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The William Haggas-trained Hamish stamped his class to become the first dual winner of the Ormonde Stakes in twenty years with a convincing victory on the Roodee...
The William Haggas-trained Hamish stamped his class to become the first dual winner of the Ormonde Stakes in twenty years with a convincing victory on the Roodee.
The seven-year-old hadn't been seen since finishing a head behind the reopposing Max Vega in the Group 3 St Simon Stakes at Newbury last October. However, there were to be no fitness concerns for the 2022 Group 1 Irish St. Leger runner-up as he showed a smart turn of foot for decisive success.
Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore set out to dominate proceedings once more as the well-backed 11/10 favourite Changingoftheguard led the field. Changingoftheguard never looked to be travelling though, and all eyes were drawn to Tom Marquand and Hamish as the pair began to saithe their way through the pack.
The result looked inevitable as Hamish swung for home and he quickened up much the best to score by one-and-a-quarter-lengths from Lone Eagle. Changingoftheguard plugged on to finish a further two-and-a-half-lengths back in third.
Speaking with Sky Sports Racing Tom Marquand said: "He's a proper yard favourite and a really special horse. He feels absolutely great and possibly even better than ever. They've done a great job with him at home.
"It's horses like this that really showcase how much work goes in at home. Hopefully, the ground stays this way for him. I probably ended up one further back than I ideally envisaged but he has a turn of foot on this sort of ground and when I got a split, I thought it was probably game over."
William Haggas' wife Maureen spoke with ITV Racing afterwards and said: "I've ridden him since he was three. He's quite special. He's also quite naughty. He's a bit of a character and a bit like a cat. He's very independent but he just about tolerates me. I love him. He's great".
Hamish was subsequently cut from 5/1 from 4/1 for the Yorkshire Cup on the back of that performance.