William Haggas has trained for the Royal Family since 2013, and the pride he takes in that relationship is unmistakable. Speaking to BOYLE Sports , he spoke with great warmth about what it means to train for the King , recalling the moment Desert Hero gave His Majesty his first winner at Royal Ascot as one of the most special days of his career.
But it was his memories of the late Queen that produced the most moving passages of the interview. Haggas spoke about her as a passionate owner first and a monarch second, describing the depth of her knowledge and the genuine release that racing provided for her amid everything else on her plate.
Beyond the Royal Family , Haggas reflected on the future of the sport, from attracting young people and stable staff to the role of artificial intelligence in training, and whether syndicate ownership is the right model for growing the fanbase. He also shared his thoughts on Constitution Hill's difficult season before signing off with a characteristically self-deprecating each-way tip.
Attracting The Next Generation
Stable Staff And Young Fans
Stable staff is a problem, and it has been exacerbated by the difficulty to now get non- Europeans to come and work here because of the visa restrictions. The hours are long in this sort of business. With horses, it is not a nine-to-five job where you finish on a Friday night, and you come back on a Monday morning. It is a long day, but it is seven days a week, and horses do not know it is Sunday . But young people still want to come in for the love of the horse rather than the love of anything else. And we must continue to support pony racing, pony clubs, and the people who are really committed to horses and try to get them involved.
We get lots of people come around organised by the racing school and are absolutely blown away by what goes on in a racing yard. It might click for some, and for some it will not. Everyone compares it to football, but football is all over our televisions every minute of the day, and so is racing, but not on terrestrial television. I think ITV are doing a fabulous job to promote the sport, and obviously the characters are what makes it.
They are usually not the trainers, sadly. It is usually the jockeys that are the characters, which is fine, and it is up to all of us to try and bring racing into the modern age. I am an old stooge really. I frown at people who do not wear a tie at the races and that sort of thing, but there are lots of young people in the business and lots of young trainers here in Newmarket who are modern and open to any suggestion. The way we are promoting racing on social media has changed completely. I employ a company now to take videos and pictures of the staff and the horses and the property, promoting it as much as we can.
AI And Data
Well, I would not know how to start. I am sure there is a lot in it, and my son, who is in his mid-30s, is really into that sort of thing. He is very data-driven and gives me lots of interesting facts about lots of things, some of which are way beyond me. But I think there is a place for it. When we first got an X-ray machine, we were seeing things in horses' legs and bodies that we had never seen before. It all depends on interpretation, and like all this data, a lot depends on interpretation. It takes years to build up a sort of pattern that is going to be advantageous to you. I get lots of people telling me, and I pay lots of money a year to get the data, and I have people analyse it for me. But I have to say, because I am old and old-fashioned, I use my eye and the jockey or the rider's comments as much as anything.
Syndicates And Ownership
I do not think they have to be, but I think they have become it, because the number of the traditional owner-breeders is very few now. We train for the Thompsons, for Mrs Thompson at Cheveley Park . She is absolutely bright as a button, but she is not getting any younger. Mr Oppenheimer is getting older. Those are our owner-breeders, and there are a few younger ones but not as committed as they were. In order to get ownership, you are putting people together now and giving them the best chance of getting a winner and possibly the racing jackpot.
There are lots of syndicates. Highclere probably started it. Harry Herbert has led the field there. Others are popping up now like Race Share and Elite in multiple ownership and Middleham Park , and Nick Bradley in his own way; Old Gold are coming along and Opulence Thoroughbreds , who we train for. Some do well, some will not and will fall by the wayside. If you want an involvement, it is a very good way of doing it. So, if you can afford 50 or 75 pounds, what a nice Christmas present to have to enjoy a horse race.
Constitution Hill
Constitution Hill
I think the whole of racing was distraught that he seemed to lose something with his jumping. It was such a disappointment that such a champion horse seemed to lose his nerve or lose his confidence. Everyone, even the people who would be taking him on, wanted him to come back. And he did not.
He has not got time on his side. He is obviously a brilliant horse when everything is right, but summer Flat ground is not going to be his cup of tea. I am sure we will see him in the autumn, possibly in an Irish St Leger , which will add to the enthusiasm of it. The owner and his trainer are two great characters.
The Royal Family
Desert Hero And A First Royal Winner
It is fantastic. My mother died in 2014, and it was a crowning moment for her for me to train for Her Majesty the Queen . It is wonderful to train for the Royal Family . Of course it is. I feel very privileged and very fortunate. It is a lovely experience, and very few people are privileged enough to do it. The King is marvellous to train for because he produces and breeds some beautiful horses and we get a few of them. It gave us a chance to win for His Majesty in his first year as King . To win for them both was unbelievably special when Desert Hero won at Royal Ascot .
It was their first winner at the meeting as owners. Probably one of the greatest days at Ascot was when Estimate won the Gold Cup in 2013. The roof came off. It was fantastic, and the Duke of Edinburgh presented her with the trophy, with her homebred winning the Ascot Gold Cup , which is not the race that everyone wants to win, but it was certainly a race that she wanted to win. What a moment that was. She was very emotional.
She Lived And Breathed It
She really was. She lived and breathed it. We were talking together about a filly of hers that was either a wind-sucker or a box-walker, or something like that, and she went back six generations to trace things back. It was incredible. And what a release for her. She had a lot on the plate as both the King and Queen now do. And to be able to just switch off is special. You could tell when she visited here that she enjoyed it. She was in her element.
The Tip
One Each-Way Value
I would say Opportunity in the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes . So, with my track record, that will get stuffed.
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