Haffner gave Aidan O’Brien his fourth Acomb Stakes as he fended off Gentle Hurricane.
It looked far from a vintage renewal of the contest, and the only significant support was for Gentle Hurricane. Haffner was well positioned to the fore under Ryan Moore, and picked up nicely once asked.
Gentle Hurricane perhaps over-raced early on to justify a stronger finish, and the highly-touted Trean could only manage third. Pat Eddery winner Alfred Wallace was a respectable fourth, but the winner was in a different parish.
Speaking to the Press Association after the race, via At The Races, Aidan O’Brien said: “He ran a lovely race at Goodwood, but Ryan thought he was a little bit babyish.
“He’s a very good mover so we always thought the quicker the better for him with the ground. But Ryan said he handled that today, on the softer side of good, no problem.
“With every week that goes by he’ll improve. He’s a typical Justify, they very rarely relent when they get to the front. Ryan said he was a little bit slowly away. But when he asked him he got there a little bit quicker than he wanted.”
Breeders’ Cup a possible for Haffner
By Justify from the family of Order Of St George, Haffner is bred to be talented. On his future targets, Aidan O’Brien said: “This horse will have no problem staying a mile. He’d have no problem going to a Breeders’ Cup over a mile. He could go to Doncaster for the Futurity Trophy. Next year he’d have no problem with a mile and a quarter.
“We have the trials in Ireland on Saturday and the National Stakes and all those races. But he’s right in the mix and always was.”
Andrew Balding had won the Acomb with Gewan and Chaldean in the past, but Gentle Hurricane couldn’t quite emulate them. Balding said: “He travelled nicely through the race and Oisin thought he was going to pick the winner up. But he just took a bit of time to find his feet and finished off well.
“I don’t know where we’ll go next, to be honest. We might try to find a Listed race. He will stay a mile, but we’ll just look at our options. He won’t have a busy time this year – he’ll probably have one more run somewhere. He’s going to be a nice horse.”