Brian Meehan may have suffered defeat in Thursday’s Prix Guillaume d’Ornano but he heaped praise on to the winner after the impressive Economics cruised to Group 2 success at Deauville.
The William Haggas-trained colt was making his first start since sweeping clear to win the Dante at York in May and proved his star potential with another smooth victory under Tom Marquand. And there could be even more to come from the striking chestnut this season, with Haggas and Marquand both optimistic there is still improvement ahead.
Meehan saddled Hampton Court winner Jayarebe in an attempt to deny the hot favourite but was only able to finish a two-length second after the three-year-old was caught in the final furlong of the 1m2f contest under Sean Levey.
“I think William’s horse is truly special,” said Meehan. “I’d say there’s so much more to come from Economics and I was really pleased with my horse too.”
Jayarebe performed admirably in Group 2 company for the first time, but Meehan is yet to decide what to do with Iraj Parvizi’s colt, who recorded a personal-best Racing Post Rating of 115 in defeat.
Meehan said: “He’s at home and he’s fine. I thought it was a career-best performance. I’m not quite sure what I want to do with him just yet so I’ll get this weekend out of the way and then regroup.”
Almaqam: third in the Prix Guillaume d’Ornano behind EconomicsCredit: Alan Crowhurst
Economics, whose third consecutive success netted him a higher RPR in the race than subsequent Arc winner Ace Impact achieved 12 months previously, set such a lofty standard that Ed Walker was happy to settle for third with his Almaqam.
The son of Lope De Vega, who won the Listed Heron Stakes at Sandown in the spring, finished eight lengths behind Economics on his first start over ten furlongs, and Walker now hopes to find softer conditions for his next start.
“I’m surprisingly happy for being beaten,” Walker said. “Of course we came with very high hopes, but it was an unbelievably strong running of the race.
“I was a bit worried about the going – he could do with a bit of cut in the ground as it was very soft when he won the Heron – so I think we’ll just hunt around for less quick ground. He stayed the mile and a quarter well and has a bright future.”
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