Haggas pair in top form for latest Australian assignments

Tom Marquand to again partner Addeybb and Young Rascal.

Addeybb and Young Rascal are reported to be in top form ahead of their respective Group One assignments at Randwick on Saturday.

The William Haggas-trained pair struck gold on their Australian debuts last month, with Addeybb landing a first top-level success in the Ranvet Stakes while Young Rascal prevailed in the Group Three Iron Jack N E Manion Cup.

Tom Marquand rode both to victory and he will be in the plate again, as Addeybb goes for gold in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Young Rascal targets the Schweppes Sydney Cup.

Both horses enjoyed a spin at Canterbury Park on Tuesday, with Haggas’ assistant trainer Harry Eustace supervising preparations in Australia.

He told www.australianturfclub.com.au: “I’m delighted with how they are and looking forward to Saturday.

“The horses have settled in really well and as a training surface and track, there’s no better I’ve ridden on around the world.

“It’s no easy feat travelling around the world for an extended period of time – you’ve got to bring the right horses and target the right races and the boss has done a phenomenal job.”

Young Rascal, seen here winning at Newbury in 2018
Young Rascal, seen here winning at Newbury in 2018 (Julian Herbert/PA)

Both Addeybb and Young Rascal have shown their best form with some cut, so Eustace is hoping for similar conditions at Randwick, with Australian going ranked on a scale from one to 10, with one being firm and 10 being heavy.

He added: “It’s very fresh ground, they’ve only raced on it once and I’m sure they’ll open up a fresh strip on raceday, so I’d say it will race very fair.

“It looked very fair last weekend, even though it was soft, horses came from all parts of the track and favourites won, so that tells you all you need to know.

“Looking at the racing last weekend and the weather forecast, it should hopefully come in a six, so that would be nice.”

Australia is one of a handful of countries continuing to race through the coronavirus pandemic and Eustace is aware of the extra attention on them.

He added: “There’s not much racing, so there’s been a lot of people watching us and hopefully we can give them something to cheer about on Saturday.”

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