HAGGAS HORSE’S SYDNEY ARRIVAL IN JEOPARDY

AI image of William Haggas & horse edited by Lew Dub.

The Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival could be minus one of its headline acts due to the Iran v Israel/USA war. William Haggas’ Dubai Honour and the lesser known Caviar Heights were due to fly to Australia earlier this week but that flight was cancelled, and new plans have been urgently drawn up.

According to Greg Radley of Sky Racing, the Haggas horses are scheduled to get aboard a Cathay Pacific flight on Sunday 8th March, allowing the two to make a 2026 Sydney debut on March 28th in the Tancred Stakes (Dubai Honour) and the Neville Sellwood (Caviar Heights).

In the video above from Sky Racing’s Road To The Championships program, Radley states that if the flight on 8th March is also cancelled, the horses will have to find an alternative flight by 12th March or the two Haggas runners will not be travelling.

Along with Dubai Honour and Caviar Heights, the Chris Waller imports Barnavara (nominated for G1 Doncaster 1600m & G1 Queen Elizabeth 2000m) and Seo Linn (nominated for G1 Sydney Cup 3200m), are also expected to be aboard the Cathay Pacific flight on 8th March. Seo Linn is an interesting prospect for this website as we are all about stayers. Seo Linn is a lightly raced 6 year old who won a maiden by 8.5 lengths in October of 2025. Don’t let the ‘maiden’ term fool you though. The mare had won three other races in Ireland though under National Hunt Flat conditions (basically long distance races for young horses on a path to jumps racing). Use this link to look at her form for yourself Seo Linn.

In a year where the Sydney Cup certainly looks an open affair with no proven top level two miler, Seo Linn’s price varies dramatically across online bookmakers, with TAB having her a $15 chance, Bet365 has her $67, Ladbrokes has her $26, while Sportsbet has Seo Linn at $51. These prices were found Friday, 6th March, 8pm.

NOTE: the Waller imports whose assignments include the Doncaster 4th April and Sydney Cup - Queen Elizabeth 11th April, could afford to fly as late as approximately 25th March and spend their two weeks in quarantine before racing. However, before you weigh in on Seo Linn beware, she is 73rd in Sydney Cup Order of Entry - which holds a maximum field size of 20 horses.

Sydney Cup odds - Ladbrokes as of 6th March, 8pm.

Sydney Cup odds - TAB as of 6th March, 8pm.

Sydney Cup odds - SportsBet as of 6th March, 8pm.

Sydney Cup odds - Bet365 as of 6th March, 8pm.