After Merchant landed the King George V Stakes, his trainer William Haggas revealed the horse nearly missed the race after coughing and slipping in the saddling box
A Royal Ascot winner survived a late injury scare that was ‘kept secret’ from connections and punters. Merchant, trained by William Haggas for posh syndicate Highclere Thoroughbred Racing, was strongly fancied for the King George V Stakes.
The three-year-old had won two of his five starts in the style of a progressive colt and added a third success to his record with victory in front of the packed Ladies’ Day enclosures, going off the 3-1 favourite. But the success was only half the story with Haggas confessing afterwards that Merchant had nearly been taken out of the race, but he had not told anyone about it.
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Victory, under Tom Marquand, was achieved in relatively straightforward fashion but the Newmarket trainer, speaking to ITV Racing interviewer Matt Chapman, sought to explain that behind the scenes it had not all been plain sailing.
He said: “A lot of people don’t understand what trainers go through. Yesterday the horse coughed ten times at exercise, never coughed at all, then the seeds of doubt come in, the sleepless nights, ‘Are we doing the right thing? Do I tell Harry? No, no. Yes, we’re doing the right thing. The horse is fine.’
“Going into the saddling boxes he slipped just as he was going in. He then held his leg, the left hind all through saddling. So then we went out and trotted him up twice. He seemed all right. I said to Tom, ‘If you’re not happy with him at the start, take him out’.
“I couldn’t tell anyone. We’ve got 50 people here, but it’s not all plain sailing. So when they win it’s absolutely fantastic and I’m thrilled to bits.”
Chapman suggested that many punters “will be shouting at the screen to say we should have known that” on hearing Haggas’s admission.
The trainer replied, “No, no, no. That’s complicated. No one knows why he coughed, but he did. When they don’t and they suddenly do, it’s a bit of a nerve-wracking situation.
“I’ve been doing this quite a long time. You take a decision, you stick by it and it’s paid off. We can now relax and drink another glass of sparkling water.”
He added: “I don’t know whether the punters trust us but I think the Highclere shareholders and Harry Herbert and his management team trust us. We will make a decision for the horse’s benefit.”
