Haggas has another Arc chance eight years on

By Liz Price

Everyone, except perhaps André Fabre who has enjoyed an unprecedented and probably-never-to-be-repeated love affair with the race, will tell you that the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is incredibly hard to win. So everyone can imagine the frustration William Haggas must have felt when Sea Of Class, only his fourth runner in the race, was beaten by just a short neck by Enable in 2018.

“I think it shows what this game is all about,” remembered Haggas, who will saddle current second-favourite MALTESE CROSS in this year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

“We had an unfortunate run. She was drawn in 18, and the favourite Enable was in six. We took a view, as the ground was very chewed up on the outside, to ride her cold - in other words to drop her out and to get her on a fresh strip of ground and ride for luck.

“I think she just had to change course at a bad time, but she finished very fast, and I have no doubt that if they had gone another hundred yards, she would have won. We were delighted with the way she ran, but obviously hugely disappointed that she didn’t win.

“Christopher Tsui, Mrs Tsui’s son, was there and I could have kissed him, which sounds a bit strange as that is not my scene really, but a pressman jumped on him and said, ‘oh, you were terribly unlucky, you must be absolutely devasted.’ And then Christopher said, ‘I have never been so disappointed to win a million pounds’ - I thought that was a terrific reply.

Then we had a runner in the next race and she was a 50/1 shot, ridden by a chap called Pierre-Charles Boudot, who I had never met. So he walked into the paddock and I said, ‘Parlez-vous anglais?’ And he went ‘un peu’. And so I said ‘win!’ And he said ‘je comprends’. And then he went out and won!

“That changed the emotion of getting beaten in what is probably the best race in the world - with One Master running her heart out and winning the Prix de la Forêt, which was fantastic. So I remember it vividly.”

Sea Of Class had already won the Irish Oaks and Yorkshire Oaks before heading to the start for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Given her outstanding form, together with the significant weight allowance enjoyed by three-year-old fillies in the race, it is hardly surprising that her trainer arrived in Paris with more than just hope.

“Sea Of Class was a brilliant filly, and she was probably the best chance that we’ve ever had in the Arc. I don’t think that Maltese Cross has the same turn of speed she had.”

This is probably the only negative you will hear Haggas say about the George Waud-owned colt, who like Sea Of Class and, incidentally, last year’s winner - and this year’s favourite - Daryz is by 2009 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Sea The Stars. A sire who, in the eyes of the Newmarket-based trainer, ranks as “the best horse I have seen”.

“I don’t say that lightly,” assured Haggas, who saddled his first Arc runner in 1996 when sending Derby winner Shaamit over to Paris, where he eventually finished seventh behind Helissio.

“Sea The Stars won every race that every trainer would like to win in their career. The Derby, the Juddmonte, the Irish Champion Stakes, the Arc - you name it, he won it. He was an outstanding horse, and he had one trait that Maltese Cross also has, which is that he doesn’t win by very far - Sea The Stars never won by far.”

True, only a head separated Maltese Cross from the runner-up on his second start at Newmarket, which was also his first victory as a two-year-old, while he also won the Grand Prix de Paris - his first success at the highest level earlier this year - by just a head. However, he subsequently put two lengths between himself and the Aidan O’Brien-trained Pierre Bonnard in the Group 2 Great Voltigeur Stakes at York, but it seems that it was his performance in the Grand Prix de Paris that tipped the balance towards the Arc rather than a tilt at the St Leger.

“He is a well-bred three-year-old who has improved a lot since his first outing this year at Newbury in April,” Haggas continued. "The first time he showed me any speed was in the Grand Prix de Paris, where I thought he did well to get out of a tricky spot.

"And then in the Voltigeur, he came there very comfortably with two and a half to run, and he was just quicker than them. I guess in my own mind, I always thought that the Arc was the right race.”

Maltese Cross, whose only defeat this season came in the Derby - where he finished second to Christmas Day - has captivated punters on both sides of the Channel, particularly as his trainer is finding it difficult to identify any real chink in his armour.

“What I like about him is that every single race he’s had this year, he’s been better than the previous one. I think York was probably a better performance, certainly on the handicap system of giving five pounds to the narrow third in the Irish Derby. I think that was a step up on his Grand Prix de Paris form.”

The Ebor meeting took place in mid-August, and true to form Maltese Cross, who will once again be partnered by Tom Marquand on Sunday, has improved once again, according to his trainer.

“Yes, I think he’s improved physically. He’s not a great, flashy worker at home, so he is difficult to gauge. But his work has been fine. We took him to the racecourse about 10 days ago and he worked well within himself. He’s a pretty easy horse to get fit and he takes no work, but he does get fresh.

“So there is a fine balance for us to give him enough work so that he is not silly and not too much work, so we knock him over so that he is sober in his actions. I mean he is sober in everything he does, so that he’s not tired because we have over-trained him. So that is the balance that we try to find, and hopefully we have got it right.”

Haggas has an excellent record of producing his stable stars at their peak for the big occasions, and Maltese Cross will be no exception. This year’s Arc, however, carries an added emotional dimension for him and wife Maureen, as Maltese Cross was bought for owner George Waud by their son Sam, who works as a bloodstock agent.

“Obviously, it’s great for Maureen and I that Sam is so involved,” concluded Haggas. “He was the man who found George, or George found him, one or the other, but it certainly had nothing to do with us.

“Sam bought some horses - some went to George Boughey and some came to us, and we got lucky to get Maltese Cross. We loved him as a yearling, and we were thrilled to bits that George bought him. He’s always been a good mover and a nice horse. And he has improved a lot.

“But, you know, everyone wants to win the Arc, so we hope that we can give it a good shot. And already to be in there with a chance is fantastic for us. In fact, anyone who has a runner in the Arc will be thrilled to be participating. Someone will win, and I just hope it’s us.”

So will the rest of his connections, as well as the many punters who believe that Maltese Cross can finally give William Haggas the chance to put that narrow defeat of Sea Of Class behind him some eight years later.