Unibet Lincoln report: Haqeeqy impresses
Haqeeqy (9/2) ran out a brilliant and poignant winner of the Unibet Lincoln at Doncaster.
Carrying the colours of Hissa Hamdan Al Maktoum, daughter of the leading owner-breeder Sheikh Hamdan, who passed away earlier in the week, the John and Thady Gosden-trained winner had a wall of horses in front of him two furlongs out.
However rising star Benoit De La Sayette, the first apprentice for the Clarehaven team in nearly 30 years, never looked like panicking.
He merely switched to the centre of the track and the winner showed a very smart turn of foot to sweep clear and win by a length-and-a-half in the style of a horse destined for pattern races.
Brunch (12/1) ran a big race for Weekend View followers in second with Hortzadar (66/1) and Danyah (7/1) filling the minor placings.
“It’s unbelievable and to have the support of these connections is a real thrill – I can’t thank everyone enough for legging me up,” the rider said.
“I wanted to follow the (William) Haggas horse (Johan), but he didn’t run so it was a blank canvas. He jumped beautifully, I got behind someone as I just wanted to get him switched off.
“Luckily enough a gap opened at the end which I wasn’t expecting, as I thought I was going to be trapped, but the turn of foot he showed was thrilling. To have a feeling like that, you can’t get better.
“I walked the track, like everyone, and we all knew where the best ground was, it was such a tight bunch so I was lucky enough to get a gap.”
The Gosdens also had winners at Kempton and in Dubai, meaning their new partnership has got off to a flying start.
“They let me know I had the ride on Monday and my face lit up when he told me,” said De La Sayette.
“I’m not really thinking about the champion apprentice title. I’m just thinking about my next ride, I just want to carry on riding winners and riding for wonderful trainers. I just want to do the best I can and prove what I can do, that’s pretty much it.
“What the boss has taught me is the cooler you are the better they will run, if you get a bit revvy that is when you can make mistakes. I just wanted to keep cool and get him switched off.
“To even be on the racecard, for it to be my first turf race it was all a bit ‘wow’, and a big boost to my confidence. To ride my first race on turf in such a big race, and then to win, it’s amazing really.
“My father was a champion amateur rider in France for a couple of years and I always wanted to follow in his footsteps.
“I grew up on a horse, he came over to ride for Godolphin and I did the Pony Club circuit and then went pony racing at the age of nine.
“I can’t thank my parents enough, driving me around everywhere, they are the main reason I’m in the position I’m in. I went to Mr Gosden’s on work experience at 15 and I’ve been there ever since.”
He added: “I’m 18. It’s a dream start, to win the Lincoln, my first ride on turf, it’s a fairytale. I’ll probably wake up tomorrow thinking it was a dream.
“The Gosdens are so supportive, any slight mistake I make he’ll run me through it. I couldn’t ask for a better boss.”
Dods proud of runner-up
Michael Dods was proud of the effort of Brunch in second and said: “He did everything right, if anything he might have got there a bit too soon, but the winner went past him in a matter of strides when he opened up.
“We were giving him 7lb when you take the jockey’s claim into account. We’ve no excuses, we’ve been beaten by a very good horse, I’m delighted with ours.
“We’ve lost little in defeat, we’ve been beaten by a Group horse. To win the Lincoln you’ve got to be a Group horse, look at Addeybb. You need to be just on the verge of going into Group races to win.”