William Haggas targets more glory on French soil with resurgent Tiber Flow

William Haggas is targeting more French glory with Tiber Flow set to take his seven-furlong success in the Hungerford Stakes overseas to contest the Prix de la Foret.
William Haggas’ five-year-old has always been a consistent and likeable member of the sprinting ranks, winning the Carnarvon Stakes at three and landing Newcastle’s Chipchase Stakes in the summer of 2023.
However, his career looked in doubt when he took a crashing fall after clipping heels at York earlier this season, turning a summersault and firing jockey Tom Marquand into the ground in the process.

Remarkably, he escaped the Knavesmire incident unscathed and with a clean bill of health – and upped to seven furlongs since, he has done nothing but thrive, winning the John of Gaunt Stakes in his first outing at the distance before adding Newbury’s Group Two prize most recently.

With a preference for ease in the ground, ParisLongchamp on the first weekend in October appears the ideal spot for Tiber Flow to take the step up to the highest level, with his trainer hopeful Jon and Julia Aisbitt’s gelding will not let his followers down.

“He’s a lovely horse and what a game horse he is,” said Haggas, whose One Master won three successive runnings of the Foret.

“It just shows your luck, we’ve had a few photos go against us this year, but that one very much went our way, which is terrific.

“I think he will stick to seven furlongs now, I keep putting him in over six and he’s in the Champions Sprint and he might end up there. But I took him out of the Park Stakes at Doncaster and his next race will be the Prix de la Foret.

“He deserves a shot at a race like that and he loves a bit of dig in the ground, too. We were very concerned that ground (in the Hungerford) might be too fast for him, but thankfully it wasn’t.”

A day before Tiber Flow’s Hungerford triumph, Haggas unleashed the exciting Jewelry, who dazzled on debut in the Sheikh Isa silks carried to big-race glory by Economics in France only 24 hours previous.

Plans remain fluid for the daughter of Wootton Bassett, but the Somerville Lodge handler feels she could be a stakes filly in the making and may be tempted to test the waters at a higher level in Salisbury’s Dick Poole Fillies’ Stakes on September 5.

“She’s a nice filly, but I’m not overly sure where she goes next,” explained Haggas.

“Nothing surprises me with the two-year-olds, because we train them all the same and don’t ask them too many questions at home and just get them fit enough to run on the track. Sometimes they run appallingly, but just occasionally you get a filly like her who runs well and won very well.

“I hope she’s a stakes filly and she’s well bred, she’s got a chance. We haven’t really decided what to do next, she could either go for a novice or the Dick Poole at Salisbury.”