Dubai Honour was narrowly denied back-to-back victories in the Tancred Stakes at Rosehill by Chris Waller’s classy filly Aeliana.
William Haggas’ globetrotter was aiming for an incredible fourth Group One win in Australia, which would have taken him clear of another Haggas inmate who performed wonders on the other side of the world in Addeybb.
Tom Marquand set out to make all the running on the eight-year-old from his wide draw and kicked for home a long way out, a decision which looked a race-winning manoeuvre.
James McDonald and Aeliana began to eat into the deficit, though, and as Dubai Honour wandered under pressure, she stayed straight and true to add another big race to the Ranvet Stakes she had won just seven days earlier.
Marquand told www.racing.com: “We thought we’d try something different today. We kind of knew what would happen if we just sat and did what we normally do. We tried it. It nearly worked.
“She ran him down and probably had no right to really.”
Waller was full of praise for Haggas’ enterprise and said: “He shows us what training is all about when he comes down here. We knew we had to be on top of our game.”
“She’s had two solid runs and we’ll see how the Queen Elizabeth fits in,” he added on the winner. “She’ll be here for another two years so that’s a lot of races to still look forward to.”
