William Haggas is one of the most respected trainers in British racing, and with Maltese Cross in the Derby and a strong team heading to Royal Ascot , he sat down with BOYLE Sports for a wide-ranging conversation ahead of the two great summer meetings. He opened up on his hopes for Maltese Cross at Epsom , the threat posed by Aidan O'Brien's battalion from Coolmore , and the one ground condition that could derail his chances.
From there, Haggas turned the clock back thirty years to Shaamit's Derby victory in 1996 and delivered one of his most passionate verdicts of the entire interview: that the move from Wednesday to Saturday has been bad for the race and that the sport has been paying the price ever since. He also spoke candidly about what needs to happen to bring the Derby back to the kind of occasion it once was, including the thorny question of making the race more attractive at stud.
The challenges of the heatwave, the international dimension of the race, and the role of royal presence were all touched on, with Haggas giving a typically clear-eyed assessment of why the Derby has struggled to recapture the pre-eminence it once enjoyed and what it would take to restore it.
The Derby
Maltese Cross's Chances
It is difficult. Some horses, like human beings, completely melt in the hot weather and others do not mind it. So it makes it difficult, but we get the horses out early in the morning at the moment, and we try not to over-train them. I have been very happy with Maltese Cross's progress. Physically and mentally, he is a good type. He does sweat between his hind legs, which is never usually a good sign, but he does it in exercise at home, and he has done it every time he has run.
So it does not bother me. He has won his trial. What I thought at the time was a very good novice at Newbury has turned out not so good, but he is a nice horse. How nice, I do not know really. He has done nothing wrong yet, and he has got a lot more to offer. Our fella stays, but the one thing that could jeopardise his chances is rain. He is pretty much a fast-ground horse, so we would not want it soft or heavy. He will stay.
O'Brien's Battalions
I do not want to predict what I think might happen. Aidan's obviously very strong; he is the one who has got all the horses bred to win the Derby, and the focus from Coolmore is very much on the Derby . The way I read it is I think Constitution River , the best he has got at that distance, is, by all accounts, going to France , although that is not confirmed completely yet. Aidan will put a few in with Benvenuto Cellini to presumably ensure a good gallop. It will be a fascinating race as it always is, and it is a very hard race to win.
Wednesday Versus Saturday
Downhill Ever Since
I do not know where the time has gone, but gone it has. It was, I think, the second Saturday Derby after Lammtarra , and the race had to be brought forward to the third race on the card and run at 2:30 because the European Championships football was starting at 3 o'clock. For me, it has been downhill ever since then because of things like that. The PR people hated a Wednesday , but everyone else seemed to put up with it. It stood alone, taking on no challengers.
On Saturday you have got World Cup or European Championship football, possibly a Test match, possibly a golf tournament, whatever it might be, to take away the general support. In 1996, by the time I was telling everyone what a clever fellow I was by training the winner, we had switched over to the football and that was the end of it. To us, it was a memorable day.
Reviving The Race
There has been a real push from the Jockey Club and various other people and from some of the practitioners to really get behind it this year. There are things happening. It is not going to be suddenly sensational, but we need to get young people involved; we need to get the traditionalists coming and not sitting at home watching it on the television.
We need to get everyone involved and make it a great race. It would be nice if somebody else could win it and bring a bit of life back to it. We are thrilled to be having a go, and our owner, George Waud , is beyond excited about the whole thing. You just need a few more people in that situation, really. It has gone up in value, which is great. It shows the Jockey Club's commitment to it. Last year was pretty depressing. I hope the Jockey Club gets what they deserve, which is as many as possible coming to the great race.
International Appeal And The Stud Question
A normal person would not do in a year what the King and the Queen do in a week. Their diaries are full up to nine months in advance. Despite that, what has been fantastic with obviously the late Queen and the current monarch and his wife is that they appear to have five free days in June to go to Royal Ascot , and that is hugely important. Of course, royal presence helps, but if we could flush out a runner for the King and the Queen in the Derby , then that would be wonderful.
It is hard for a three-year-old race to capture that pre-eminence when you have got the southern hemisphere involved. The Japanese might give it a go, but it is a complicated race quite early in the Northern Hemisphere season. I think it is in the right spot. I think it is a very good test. We have to make the Derby winner more appealing at stud. It is only Coolmore who really promote Derby winners, and they have been very successful at doing so.
At the moment, the commercial aspect has meant they have gone to cheap speed, and various committees of the BHA are trying very hard to give incentives to horses that are bred to stay further. That is a really good thing because it changes the mindset. If you get one that can compete at a high level as a three-year-old over a mile and a quarter or a mile and a half, you will have the best fun then and for years to come.
All the big races in the world, barring the odd one in Australia , the Arc , the King George , the Japan Cup , they are all over the same distance, and the mile and a half is the traditional distance. If you get a horse of that ilk, I just cannot understand why more people do not try and find one.
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