William Haggas‘s international star, Dubai Honour, added another Australian Group 1 victory to his record, winning the rescheduled 2025 Tancred Stakes at Rosehill on Tuesday.
International raider Dubai Honour winning the 2025 Tancred Stakes in Sydney. Photo: Bradley Photos.
This victory sets the stage for a potential clash with Via Sistina in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
The seven-year-old Pride Of Dubai gelding, trained in Britain, excelled on the Soft Rosehill track in the $1.5 million Group 1 Tancred Stakes (2400m), defeating Caulfield Cup champion Duke De Sessa.
This win marked a return to form for Dubai Honour, who had not won since the Group 1 GP De Saint Cloud in France last year.
“Anyone that knows me knows how special this horse is to me and the whole team. He is an absolute star and at seven years old he has proved again that he is at that top class level. I couldn’t be happier,” Haggas’ stable representative Isabella Paul told Sky Thoroughbred Central.
“He’s the most perfect horse to travel and he never misses a beat. We never have to worry about him, and he is the easiest horse in the world.
“We joke that he is like a labrador because he is just like my pet. I’m so proud of him, proud of Tom and the whole team.
“He was quite fresh coming into it. We didn’t do a lot in the last week with aiming to run Saturday, so I gave him a little blow on Saturday just to open him out again and hopefully take a bit of that freshness of, which I’m not sure I managed to do.
“He’s just so cool and such a talented animal that he makes it easy.”
Dubai Honour, unbeaten in Australia, previously won the 2023 Ranvet Stakes and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. His next target is the $5 million Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Randwick on April 12.
“I hope so. I’ll get him home and see how he is. He’ll have some fluids tonight and we’ll take care of him nicely. We’ll trot him up in the morning and see how he goes,” Paul said of a Queen Elizabeth Stakes bid.
Chris Waller‘s River Of Stars led the field on the turn, but Dubai Honour, ridden by Tom Marquand, surged to victory, defeating Duke De Sessa and Waterhouse/Bott import Vauban who ran third as the beaten favourite.
“He felt like the winner and as a jockey there’s horses that give you certain feelings and at the top of the straight, I went out rather than going back in,” Marquand said.
“I think he’d won either way, to be honest. Issy does a great job every year and WIlliam and Mohamed Obaida, to be brave enough to bring them back time and time again, I’ve got the easy job, I think.”
Paul believes Dubai Honour can handle the shorter distance of the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
“I don’t think so. A bit more rain next week would be great. I think this race, for me, it felt like his race this year and I was really keen that he came here and obviously he has proved himself over that mile-and-a-half trip,” she said.
“But I think stepping back down to 2000-metres, we haven’t got an option, but there is no reason to try after that performance.”
Dubai Honour is now a leading contender for the 2025 Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
“Via Sistina dominates the latest all-in Queen Elizabeth Stakes odds $1.60 through Ladbrokes while Dubai Honour has moved onto the second line of pre-field betting at $5,” a betting expert from Races.com.au noted.
2025 Tancred Stakes Results
| Finish | No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Bar. | Weight | Penalty | Starting Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | DUBAI HONOUR (IRE) | William Haggas | Tom Marquand | 3 | 59kg | $3.20 | |||
| 2 | 4 | DUKE DE SESSA (IRE) | Ciaron Maher | Harry Coffey | 0.87L | 1 | 59kg | $5.50 | ||
| 3 | 2 | VAUBAN (FR) | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | Tim Clark | 1.42L | 2 | 59kg | $3.10F | ||
| 4 | 3 | ARAPAHO (FR) | Bjorn Baker | Ms Rachel King | 1.84L | 4 | 59kg | $8 | ||
| 5 | 6 | CIRCLE OF FIRE (GB) | Ciaron Maher | Jason Collett | 3.54L | 8 | 59kg | $31 | ||
| 6 | 9 | ZECHARIAH (IRE) | Chris Waller | Kerrin McEvoy | 3.85L | 5 | 59kg | $61 | ||
| 7 | 14 | RIVER OF STARS (IRE) | Chris Waller | Nash Rawiller | 4.04L | 10 | 57kg | $19 | ||
| 8 | 7 | LAND LEGEND (FR) | Chris Waller | Damian Lane | 4.33L | 9 | 59kg | $61 | ||
| 9 | 5 | ZARIR (IRE) | Chris Waller | Tommy Berry | 8.68L | 6 | 59kg | $26 | ||
| 10 | 11 | WARMONGER (NZ) | Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr) | Chad Schofield | 8.98L | 7 | 58.5kg | $19 | ||
| 11 | 8 | ASTERIX (NZ) | Chris Waller | Joshua Parr | 18.03L | 11 | 59kg | $81 | ||
Table Credit: Racing Australia.
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