Marquand A Passenger On Sprint Cup Hero Almeraq
Bouncing back from a forgettable effort in the July Cup, Shadwell’s Almeraq turned Haydock’s G1 Betfair Sprint Cup into a procession with soft ground to suit on Saturday.
Always travelling with supreme ease as Tom Marquand had the anchor down throughout the early stages, the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes hero cut through the pack with minimal urging and brushed aside Paborus approaching the furlong pole. From there, it was only a case of how far as the 9-4 favourite opened up and at the death it was 4 1/4 lengths without telling the whole story, with Paborus in turn 4 3/4 lengths ahead of last year’s winner Big Mojo in third.
“That was pretty impressive stuff,” Marquand said of the William Haggas-trained four-year-old, whose fall at York last year ended the career of Jim Crowley. “The ground let him down at Newmarket and he’s a hugely exciting horse. The plan was to ride him conservatively and I actually shut him down for another half furlong when I got to Danny [Tudhope on Paborus], because he just stepped up so easily. On the faster ground, he just takes that little bit of time to get going, whereas on the slow ground he’s straight up into it.”
The trainer was looking on at Ascot. “He looked very good,” he said. “I thought it the ground would make a big difference and he clearly looked to enjoy it. He travelled easily and he’s a good horse. Now he’s got his conditions and its onwards to Ascot.”
This represented a third win in the feature for the operation after Dayjur and Minzaal and the lightly-raced homebred belongs in that bracket after this season’s exploits. Maureen Haggas was left to marvel at the winner’s recovery from that well-documented tumble which cut short his three-year-old campaign and ultimately brought a premature close to the career of the owner-breeders’ number one rider. “It’s extraordinary really–it was a horrific fall at York last year and it took him a long time to get over it.”
“It takes a massive team effort to get these horses to win races like this and while obviously they have to have the talent to be able to do it, they need everyone’s help along the way to get here. We’re really grateful to everybody for doing their bit. It’s great for Shadwell as well too.”
“Today was pretty unbelievable,” she added. “He does like the ground and he’s got big old feet on him. I thought what he did at Royal Ascot was pretty phenomenal on ground he doesn’t really enjoy. In the July Cup, fast ground and going downhill was never really going to be his bag but when you’ve won at Ascot where do you go?”
Pedigree Notes:
Almeraq is the first foal out the unraced Manaajim (Muhaarar), a half-sister to the Cheveley Park Stakes, Flying Five and Lowther Stakes winner Fairyland (Kodiac) and the dual Group winner and Irish 1,000 Guineas third Now Or Never (Bushranger). From the family of Diktat’s multiple Group 1-winning dual champion and sire Dream Ahead, her three-year-old filly Albaydaa (Pinatubo) is a useful handicapper for this stable while she also has the unraced two-year-old colt El Asjadi (Night Of Thunder), a yearling filly by Blue Point and a filly foal by Dubawi.
