Baaeed ready to deliver for William Haggas – and Greg Cheyne

Jockey Greg Cheyne is mucking out horse boxes in the stables that are home to the world’s most celebrated racehorse.

Ten times Eastern Cape champion jockey, twice Western Cape champ and a winner of the Durban July (Big City Life) and Cape Town Met (Whisky Baron), Cheyne recently joined the exodus of top jockeys from South Africa. He and wife Claire chose the UK and opted for a major new phase of life by taking low-level jobs as stable hands with top trainer William Haggas.

And Greg is loving it, muck and all, according to an interesting interview with him in an International Racing Club (IRC) newsletter this week.

Not that he gets too close to the Haggas superstar Baaeed, the unbeaten four-year-old who signs off his glittering career amid much media hype on Saturday.

‘Special horse’

“Baaeed, being the special horse he is, has one handler – his groom, Ricky Hall, who is the only one allowed to canter him. Michael Hills is the only rider who gallops him. Baaeed is royalty here and deservedly so. No, that was not Baaeed under me, I wish!” genial Cheyne, 46, told IRC after riding morning work at Newmarket.

Baaeed, the top-rated horse in Europe and the second-top in the world, is unbeaten after 10 races and has drawn comparisons with the mighty Frankel of a decade ago.

Frankel retired after registering his 14^th victory in the Champion Stakes at the season-ending British Champions Day at Ascot racecourse.

Baaeed will start as a very short-priced favourite to notch his 11^th successive win in the 2022 Champion Stakes, worth £1.3-million and run over 2000m.

The layman might figure there’s not much tension among the connections in a race like this – the horse has done everything asked of him thus far and he’s heading off to a charmed life as a stallion in the Shadwell breeding paddocks. But he’d be wrong.

Unbeaten

It’s all about legend and prestige. The closer you get to Frankel’s achievements, the more likely you are to be considered “one of the greats”.

Interviewed by the BBC this week, Haggas said it was “terribly important” Baaeed ends his career unbeaten.

“A lot of people who follow horse racing genuinely want to see him strut his stuff and win. I think they want to see a really top horse unbeaten,” said Haggas

“Frankel was unbeaten and few are in a career at the top level. Obviously, we want him to win every race he runs in, so I think it would be sad if he was beaten – probably only sad for us – it wouldn’t be sad for the people who beat him.”

Haggas said he respected potential opponents including last year’s Derby winner Adayar, but “they’ve got to go” to beat Baaeed.

Despite the anticipation, the trainer said he “does not believe much in pressure” and worry was a wasteful emotion.

And, anyway, Baaeed had everything needed to win.

“He’s the pupil that every headmaster wants,” he said. “The horse would get 10 A-plus at GCSE, he’d be captain of rugby, cricket, football and hockey. He’d breeze into Cambridge and be prime minister.”