Haggas and Marquand at the double on Merseyside.
William Haggas and Tom Marquand scored a two-year-old double at Haydock, keeping First Instinct undefeated.
After making a winning start at Nottingham last month, the daughter of Bated Breath suggested being a useful potential. She later proved that promise by shading a picture in the lucrative Tattersalls GBP 40,000 EBF Fillies' Novice Stakes on Merseyside.
Sent off at 17-2, she was slow to begin with but gained ground as the race went on, eventually taking the lead and blocking Richard Fahey's preferred Stormy Impact in the shadow of the post.
While Marquand was happy to see the filly keep her perfect record, he believes she could perform even better on a more stable surface.
Marquand stated: "She's been flawless. I was a little concerned that the ground today would slow her down, but I believe it was important that she went to sleep early. She demonstrated her turn of foot during her maiden start, and I believe that with improved ground, she will be much more potent.
"If she hadn't gotten up, she would have been an unfortunate loser, but these horses that win on their first try are really difficult because of how crucial their schooling is. It's the next step on the route to being a racehorse, and sometimes you win first and, to be honest, lose second because the other person hasn't had much schooling.
"She's competent enough to have her head in the correct place once more, but our main goals were to help her become calm early on and develop proper racing technique. I believe she had a pleasant day at the races today and likely reinforced the lessons she learned the first time even more. She has been skilled enough to overcome the setback and win nonetheless.
She has already made two starts, so perhaps things will go better from here. I believe she is faster than what she showed there since, in my opinion, the tacky ground slightly slowed down her foot movement. She did a great job getting up, but I believe the locker has a little more speed."
In the very following race, Haggas and Marquand quadrupled their total when Bintjeddah showed a noticeable improvement from her Newmarket début to win the Arete Capital Foundation EBF Fillies' Novice Stakes.
She easily won, finishing three lengths ahead of Blessed Star, the runner-up, despite the odds being 16-1.
"I still think she was a little bit unaware of what was happening, but she had a nice gallop to aim at and that little wave of pressure from three furlongs down probably just helped her get into gear and I thought she did it nicely," concluded Marquand, speaking to Racing TV.
She needed some prodding, but she never gave me cause for concern; I always thought she would keep looking for pressure. She's come a long way, but I believe she has a little more to learn.
"It's great she's got her head in front and hopefully this will lead to nicer things and continue on a nice path for connections."
In the Best Odds On The Betfair Exchange Handicap, Marquand led Robert Stephens' Knight Templar (11-2) to win, recording a treble on the card.
But in his 100th start, the well-liked veteran Copper Knight was out of luck as Tim Easterby's 10-year-old could only manage an eighth-place finish in the Lee Thomas Christy Memorial Handicap, which was won by Our Absent Friend, owned by Tristan Davidson.
