"He's got great potential" - Economics aiming for Champion Stakes double

On the back of a maiden win at Newbury, Economics thrust his name into the headlines with a power-packed victory in the Dante Stakes at York. William Haggas' colt bled after that emphatic win, forcing his trainer to bypass the Epsom Derby and wait for bigger targets during the second half of the season.

On his first start since winning the Dante, Economics blitzed the competition on his French debut at Deauville, winning the Prix Guillaume d'Ornano by an easy two lengths. Haggas identified the Irish Champion Stakes as the target after that Group Two triumph and has since told the press that Ascot will be the plan after his Group One debut at Leopardstown. 

"He gets a lot of attention for a horse who has never won a Group 1!" Haggas said. "He's got great potential. He looked good the other day in France and hopefully he can translate that to Ireland," Haggas said. 

"The plan is to go from the Irish Champion to Ascot for the Champion Stakes, and he could face a lot of the same horses."

Economics is currently the 6/4 favourite to win the 2024 Irish Champion Stakes, ahead of defending champion Auguste Rodin. Victory in Ireland would set Haggas' star up for a tilt at the Champion Stakes, where he could meet French star Calandagan, but Haggas isn't worried about those upcoming engagements and is already looking forward to Economics' four-year-old campaign.

"You'd like them to win every time, but they can always get beaten and Aidan (O'Brien) doesn't bat an eyelid when they get beat. He just runs them again, and they absolutely learn so much from the whole experience."

"The plan is to stay in training next year so I think it'll be two more races this year and then dream about him over the winter. He's bred to get a mile and a half on the dam's side, lots in his pedigree says he'd stay and the races almost pick themselves."