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Newmarket
By Enda McElhinney
A seven-time Classic-winning trainer, William Haggas is one of the most respected handlers at the headquarters of British racing in Newmarket.
Born in Skipton in North Yorkshire, he remains thoroughly proud of his roots and often targets the key races at the array of tracks in his home county.
After spending time with John Winter and Sir Mark Prescott honing his skills, Haggas took out his own training license and trained his first winner, Tricky Note, in 1987 from his Somerville Lodge base.
He won the Epsom Derby in 1996 with Shaamit and has since added The Oaks with Dancing Rain in 2011. He has won major races in Britain, France, Ireland and Australia.
In 2013 he was appointed to the roster of Royal trainers. He trained his first winner for Queen Elizabeth II when Purple Spectrum won a maiden race at Windsor in May 2014 and he remains on the roster for King Charles III.
He has more than 2000 winners on his CV and 2024 saw a record year in prize money which saw the team amass over #8,500,000 thanks to a terrific year on the track globally.
Haggas' father-in-law was the late great Lester Piggott. He has been married to Piggott's daughter, Maureen, since 1989 and they have two children, Maryanne and Sam.
Sam Haggas has successfully launched his own bloodstock agency, Hurworth Bloodstock.
His successes included the purchases of Group 1 Winner Urban Fox, Group 3 winner Miss O Connor and American Grade 3 winner I'm So Fancy.
Haggas is rapidly closing in on 13,000 runners. He has well over 2,600 winners on his record and north of #35,000,000 in career prize money.
He has won two British Classics, the Derby and Oaks at Epsom, amongst his tally of seven major Classic races.
His best year numerically was 2021, when he saddled 173 winners. He has sent out more than 100 winners each year since 2013 without fail.
The 2024 season was another remarkable year for Somerville Lodge with 142 winners including three Group 1s in the UK, France and Ireland.
The year of 2024 saw Haggas add three more Group 1 prizes to his CV courtesy of Dubai Honour, who added to his Group 1 tally in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.
Montassib landed a first victory at the highest level in the Haydock Sprint Cup and Star three-year-old Economics came out on top in a thrilling finish to win the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown.
Haggas is member of the elite band of trainers to have saddled two Epsom Classic winners, doing so when Dancing Rain made all in the Oaks in 2011 to add to Shaamit's 1996 Derby victory on the Downs.
Perhaps the best horse to pass through Somerville Lodge was Baaeed, the 2022 Cartier Horse of the Year.
The Shadwell-owned son of Sea The Stars won 10 of his 11 career starts across twoseasons, including Group 1s via the Prix Moulin at Longchamp and QEII at Ascot in 2021 and the Lockinge at Newbury, Queen Anne at Royal Ascot, Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood and Juddmonte International at York in 2022.
His final start was in the Champion Stakes at Ascot that season where he didn't quite pick up on softer ground and finished fourth as Bay Bridge won.
