Little did we know at the time but Tom Marquand was feeling a degree of pressure to guide Addeybb to back-to-back wins in the Longines Queen Elizabeth Stakes of 2021.

Some of that was due to what he had to go through in the middle of the pandemic just to ride at Randwick. Some of it the result of Verry Elleegant beating them in the Ranvet Stakes when she hadn't previously been able to.

As he looks back on what's to him the most famous of victories, Tom Marquand hopes he can end what has been an eventful autumn in Sydney on another high as he chases a third Queen Elizabeth for William Haggas on Dubai Honour.

"I'd be surprised if I get to the end of my career and give a better ride tactically,'' Marquand said of the 2021 edition.

"For whatever reason all the decisions clicked at the right time. Even as I watch it now it seems a bit surreal. It was perfect.

"There are not many days when you walk away and think you just got everything right. It was a huge buzz."

Australia, and Sydney in particular, has been enormous to the 25-year-old.

When he landed in Sydney back in December 2018 he had a reputation as one of the UK's most promising young riders and he quickly gained a following in his almost two month stay.

Addeybb brought him back in the autumn of 2020 and handed Marquand a breakthrough Group 1 and to do it on an English horse on the international stage made it that much more special.

"The biggest thing is profile wise, and opportunity wise it's been massive,'' he said.

"I was riding quite a lot for William at home but he had a stable jockey, James Doyle, and it looked like a closed shop.

"The opportunity to come back down for Addeybb, after I'd already done a couple of months over the Christmas period, came up and he did what he did.

"I don't know whether it changed the path I was on but it certainly sped it up.

"I hadn't ridden a Group 1 winner, I was riding 120 winners that year which in England is quite hard to do, and they weren't in stakes races, but it's a different platform when you get up to riding in these big races.

"In the first year it probably all fell a bit easily. I know it sounds ridiculous. He won the Ranvet and he came here and destroyed them in the Queen Elizabeth.

"The second year was harder because I had to do the quarantine. There was a lot of uncertainty around whether I'd even be able to get here. Then he got beaten the first time and had a couple of niggly problems.

"The build up was pretty big and because Verry Elleegant had beaten him everyone was enjoying that and they thought she was going to beat him again."

Unfortunately, a shoulder injury sustained in the Inglis Millennium in early February meant Marquand was back home recovering in the UK when Dubai Honour stormed to victory in the Group 1 Ranvet Stakes (2000m) on March 18.

But he's no stranger to the five-year-old, of course, and Saturday will be the first time he's been on the gelding's back in a race since they ran second in a 2413m Group 3 race at Kempton Park in September.

Haggas has said last year wasn't a great one for Dubai Honour but that his Ranvet win, on a good track, showed his true ability and Marquand would agree.

Even after a four length win, though, he says Dubai Honour needs to lift again to beat Anamoe, Japanese visitor Unicorn Lion and 10 others in the Group 1 $5m Longines Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m).

"Half of me thinks has he taken his form to another level coming here, or is it the grade of race,'' Marquand said.

"But it doesn't really matter as long as what he's doing is beating the other horses. Physically he looks great and he's enjoying it and it does leave you thinking it could happen again.

"Being realistic, yeah, he has to take another step forward from the Ranvet but he does look like he has done physically."

Marquand describes Haggas as a "confidence giving boss".

He doesn't saddle you with fixed instructions but does expect his jockeys to think and adapt and he hopes he can get the job done with the trainer trackside at Randwick.

With Unicorn Lion drawn the outside in the 13 horse field there's a temptation to know what to expect will unfold but Marquand learned not to fall into that trap two years ago.

Despite the Japanese horse's presence the race has been billed as a showdown between Godolphin's champ Anamoe and Dubai Honour, they share favouritism at $2.50 with TAB on Tuesday, and the jockey has a healthy respect for his major rival who he's drawn alongside.

"I thought I knew what was going to happen in Addeybb's second year but it all went out the window when he came out of the gates,'' he said.

"Neither (Verry Elleegant or Anamoe) are mega flash in the way that they do it, they'd beat what's in front of them and not do an awful lot more.

"It does leave you a bit wary, Anamoe is a nine time Group 1 winner.

"He only won all right the other day (in the George Ryder) but he won with not the best circumstances over an inadequate trip. To underestimate that would be stupid."

Speaking of being underestimated, Marquand said he wouldn't be surprised if Haggas' mare Purplepay jumps out of the ground in the Group 1 $1m Sydney Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m).

The four-year-old only beat two home in her local debut in the Coolmore Classic a month ago but that was on a firm track and the vibe around Canterbury where the internationals are housed is that she's a much happier horse now.

"I think she might be a bit of a dark horse. They paid a lot of money out of France for her,'' he said.

"She was a Group 1 placed top level filly. We took her back to France and she dominated a Group 2 field like she was a Group 1 horse again.

"With fillies confidence is a big thing. I only saw her run but it looked like the fast ground knocked her a bit. She's really turned a corner the last 10 days and is looking fantastic.

"Off that run she has lengths and lengths to find but we know on her best form she probably doesn't have as much to find."

Purplepay was a $26 chance with TAB on Tuesday, she'll wear blinkers for the first time and jumps from gate 14.