By Sean Cronin
Peter Brant, Coolmore and Westerberg's TDN Rising Star Haffner (Justify) bounced back off a defeat in last month's G2 Vintage and the Aidan O'Brien trainee found plenty under forceful urging to make a stakes breakthrough in Wednesday's G3 Tattersalls Acomb Stakes at York.
“He ran a lovely race at Goodwood, but Ryan [Moore] thought he was a little bit babyish,” commented O'Brien after collecting a fourth rosette in the seven-furlong Breeders' Cup Challenge Series qualifier. “He's a very good mover and we always thought the quicker the better for him with the ground. He handled that today, on the softer side of good, no problem and with every week that goes by he'll improve. He's a typical Justify and they very rarely relent when they get to the front. He was a little bit slowly away, but when Ryan asked him he got there a little bit quicker than he wanted. This horse will have no problem staying a mile, he'd have no problem going to a Breeders' Cup over a mile. He could go to Doncaster for the [G1] Futurity Trophy and next year he'd have no problem with a mile-and-a-quarter. We have the trials in Ireland and the National Stakes and all those races, but he's right in the mix and always was.”
The 11-8 favourite found a comfortable slot behind the leaders in fourth after breaking smartly from the outside stall. Bustled along to gain an edge approaching the quarter-mile marker, he refused to yield thereafter and kept on strongly under a Ryan Moore-drive to defeat Gentle Hurricane (Invincible Spirit) and Trean (Bayside Boy) by two lengths and a half-length.
Andrew Balding is looking beyond this year for the runner-up and commented, “He travelled nicely through the race and Oisin [Murphy] thought he was going to pick the winner up, but he just took a bit of time to find his feet and finished off well. I don't know where we'll go next and we might try to find a Listed race. He won't have a busy time this year and he'll probably have one more run somewhere. He will stay a mile, but we'll just look at our options. He's going to be a nice horse.”
Pedigree Notes
Haffner is the second of four foals and one of two scorers out of the stakes-placed Earth Strike (Zoffany), herself kin to five black-type performers headed by multiple Group 1-winning sire Order Of St George (Galileo) and the Group/Grade 3-winning duo Angel Terrace (Ghostzapper) and Asperity (War Chant).
The winner, whose third dam is dual Grade I-winning US champion Storm Song, is full to a weanling filly and half to a yearling filly by Not This Time.
HAFFNER strikes in the Acomb 👊
12/1 from 25s for the 2,000 Guineas 👀@coolmorestud | @Tattersalls1766 | @yorkracecourse pic.twitter.com/yYKomRWYrN
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) August 19, 2026
Wednesday, York, Britain
TATTERSALLS ACOMB STAKES-G3, £175,000, York, 8-19, 2yo, 7fT, 1:25.96, gd.
1–HAFFNER, 129, c, 2, by Justify
1st Dam: Earth Strike (Ire) (SP), by Zoffany (Ire)
2nd Dam: Another Storm, by Gone West
3rd Dam: Storm Song, by Summer Squall
TDN Rising Star. 1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN; 1ST GROUP WIN. ($375,000 Ylg '25 KEESEP). O-Peter Brant, Coolmore, Westerberg & B Smith; B-D J Stables & Justify Syndicate (KY); T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Ryan Moore. £99,243. Lifetime Record: 4-2-2-0, $211,314. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Gentle Hurricane (Ire), 129, c, 2, Invincible Spirit (Ire)–Marsh Daisy (GB), by Pivotal (GB). 1ST BLACK TYPE; 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. (€105,000 Ylg '25 GOFORY). O-Mrs A Althani; B-Mrs S M Rogers & Sir Thomas Pilkington; T-Andrew Balding. £37,625.
3–Trean (Ire), 129, c, 2, Bayside Boy (Ire)–Wondrous Words (Ire), by Lope De Vega (Ire). 1ST BLACK TYPE; 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. (€27,000 Ylg '25 GOFFEB; €20,000 Ylg '25 GOFORY). O-Red Lily Racing Syndicate; B-Ballylinch Stud; T-Paddy Twomey. £18,830.
Margins: 2, HF, 1. Odds: 1.38, 3.50, 4.50.
Also Ran: Alfred Wallace (GB), Clash Of Hearts (Ire), Stardom Glory (Ire), Big Cigar (Ire), Siouxperb (GB), Fuel The Jet (Ire), Vega King (Ire). Scratched: Confucius (Ire).
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