HAGGAS THRILLED WITH AQLAAM
Haggas thrilled as Aqlaam lands gamble
Article taken from the Racing Post
By Tony Elves
His handicap mark may have been ruined, but William Haggas can set his sights on better things for Aqlaam after the OASIS DREAM colt had no trouble making the leap to Group class in the Jersey Stakes.
One of only two in the 16 runner field with just two runs under his belt, the Hamdan Al Maktoum owned colt had been given a mark of 93 for an impressive maiden success at Newbury a month earlier, but there was plenty of confidence in the market that he was considerably superior to his rating as he came thundering down in price to 13-2 from an early morning best of 11-1.
Richard Hills sat patiently just off the early pace until asking his mount to quicken past his owner’s other contender, Tawaash, over two furlongs from home and, although edging left through greenness over a furlong out and also inside the final furlong, he was in command as he strode away for a two length success from Il Warrd.
Haggas said: ‘That was fantastic and I’m thrilled to bits. We always thought that he was a nice horse, and he has beaten a smart horse in the second, and the third (Dream Eater) finished fifth in the 2,000 Guineas.
‘Unfortunately, when he ran here last year he suffered a hairline fracture and was lame when he came back to the stables. We had to keep him in his box for three months and needed a long time to recuperate.’
Haagas added: ‘ I don’t know where we go next – today was the plan, and we were never tempted to run him in the St James Palace Stakes. I didn’t put him in the Sussex Stakes because I thought that, given his past problems, going uphill at Goodwood would not be suitable for him.’
Hills said: ‘We were confident after he had won the maiden race at Newbury that he had improved tremendously in the last six weeks and his last two pieces of work were fantastic. Ascot is a big, wide place and he just looked around a bit. We hit the front a bit sooner than I would have liked, but you have to remember that this was only his third run.’
Date:
19 June 2008