Economics set for stud duties following retirement from racing

Economics, one of the standout horses of the 2024 Flat season, has been retired.

Trained by William Haggas, the son of Night Of Thunder burst on to the scene when winning the Dante at York by six lengths, although connections resisted the urge to run him in the Derby and instead the colt recorded an easy success in the Group Two Prix Guillaume d’Ornano at Deauville.

He went on to Group One glory in the Irish Champion Stakes, beating the Derby winner Auguste Rodin by a neck, but was then beaten on soft ground in the Champion Stakes at Ascot, when the vet reported he had bled from the nose.

A setback ruled him out of his intended return at Royal Ascot in June and while Haggas ultimately won the race against time to get him ready for a Champion Stakes repeat, Economics could finish only eighth on his first run for a year, when the vet reported he bled again.

“We had a whiff of what he could achieve but we’ve failed in our job to make him a real star as he’s such a good horse – from our point of view it’s very sad,” said Haggas.

“When he won his maiden at Newbury he didn’t look like he was scheduled to win a Group One four months later, but he did.

“He didn’t win his maiden by eight lengths or anything but he just got better and better, so I was surprised by the way he won the Dante, but delighted.

“We then chose to miss the Derby, no one will ever know if that was the right decision or not but the race he won in France, he beat Jayarebee with Almaqam some way behind, so that was rock solid.

“He then went and won the Irish Champion but unfortunately then he’s hit the buffers a bit.

“I can’t tell you how many times he’s been scoped and when he ran in the Champion Stakes that was the last thing I expected him to do, I hadn’t actually thought it might reappear so I was absolutely distraught.

“He would have run before but he had an injury about two weeks before (Royal) Ascot, which is why we were always playing catch up for the rest of the year. We’d just been on the back foot the whole time.

“He was a really good horse, he has a good mind and he’s a beautiful-looking horse. A lot of kind people came up to me at Ascot to say what a smashing horse he is, he really stands out, he’s beautiful.”

Stud plans have yet to be determined, with Jake Warren, bloodstock and racing adviser to Shaikh Isa Bin Salman Al Khalifa, adding: “We haven’t decided on where he’ll stand just yet, we’ve been taking calls, but options are still open at this stage.”