
Star English jockey Tom Marquand did the steering on Dubai Honour and said winning a major made his international venture worthwhile.
“I’ve been here a couple of weeks and it was starting to get a bit dull,” Marquand said.
“I’m lucky that I’ve been riding a few for Australian-based trainers but you come here to compete in the Group Ones and it is really satisfying when you pull it off.”
The stable will see how Dubai Honour comes through the run before deciding if he takes on heavyweight mare Via Sistina in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
If he presses on, Paul doesn’t expect Dubai Honour to have any issue with the 400m distance drop despite conceding the Tancred Stakes (2400m) has been their target.
“This race, for me, it felt like it was his race this year and I was really keen that he came here. He has proved himself over that mile-and-a-half trip,” Paul said.
“Stepping back to 2000 metres, we haven’t really got an option, but there is no reason not to try, especially after that performance.
“He is such a star for the stable and it’s nice to see that at seven-years-old he is still winning.”
Harry Coffey was delighted with the effort of Duke De Sessa, who stuck on gamely after racing close to the speed throughout.
“Super proud of him. He is flying. He’s in the zone,” Coffey said.
“He just got beaten by a really good horse. He was a sitting duck up the straight.”
Tim Clark said Vauban, the early Melbourne Cup favourite, tried right to the line.
“I thought once he got clear he finished the race off really well,” Clark said.
