Economics (7/4f) delivered a performance of supreme courage, coming out on top against defending champion Auguste Rodin in a pulsating finish to become the first English-trained winner of the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes since Roaring Lion in 2018.
Tom Marquand was bagging a Group 1 double, having steered Porta Fortuna to victory in the preceding Coolmore America Justify Matron Stakes but he had to work much harder to earn his corn this time around.
The jockey admitted that he was down to Plan C or D by the time they kicked for home but in answering his every call in a rip-roaring contest, Economics was delivering on the promise he had shown when winning the Dante Stakes at York in May.
Trainer William Haggas eschewed the tried and tested route from there to the Derby and indeed the Night Of Thunder colt did not reappear until winning the Group 2 Guillaume D’Ornano Stakes at Deauville last month.
This was the day when we were to find out if Economics was the real deal and he provided the answer in no uncertain terms with the grittiness of this neck victory that earned connections €725,000.
Auguste Rodin had secured the Derby double last year and added the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot to his record this year.
His jockey, Ryan Moore tracked Marquand all the way. It looked the right call as he moved past the winner at the furlong marker but despite the yawning experience gap – this was just a fifth career run for Economics while Auguste Rodin was making a 15th appearance – it was the callow youth that had to wherewithal to inch himself marginally ahead from a brave runner-up.
Shin Emperor ran a huge race for Japanese trainer Yoshito Yahagi and jockey Ryusei Sakai to be third, three-quarters of a length further back, having had to bide his time for a run.
But this was about Economics.
“He’s not only a very good racehorse, he’s a proper warrior,” said Marquand. “He’s very talented. Super.
“I had moments where I was worried but he always felt like he was there for it. Auguste Rodin obviously showed up every bit as good and he was exceptional.
“I am thrilled and for Sheikh Isa (Salman Al Khalifa) and William, it’s huge. It think it’s one we can all walk away from pretty satisfied. Those big calls made early in the season were probably tough to do but justified now. He’s not just a very good horse but an absolute warrior as well.
“I changed my plan a few times. I thought I’d a nice position but then ended up in a tempo that for whatever reason, I didn’t feel happy there. So I went a bit further but he possesses that real nice trait of being able to lie up and drop back down.
“It’s so hard taking on horses that know what’s happening and that course knowledge is big as well. He was exceptional.”
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