Haggas rules out Derby bid for Economics

William Haggas has confirmed his runaway Dante Stakes winner Economics will not run in the Betfred Derby at Epsom on Saturday week.

Initially entered for the premier Classic, the Night Of Thunder colt was withdrawn prior to last week’s six-length victory at York, with Haggas saying: “The whole point of taking him out was I didn’t think it was the right track and the right race for him at this stage of his career.”

Having won one of the key Derby trials so impressively, there were inevitably calls for connections to supplement Economics at a cost of £75,000 – but after discussions with owner Sheikh Isa Salman Al Khalifa, Haggas has announced he will not be added to the field on Monday.

He told Nick Luck’s Daily Podcast: “We want to give him more time, he’s a big lovely, scopey horse.

“It’s a shame these races come up so quickly and he just needs some more time, that’s my view.

“He’s Sheikh Isa’s horse, but he’s very respectful of his trainers and he felt with Jake (Warren, racing manager) that we made a team decision. We discussed this at length before the Dante and my view never changed, but obviously it’s a huge race and with fancied horses falling by the wayside the temptation became greater.

“The Derby is the Derby and while we might go over a mile and a half later in the year, at the moment we feel that a mile and a quarter is good for him. He’s got plenty of speed, he’s by Night Of Thunder.

“It’s my job to look after the horse to the best of my ability and if that’s not good enough so be it.”

With next weekend’s Prix du Jockey Club also ruled out, future plans for Economics remain fluid.

Haggas added: “We’ll know at the end of the season how well the Dante works out, but I don’t know where we will see him next. I just want to let him mature, he’s an enormous horse and can do so much more physically, that’s what is exciting me.

“It’s hard enough to get a nice horse, it’s another thing to ruin one.

“We think and hope the fact he bled at York was because he banged his head on the stall. We’ve scoped him since and it was fine.”