In the York race, the Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Dante Stakes, Economics easily defeated his competitors.
William Haggas' twice-raced chestnut son of Night Of Thunder, who won a mile maiden at Newbury last month, was consistently positioned under Tom Marquand in the longer 10-furlong feature.
When asked to mount a challenge in the home straight, he continued to move menacingly and managed to go away from the field, lengthening his stride to cross the finish line six lengths ahead of 7–4 favourite Ancient Wisdom.
Economics does not have a supplementary entry for the Derby, which is a major trial, and Haggas has previously declared he does not plan to enter the Dante.
After the incredible Knavesmire show, Haggas spoke from his stable in Newmarket and said: “The whole point of taking him out (of the Derby) was I didn’t think it was the right track and the right race for him at this stage of his career. He’s a great, big, immature horse. And I stick by that. I haven’t spoken on the subject to Sheikh Isa and his advisers so that might change. We discussed it at length when we talked about the Derby. Winning the Derby is of course everyone’s dream, we all want to win it, but it takes a type. Maybe we’re wrong and maybe after I’ve talked to His Highness he’ll say I’d like him to run in the Derby, in which case we’ll run him. But we’ll see.”
He went on: “He’s also by Night Of Thunder so although he looked like he’ll stay an extra furlong and a half, it’s not a certainty. It’s a win and you’re in for the Irish Derby so that could be an option for him if we wanted to go a mile and a half.”
Marquand said: “To be honest I couldn’t really believe it, I just thought he had so much to learn after Newbury. That was a mile and obviously going up on a trip was always going to help. I popped him on the back of William (Buick, Ancient Wisdom) and he had Ryan (Moore, on Cambridge) keeping him in a bit of a pocket and that was an advantage to him as he was conserving energy and he was the one to keep an eye on. I went to follow Ryan and to be honest I lit his fuse to make sure I stayed on the same line and he was electric, I lit his fuse and he did it a hell of a lot faster than I anticipated and I had to take a bit of a tug to make sure I didn’t hit the front too soon – which I still managed to do. I think he’s a very talented horse, he’s still learning on the job as he just had a wander when he hit the front, but he’s excited for the future.”