ECONOMICS passed his acid test as he stuck his neck out to win an epic Irish Champion Stakes.
The star three-year-old rallied having been headed to down Auguste Rodin by a neck after a ding-dong battle up the Leopardstown straight.
And victory meant this was clearly the greatest day of Tom Marquand’s career, as he completed a Group 1 double having earlier bagged the Matron Stakes on Porta Fortuna.
There have been some iconic renewals of this historic race over the years and you can file this one away with the best of them.
And while trainer William Haggas was left wiping his brow in relief, there was sheer ecstasy written all over nice-guy Marquand’s face.
He grinned: “It was a huge thrill and an exceptional performance. He missed the Derby but ultimately there are so many big targets ahead.
“It’s a pleasure to be a part of a day like this and hopefully to be a part of it in the future.
“I thought he had that sort of performance in him, but he had to really show it today to battle off a proper Group 1 champion who knows this track well.”
There comes a point in every top racehorse’s career when they cross a threshold, shedding the ‘potential’ tag and confirming themselves a true star.
This was undoubtedly the moment for Economics, who has promised a hell of a lot in his four career runs but we needed to see him do it against top-flight opposition.
And he didn’t let his backers, his jockey or his trainer down – even when things didn’t go to plan during the race.
He was stuck three-wide and keen in Marquand’s hands, all the while he had Auguste Rodin and Ryan Moore sitting in his slipstream.
As they settled down to slug it out for the final couple of furlongs, the horse Aidan O’Brien amusingly calls Augustus nosed into a narrow lead.
But Economics, roared on by a rowdy Leopardstown crowd, stuck his big white head down and got back up with the finish line looming.
Haggas said: “What a relief. It was messy, Tom was keen not to be too far back and I loved his head carriage in the straight, he really put his head down.
“He’s got a big future as long as we don’t overdo it. It was always the plan to go for the Champion.
“We can’t really believe that so soon after Baaeed we’ve got another good one. It’s a huge day.”
But it was even more significant for the man on the horse’s back, who had earlier guided Porta Fortuna to her fourth Group 1 win in the Matron Stakes.
Marquand said: “She was absolutely brilliant today, she has so much class and I was confident the whole way through the race. I’m sure she’ll go to the Breeders’ Cup.
“I can’t say I’ve had many better days, this is a special one.”
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