Interview with Philip Hobbs

William Haggas claimed more Group 1 glory - the stable's second of 2026 - when Maltese Cross led close home in the Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp on Tuesday evening. The Sea The Stars colt won the Lingfield Derby Trial during the spring before chasing home Christmas Day in the Epsom Derby last month. Beaten less than three lengths at Epsom, he endured a hard race in tough conditions and did well to go one better in France only 38 days later. Given an inspired ride by Tom Marquand, the Haggas runner edged out Ancient Egypt by a head with three parts of length covered the first four home. His main end of season target is expected to be either the St Leger at Doncaster (12th September) or Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe over the same C&D (4th October) before staying in training as a four year old in 2027.

As discussed, I have started work on the new edition of One Jump Ahead and conducted the first interview on Wednesday. First into bat was Philip Hobbs who shares the licence with long standing former assistant Johnson White. The stable have sent out 34, 53 and 38 winners during the last three campaigns - their victories during the 2025/2026 season included big race successes in the Peter Marsh Chase at Haydock, Morebattle Hurdle at Kelso and Scottish National at Ayr. It is very much a case of quality over quantity with the Minehead operation blessed with some highly promising youngsters, including the high-class Sober Glory. The team has been further strengthened during the summer with some exciting recruits from Ireland. 

In between a trip to Hamilton Park on Friday evening for the Listed Glasgow Stakes and Scottish Stewards Cup, I will be carrying out more interviews in the coming days. News of those will be published here in the Diary. Once I have concluded all the interviews, I will be updating the Publications section of the site with full details of One Jump Ahead & the Updates 2026/2027.