'It's a disaster and I'm mortified' - Haggas gutted after weigh-in woe

Lavazza, a manufacturer of coffee products, sponsored the feature but the £75,000 handicap had a bitter end for top trainer William Haggas despite him winning the race with Chalk Stream.

Haggas was set to enjoy a one-two, but his rider Adam Farragher weighed in light after Haggas failed to saddle the son of Kingman correctly.

Candleford was disqualified, which meant promotion to second for 50-1 shot True Courage, while Champagne Piaff was third.

Haggas had been floating on cloud nine after watching yard favourite Hamish win at Kempton and then seeing Chalk Stream, who runs in the colours of the Queen, bolt up, but he was quickly brought back down to earth.

William Haggas: 'I've never done it before and certainly won't do it again'Credit: Edward Whitaker

"I didn't put the saddle cloth on," he said. "I forgot to put it on. I put everything else on, but I didn't put the weight cloth on.

"It had 5lb of lead in it so Adam weighed in 5lb light. It's a mistake – we don't do it deliberately. I've never done it before and certainly won't do it again. There we go, these things happen."

Haggas, fined £1,000 for his actions, would not even let the fact he had two runners explain his error.

"The other horse was saddled in the stable so that's no excuse – I've no excuse, I made a mistake."

Watch a replay of the Lavazza Stakes here

Haggas trains Candleford for Barnane Stud and had apologised to connections over the phone.

"It's trainer error," he added. "I unfortunately left the weight cloth on the travelling head lad's bag instead of putting it on the horse so no wonder he ran so well. It'll be interesting to see what the handicapper does because with 5lb more he probably would have been eighth.

"It's a disaster and I'm mortified, but what can I do? As soon as Adam came out and told me he weighed in 5lb light and there was no weight cloth, and I knew there was only one person to blame and that's me."

Top team find secret

Top Secret, "scared of his own shadow" due to his sore feet, made it two wins since joining William Muir and Chris Grassick from Clive Cox in the 7f handicap and might not be finished yet.

"He's has always been talented and Clive knew he was classy, but he's had problems with his feet," said Muir. "He went back to his owners' Carmel Stud and their blacksmith sorted the quarter-crack out really well, but because he had sore feet he was scared of everything, 'Everything is going to hurt me' he'd think.

"Martin Dwyer rode him out in the winter and said it might take a few runs to get his head right. We quietly went to Leicester and trotted him to the start and he was ducking and diving from everything. He was scared of everything, including his own shadow."

Some R&R in the paddock with 26-year-old Muir stalwart Alpen Wolf has helped, as has an idea pinched from Haggas.

"I drive the box everywhere and noticed other people's horses, so I asked Haggas's lad what these casts, like plaster of Paris, on their feet were," Muir added.

"It supports their feet so I tried it with my blacksmith, who said it was one of the best things we'd found. It costs a lot of money, but it's bloody worth it and the horse is in no pain."

Asked what the revitalised Top Secret, who also benefited from an accomplished Nicola Currie ride, could go on to, Muir replied: "Anything."

Dane O'Neill steers Wanees to victoryCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

Hills thrilled

Charlie Hills was taken aback when the Newbury stewards enquired into the running and riding of Wanees last month, but the Lambourn trainer was smiling after the juvenile struck in the 7f novice.

"I've never been called by the stewards in my life!" joked the squeaky clean Hills, who won Ascot's last race on Friday with Dark Shift.

"I like Wanees and have always liked him, and more racing will do him good."

Results, replays and analysis

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