What’s Tom Marquand’s strike rate for William Haggas?
Tom Marquand, 23, became apprenticed to Richard Hannon, as a 16-year-old, in 2014, and rode his first winner, Mecado, in the Watch Racing UK on 3 Devices Selling Stakes at Kempton on December 17 that year. The following season, 2015, he won the apprentices’ title 54-52, after protracted battle with his nearest rival, Jack Garritty, which he later said helped him to mature professionally and personally.
Marquand first rode for William Haggas in 2017, winning on three of his six rides for the yard at a strike rate of 50%. That strike rate fell, to 9-42 (21%), in 2018 as his number of rides for the Newmarket trainer increased, but rose again to 24-102 (24%) in 2019 and only fell back to 44-232 (19%) in 2020. Indeed, in early 2020, Marquand plied his trade in Australia, winning his first two Group 1 races, the Ranvet Stakes at Rosehill in March and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick in April, on Addeybb, trained by Haggas. In September that year, he also won his first British Classic, the St. Leger at Doncaster, on Galileo Chrome, also trained by Haggas. At the time, Haggas said, ‘He [Marquand] is top class and will be the champion one day.’
Marquand won the Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Addeybb once again in 2021 and, domestically, finished clear third in the Flat Jockeys’ Championship, with 117 winners between May 1 and October 16. As far as William Haggas is concerned, he has a strike rate of 55-242 (22%) so far, which takes his career strike rate for the yard to 135-630 (22%).