John Quinn’s Safe Voyage and William Haggas’s One Master set for Ascot decider

Safe Voyage, trained at Malton by John Quinn, provided jockey Jason Hart with the biggest win of his riding career to date when defeating One Master in the Sky Bet City of York Stakes at the Ebor Festival.

But it was the mare One Master – trained by Yorkshire-born William Haggas – who prevailed in the Group One Prix de la Foret on Arc day at ParisLongchamp, with the rallying Safe Voyage third, beaten just a neck and short head.

On the day that will be remembered for Enable failing to win a historic third Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, the Haggas heroine was making history by winning the Foret for a third successive year.

Now connections of both horses are considering tilts at either the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot on October 17 – Qipco British Champions Day – or the Breeders Cup, America’s headline meeting, later in the season.

It would be a fascinating battle – Safe Voyage followed up on his York win by landing last month’s Boomerang Mile at Leopardstown with both Quinn and Hart confident the horse can land a Group One race for owner Ross Harmon.

The winner of 12 out of 29 career starts, the seven-year-old gelding has now accrued over £520,000 in career prize money and was finishing fastest of all at ParisLongchamp.

It completed a frustrating afternoon for Quinn, whose sprinters Liberty Beach and Keep Busy were both placed in the Prix de l’Abbaye sprint.

And while no future plans will be confirmed until the horses have returned to Yorkshire, and been checked over, Quinn has the QEII in mind for Safe Voyage who was third in the contest last year – or a trip to America.

“We are ruling nothing out,” said the trainer who recorded his landmark 1,000th winner when the colt prevailed at Epsom on Derby day.

“He seems to be getting stronger and I’ll talk to the owner. If he went to Ascot, he wouldn’t go to America.”

Hart was delighted with Safe Voyage’s run. Prominent throughout, One Master and Earthlight, the ultimate second, appeared to pull clear, before his mount caught a second wind and rallied in a thrilling finish.

“I was delighted,” he reported. “I thought he ran his heart out and couldn’t have done any more. He’s been on the go all the year and his form has possibly improved all year. It is testament to the horse.”

Meanwhile, the aforementioned Haggas remains in awe of One Master, saying: “We are very proud of her.

“She is a fantastic filly and she seems to come good over this track and trip.

“Any ground is good for her, but she is particularly good on soft ground. She had to battle it out but she did it.

“She is very laid back and knows how to race. This time of year she seems to come good and we haven’t missed a beat this year. She’ll have another run, I suppose, if she’s OK, I don’t know. She’s in at Ascot and I quite fancy the Breeders’ Cup in Keeneland this year for her.”

He added: “The last horse to win two Forets was Moorestyle, who was ridden by my wife Maureen’s father (Lester Piggott) and trained by her uncle (Robert Armstrong). For this filly to do this is pretty unique.

“It was very sad the big filly Enable couldn’t win three Arcs, but this was a good feat in itself to do three Forets and as it’s not been done before I expect it will take some doing to beat it.”

Meanwhile officials at York hope Safe Voyage and One Master’s rivalry will strengthen their case for the City of York Stakes to be upgraded.

One of the anomalies in the British racing calendar is the absence of a Group One race over seven furlongs, the distance of both the City of York Stakes and the Foret, with the British Horseracing Authority keen to rectify this.

York chief executive William Derby told The Yorkshire Post that the race in France reflected well on the prestige City of York Stakes, the chief supporting race on Ebor day.

“The European Pattern Committee have said they are looking at having a seven furlong Group One to feed into the Foret,” he added.

“We are hopeful the ratings of the Sky Bet City of York Stakes will be strong and continue to help make our case.

“The BHA have previously identified the City of York as a race they would like to see promoted.”

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James Mitchinson