Media onslaught as cameras chase superstar Baaeed

Ahead of Wednesday’s Juddmonte International at York, trainer William Haggas and his star performer, Baaeed, are getting the sort of Hollywood treatment usually reserved for movie stars.

Baaeed — unbeaten in his eight races — is rated by many pundits as the best horse on the planet.

“He’s had a lot of publicity recently. He’s had lots of cameras at the stable and takes it in his stride, much better than his trainer,” said Haggas. “He’s got a good temperament. Most of the good ones are a bit tricky. He’s just a nice person to have around,” he added.

“The Juddmonte feels right to me. You’d think he could just sit and wait and let it all unfold and then if his turn of foot is there...

“I think Jim Crowley has a lot of confidence in the horse and his ability to quicken. It’s really exciting. It’s strange to talk about it because he just does it and he’s done it every single time.

“There are a few detractors who feel that stamina may catch out Baaeed and allow Mishriff the chance to win this £1m race for the second year running.

“I think Baaeed will stay it, no problem,” said Haggas. “Whether he’s better than last time, I don’t know.

“We planned to go to the Juddmonte very early on. For a four-year-old miler of his quality, the programme is very straightforward. It’s the Lockinge followed by the Queen Anne and then the Sussex Stakes.

“It looks as if Baaeed will be opposed by seven rivals in Wednesday’s mile and a quarter [2,000m] race. His chief opponent according to the betting is the John Gosden inmate Mishriff, but Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien may run both High Definition and Point Lonsadle.”

Charlie Appleby, who is enjoying another good season, may be represented by Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Native Trail, who finished third behind Mishriff in the Coral-Eclipse Stakes in June.

Richard Hills, racing manager for Baaeed’s owners Shadwell, has no doubts that Haggas’s star will come up trumps.

“We’re respectful of everybody at York. We’re stepping up in distance, but he’s in good form and this is the next stage of his career.

“A thing in his favour is that he has a super temperament. Walking back along Bury Road [in Newmarket] with all those lorries and traffic, he just doesn’t turn a hair. That’s what makes great horses, they have the ability and the mind to go with it.”

Dry weather is affecting many racetracks in the UK and this has resulted in falling fields around the country. The average field size for the first 11 days of August was 786 compared to 875 in 2019.