William Haggas waiting for rain for Dubai Honour

William Haggas will wait for rain before running his Champion Stakes runner-up Dubai Honour on home turf once again.

Thw four-year-old finished last term by staying on for fourth in the Hong Kong Cup, beaten just a length and a half.

However, despite his name cropping up amongst the entries for a whole host of contests so far this season - including the Coral-Eclipse - he hasn’t been sighted since finishing down the field in the Dubai Sheema Classic in the spring and his trainer puts that down to conditions not being ideal for his charge.

“If you follow him, you will see he needs it soft,” explained Haggas. “I ran him on firm ground in Dubai and it took him a while to get over it. He could go to the Sky Bet (York Stakes) with My Prospero and he’s in the King George. He’s got options, but we just need to be patient for the ground to be right.”

The lack of rain is hindering Haggas’ plans during the busy middle-segment of the season, but one of his string who does not mind the fast summer conditions is Sacred, who finished a commendable fifth in the Platinum Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot, a performance which was franked to some extent in the July Cup this weekend.

Sacred holds an entry in both the World Pool Lennox Stakes and the Qatar Sussex Stakes for Glorious Goodwood, but if she is to appear on the Sussex Downs it is likely to be over seven furlongs rather than the mile.

Stablemate Aldaary also features in the entries for both races and Haggas said: “One likes it soft, the other prefers firm, so hopefully we’ve got the races well covered. Sacred is likely to go for the Lennox Stakes or Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville.”