Can Dubai Honour upset Aeliana in Tancred Stakes?
European raider Dubai Honour poses the biggest threat to local mare Aeliana’s dominance in Saturday’s Group 1 Tancred Stakes (2400m) at Rosehill in Sydney, Australia.
The globetrotting Dubai Honour is back in Australia to defend his Tancred Stakes title, a race he won last year following his second place in the 2024 Group 1 Hong Kong Vase (2400m) at Sha Tin.
The William Haggas-trained eight-year-old, who has also campaigned in Great Britain, France, Dubai and Germany, has an extraordinary record in Australia having won the only two Group 1 races he contested in his first foray there in 2023. After winning the Tancred Stakes last year, only champion mare Via Sistina finished in front of him in the G1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) 11 days later.
But Dubai Honour faces a red-hot Aeliana who has been crunched all week, and is now priced at 1.75 with international betting sites to win the Tancred Stakes, with the international raider on the second line of betting at 3.80.
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Tom Marquand, who steered Dubai Honour to victory in last year’s Tancred Stakes, will be reunited with the gelding, who last raced at Great Britain’s Kempton on December 17 for a one-and-a-half-length second on the 2399m synthetic track.
Haggas’ travelling representative, Isabella Paul, who also rides the gelding in his work, is confident he is as good as ever.
“I’m really happy with where he is. He is being a bit of a pain on the track, and that generally means he is in pretty good order,” Paul said.
“He’s in great form. He actually came down here a little bit heavy, and he has tightened up nicely in the last week or so.”
The Chris Waller-trained Aeliana began this campaign with two Group race seconds before winning her most recent race, the Group 1 Ranvet Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill on March 21 at short odds and now must handle the quick back-up.
While the markets suggest Aeliana deserves her short odds, Waller said the best of the four-year-old filly is still to come.
“Her absolute best might still be six to 12 months away,” he said. “I think you’ll see longevity out of her, and she’ll retire with a pretty illustrious career. So from that perspective, I think she’s still at the beginning.”
James McDonald, who last week surpassed retired Australian jockey Damien Oliver’s record of 129 Group 1 wins, will again ride Aeliana who will carry the bottom weight of 125lb.
Vauban, third in this race last year, is also among the chances in the eight-horse field.
