William Haggas has ruled out a tilt at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe with Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes hero Economics, who looks set to instead round off his season in the Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot.
So impressive when winning the Dante Stakes at York in May, Economics sidestepped the Derby at Epsom, with Haggas preferring to play the long game with a horse viewed as a work in progress.
After returning from three months off the track with a Group Two victory in France, the Night Of Thunder colt stepped up to the highest level for the first time at Leopardstown on Saturday and showed plenty of tenacity to go with his undoubted talent to see off Auguste Rodin in a thrilling finish.
“We’ve had a bit of practice at making mistakes and we’ll never know if it was the right decision or not (to miss Epsom). He may well have won the Derby, but we felt it was the right thing to do to wait and thank God he won his Group One yesterday and sort of paid for the owner’s (Sheikh Isa, who sponsored the race) patience,” Haggas said on Racing TV’s Luck on Sunday programme.
“Tom (Marquand) was keen not to get too far back and subsequently he travelled a bit wide. He came in and said it was really messy and not how he wanted to do it all, but he still won.”
Haggas is confident Economics will stay further, but that avenue looks more likely to be explored next season than this, with the trainer keen to give his charge time to get over the toughest test of his short career to date.
He had a hard race yesterday and gave plenty, so he'll need all of that time until the English Champion
He added: “For me, he wants slightly slower ground and he looks like he’s going to be at least as good at a mile and a half. I think he’ll stay well, but he’s not doing a bad job at a mile and a quarter at the moment.
“It’s pretty straightforward – we have a nice five weeks (until the Champion Stakes). He had a hard race yesterday and gave plenty, so he’ll need all of that time until the English Champion.
“It (Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe) was discussed yesterday and we toyed with it, but I think he had a tough race and going up to a mile and a half and another trip abroad, I don’t think that’s for him really.
“If he’s that good he can do the Arc next year with all that weight – plenty of four-year-olds have won that race.”