Paul Hanagan would never put it in quite these terms but it might be said that Adaay owed him a big run, having finished in midfield in a Group One at Royal Ascot when the jockey had picked him over the winner, Muhaarar. That cannot have been an enjoyable moment for the former champion but all’s well that ends well and Hanagan, since reunited with Muhaarar for two more top-class successes, had a happier time of it on Adaay when landing the Hungerford Stakes here on Saturday.
This was, in the words of Adaay’s connections “an experiment” as the three-year-old colt had been a sprinter up to now and his stamina for seven furlongs was completely untried, as was his ability to cope with soft going. Nor was this ordinary soft, the surface having dried out to a sticky, holding consistency that some runners seemed to loathe.
Adaay thrived on it, however, and flew home up the far rail to beat Coulsty half a length, with last year’s winner, Breton Rock, a game but one-paced third.
“Paul just switched him off at the back and he was just tooling along, doing very little, but he’s got that kick,” said Maureen Haggas, wife of the winning trainer, William.
“I was a bit worried, because he behaved so well. Usually, he’s wanting to jump on everything. He was really good, so hopefully he’s just growing up and he was very relaxed early on.”
No plans were offered for Adaay, though another attempt on a Group One is surely in the offing now that he has bagged the second Group Two of his career. Haydock’s Sprint Cup must be a possibility, although that would require a return to six furlongs and there was some loose talk here of trying him at a mile.
It was a big day for the Haggas yard, which also won a decent handicap at Newmarket with Mubtaghaa, also carrying the colours of Hamdan al Maktoum. It is an excellent time for their horses to be in peak form because the Ebor meeting that starts at York on Wednesday has become important for them.
“It’ll be a nerve-racking week,” Maureen said. “[William] comes from Yorkshire, he loves York, he likes having winners there. He seems to have got all the nice ones together and they’re all going there. I think we’ll have a quiet month after York because all the nice ones are out there.”
Those nice ones include Storm The Stars, favourite for the Great Voltigeur on Wednesday, and Muthmir, second favourite for Friday’s Nunthorpe Stakes. Besharah, Arabian Comet and Tasleet were other names given a mention in the winner’s enclosure here.
Agent Murphy was a wide-margin winner of the Geoffrey Freer, where the favourite, Romsdal, was the most prominent of the day’s flops, trailing home 49 lengths behind the second-last horse. His rider, James Doyle, said the horse finished sound and had just “run flat”. Now four, Romsdal remains winless on turf.
Agent Murphy was apparently a sick horse on his return from racing in France at the end of May, which partly explains his subsequent absence. His trainer, Brian Meehan, said the horse would go for next month’s Irish St Leger.
Among the winners elsewhere, it was notable that Sammy Jo Bell, who made such a name for herself at last week’s Shergar Cup, rode another Saturday double, albeit on a lower profile card at Doncaster.
In France, New Bay was a straightforward winner of the Prix Guillaume d’Ornano on his first outing since landing the French Derby at the end of May. He remains a 10-1 shot for the Arc in October, with connections suggesting he could have a prep in next month’s Prix Niel.
“Today’s race was good experience for him, remembering that he had two quite hard races in the spring and early summer,” said Teddy Grimthorpe, speaking for New Bay’s owner, Khalid Abdullah. “I think he will carry on improving and will handle ground with soft in it at Longchamp. But if they had a deluge before the Arc, it would be in the lap of the gods whether he got the trip.”
