'I didn't want to go to sleep so I thought I'd come here' - Haggas staves off jetlag at cacophonous Easter yearling sale

Trainer William Haggas flew into Sydney on Monday, ahead of Saturday’s mouthwatering Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick, armed with a plan to stave off jetlag by staying awake. 

Known for taking all the right steps in a Sydney autumn, he could not have picked a better place to achieve his goal than amid the sense-assaulting cacophony of his first Inglis Easter yearling sale. 

Haggas, who will saddle Dubai Honour - by Australian-based sire Pride Of Dubai - against Godolphin’s wonder from down under Anamoe on day two of The Championships, touched down in the morning, headed to Canterbury’s quarantine centre to see his horses, then made his way to Riverside. 

“It’s an impressive place,” he told ANZ Bloodstock News. “They look nice horses, the prices are okay, much as I would expect. I didn’t want to go to sleep until night-time, so I thought I’d come and see what it’s like.” 

Haggas, a regular at sales around the world, said his first Australian auction - strictly as an observer - evoked for him another antipodean location. 

“It reminds me a lot of the Cape Yearling Sale in South Africa - you get a table and you get fed,” he said, tucking into a salmon. 

Easter also reminded him of France’s Arqana sale, but most definitely not of Britain’s famed Tattersalls auctions. Not only do those unfold gently in an atmosphere more redolent of Sotheby’s than the Australian 'eight-hour race call' style, they go a lot slower, with some 20 lots moved per hour compared with roughly 30 in Sydney. 

“The quickest are the Americans, by a mile, although I haven’t seen much here yet,” he said. “Tatts are a bit unique. They take their time, much to the chagrin of some of the people who have to be there.” 

Asked how Tattersalls could up their ante in the speed stakes, he replied: “I wouldn’t get involved in that sort of discussion. 

“They say they’ve got to be fair to vendors and purchasers, which I understand, but I do feel that, especially at some of the sales where we have to work with our customers in the evening, it doesn’t help if the sales finish at half past nine.” 

Haggas has been something of a trailblazer in terms of visitors from Britain and Ireland, particularly with targeting the Sydney autumn more than the Melbourne spring. With A$5 million (£2.7m/€3.1m) on offer in the Queen Elizabeth, and considering the strength of Europeans over its ten-furlong trip, it makes a lot of sense. 

The Newmarket trainer brought his outstanding gelding Addeybb out for the race in 2020 and 2021, and twice returned victorious, relegating the best horse in Australia, Verry Elleegant, to second in two epic battles. 

Something similar looms this Saturday, when Dubai Honour takes on Anamoe, with the two sharing favouritism with local bookmakers on Monday night. 

Dubai Honour arrived in Sydney as a winner of two European Group 2s over roughly a mile and a quarter, and was also second at the top level in the 2021 Champion Stakes over the same trip. He advertised his credentials in Australia with a stunning four-and-a-half-length win over the distance in Rosehill’s Group 1 Ranvet Stakes last month. 

Ryan Moore and Dubai Honour win the Ranvet Stakes at RosehillCredit: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images

Haggas’ other visitor, Protagonist, landed with a surging win over a mile and a quarter in Rosehill’s Group 3 Sky High Stakes before finishing midfield in last Saturday’s Group 1 Doncaster Mile at Randwick on heavy ground. 

“We have had a bit of luck here,” said Haggas, when asked what the trick was. “The answer is probably identifying the right horses. Both Addeybb and Dubai Honour came out as pretty top horses in Europe. Not the very top, but they were multiple Group winners, and they’ve got to Group 1 level here. Addeybb did it here, then he went home and won the Champion Stakes at Ascot. 

“Plus, we do a lot of work at home before they come here. They’re pretty fit when they come, and then we use their time in quarantine basically for them to adjust after their journey.” 

Haggas may have offered a thinly veiled tip, or at least a huge vote of confidence, in Dubai Honour ahead of his clash with Anamoe, who steps back up in trip after winning the 71/2f George Ryder Stakes at Rosehill last month. 

Asked to compare four-year-old Dubai Honour with Addeybb, who won his Queen Elizabeth Stakes at six and seven, he said: “He’s not far off him. Addeybb was a warrior, and he was a bit older. Dubai Honour’s a bit younger, but he’s the right type to come here.” 

Subscribe  to make sure you never miss updates from Australia, New Zealand and beyond and to have ANZ Bloodstock delivered to your inbox every day