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By Ray Hickson

There’s cautious optimism from the William Haggas camp around the chances of Protagonist in Saturday’s Group 1 $4m The Star Doncaster Mile (1600m).

Isabella Paul, stable rep for trainer William Haggas.

It’s the gelding’s grounding with a 2000m run and his tough nature that lead stable rep Isabella Paul to believe if Protagonist strikes a strongly run Randwick mile he’s capable of achieving a Group 1 win that wasn’t really on the radar.

It’s often said it takes a 2000m horse to win a Doncaster and that’s something that works in Protagonist’s favour as he’s had six starts at the trip in Europe and finished unplaced in all of them.

“It might be a little bit sharp for him but you don’t know until you try,’’ she said.

“I think the track will suit him, Randwick is a bit stiffer than Rosehill. He’s probably more a 2000m horse but hopefully he’ll get the mile there.”

With just 50kg and on the back of his gutsy Group 3 Sky High Stakes (2000m) win on March 11, where he defeated subsequent winner Zeyrek, the Doncaster is seen as a better option than taking on stablemate Dubai Honour and the likes of Anamoe and Unicorn Lion in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes - though he remains nominated for that race.

Paul said Protagonist is the type of horse that will want to make use of a favourable draw, as he did at Rosehill, and is definitely pleased to see a bit of rain around this week.

“He probably wants to be up there with them, we’re happy with barrier eight,’’ she said.

“It might be a stiff test for him but we’ll see how we get on. The race he won he did it well and he was tough.

“He looks amazing and we’re hopeful for a big run on Saturday, especially if the rain keeps coming. We’re pretty delighted with that.”

Protagonist had some light work at Canterbury on Wednesday morning along with Dubai Honour and Purplepay and the question was asked of Paul about the Haggas stable’s amazing strike rate in Australia.

The Sky High win was Haggas’ seventh from 11 runners since he arrived with Addeybb in 2020, they include four at Group 1 level. Such is the respect for his win and the Haggas polish, Protagonist was a $10 chance with TAB on Wednesday.

“He’s very clever in the horses we send down here,’’ Paul said.

“He really thinks about it and he hand picks them. We bring down horses that are tailor made for it here and can win races. I think that’s what probably makes them harder to beat but they’re not unbeatable by any stretch of the imagination.”

Protagonist, trained by William Haggas, warming up for Saturday’s $4m The Star Doncaster Mile with some work at Canterbury. pic.twitter.com/VZRXd3HSR4

— Racing NSW (@racing_nsw) March 28, 2023

The trainer arrives early next week for his first visit to Sydney and he’ll be represented on Day 2 of The Star Championships with Purplepay in the Group 1 Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m) and of course Dubai Honour in the Group 1 Longines Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

Paul said Purplepay has settled in a lot better since her first-up run in the Coolmore Classic while Dubai Honour is strutting around Canterbury after his Group 1 Ranvet Stakes win.

“I think Purplepay has turned a bit of a corner, she’s moving great and if the rain keeps coming that will really suit her,’’ she said.

“Dubai Honour is still loving the Aussie lifestyle, hopefully coming into the Queen Elizabeth we can give Anamoe a big race.”

All the fields, form and replays for Day 1 of The Star Championships at Randwick