'I don't know how much more there is to come' - William Haggas on Baaeed

William Haggas hailed odds-on Lockinge favourite Baaeed as up there with the best he has trained but admitted he was unsure how much more there was to come from his "deceptive, laid-back" champion.

He identified race-fit multiple Group 1 winners Alcohol Free and Mother Earth as among the colt's likely main rivals in Saturday's Al Shaqab-sponsored showpiece, which he believes could go a long way towards telling when or if he is likely to step up in trip.

Baaeed is a best-priced 1-2 to confirm his superiority over those fillies, having beaten them both when taking the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot last autumn.

Baaeed: was officially rated joint-best miler in the World Thoroughbred Rankings for 2021Credit: Edward Whitaker

The Shadwell Estate four-year-old was officially rated joint-best miler in the World Thoroughbred Rankings for 2021, having won all six starts for a trainer who landed the Derby with Shaamit in 1996 and came within a short neck of Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe success with Sea Of Class four years ago.

Asked whether Baaeed was the best he had trained, Haggas said: "Shaamit must have been pretty good because we were fairly clueless then and he managed to win the Derby first time out, which is quite a difficult thing to do, and Sea Of Class had a great turn of foot and stayed very well.

"But this horse is right up there. He's got a bit more to do yet but we're very fond of him."

3.20 Newbury Saturday: Al Shaqab Lockinge racecard and betting

Asked if he could make further progress in 2022, the trainer said: "We don't know. He's quite deceptive in that he's a very kind, relatively laid-back horse. I don't know how much more there is to come."

Baaeed launches his season at Newbury and Haggas said: "Mother Earth and Alcohol Free are very talented fillies and they've both had a run, which we haven't.

"It's a Group 1 race and they're never easy but all we've got to do from this end is produce the horse ready to go on Saturday."

Baaeed had a racecourse gallop at Chelmsford last week under regular jockey Jim Crowley in preparation and his trainer said: "Jim seemed very pleased with him, as we all were.

"Montatham, quite a useful horse, led and Aldaary sat second and Jim just pulled out up the straight and he quickened by. But the other two weren't pressed when he went on. It was just getting him out to a different place."

'I'd much prefer to be in this position than not'

Haggas shrugged off the pressure of keeping Baaeed's unbeaten run going on Saturday and said: "What will be, will be. Luca Cumani always said that pressure was for tyres.

"The focus is on him at the moment and if he gets beaten on Saturday the focus will be on something else. I'd much prefer to be in this position than not."

All Baaeed's six races have been over a mile but he is entered in the 1m2f Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot, as well as the Queen Anne over a mile, and his brother Hukum is a 1m6f winner.

"The dilemma we have over the course of the next six months is when and if we step him up in trip," Haggas said. "A lot will depend on how we get on on Saturday.

"He's got a very strong backside and if you looked at him as an individual you wouldn't think he was a full-brother to a stayer. He looks fast. He's not big but he's a strong horse."

Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes (3.20 Newbury, Saturday)

Coral: 1-2 Baaeed, 9-2 Mother Earth, 7 Real World, 12 Alcohol Free, 16 Chindit, 25 bar

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