Progressive four-year-old Sam Hawkens (4/1F) is set for a trip to Australia after completing a quick-fire double for William Haggas in the Coral Summer Handicap over 14 furlongs.
Having raced handily under Tom Marquand, the son of Galileo challenged between rivals at the furlong marker and stayed on best to win by a half-length. Dancing In Paris (6/1) was second, with Aeronautic (11/2) a neck further back in third.
An addition to the Haggas yard last summer from Richard Hannon, Sam Hawkens was following up handicap victories at Newcastle and Hamilton.
Haggas, who owns the winner with his wife Maureen, said: “My mother owned Silver Buck. He was a wonderful horse and she left the colours to me when she passed away.
“Our son Sam wanted us to buy Sam Hawkens in an online sale last year and I thought he’d made a mistake – we bought him and I didn’t really like him, so I never sold him.
“Since we gelded him in the winter, he has taken a bit of time. He has a lovely girl, Michaela Weld, who rides him every day and absolutely adores him, and the horse has really thrived.
“He is obviously in good form and on good terms with himself. He went to Newcastle and won, he went to Hamilton and won, and he’s come to a big race today and won, so it’s great.
“I have something in mind, yes, I think it’s at Rosehill. We have booked a place in quarantine on September 5, and the race is on October 18, so I think we’ll go now. He will probably race for us, but he might not be owned by me!”
Marquand: “Sam Hawkens is a lovely little horse and one that I was looking forward to riding. To be honest, I always felt confident. They went very slow early and we were nicely positioned – because he has a good mind, you can park him up there handy and get him to switch off.
“I was confident that he wasn’t as slow as he has made himself look a couple of times. When I had Colin [Keane] in front of me, and I knew the Ian Williams horse was going to be behind me, I was just trying to get a tow down as far as I could off Colin before hitting the front, because he doesn’t do an awful lot once he gets there. With 8st 10lb on his back, it probably made life a lot easier to get it right.”
Ian Williams said of Dancing In Paris: “He was a little bit keen early and didn’t give Saffie [Osborne] the easiest of rides. He got himself into trouble at Newmarket last time pulling so hard. It is a big shout, but he looks the ideal type for the Ebor if we can get him in off a racing weight. That is the target if it is possible.’’
Aeronautic’s rider Colin Keane said: “For the first half of the race, he probably did things a little bit wrong. I thought I had him relaxed when we jumped out but, when he changed his leads, he went again. To do a lot of things wrong and still run as well as he did was a massive effort.’’