Hollie Doyle shows jockeys’ title class to win Goodwood Cup on Trueshan

Hollie Doyle is struggling to make an impression in this year’s Flat jockeys’ title race but the 24-year-old underlined her undoubted potential to be the champion one day with a 123-1 treble on the opening afternoon of Glorious Goodwood, initiated by the second Group One success of her career aboard Trueshan in the Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup.

If the championship were awarded for winners in a calendar year, Doyle would probably be the favourite to win. She is the only rider to have reached three figures in 2021 and Tuesday’s treble took her to 107 for the year, 11 clear of Oisin Murphy. Murphy, though, has recorded 74 of his victories within the tight May-to-mid-October boundaries of the official title, while Doyle is sixth in the table with 47.

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That still puts her comfortably clear of several former champions, however, including Ryan Moore, Jim Crowley and Silvestre De Sousa, and a few more days like Tuesday would swiftly see her climb much closer to the summit.

Trueshan, a first Group One winner for Alan King to go with his 15 winners over jumps at the Cheltenham Festival, had been backed relentlessly since heavy rain arrived at Goodwood on Sunday. He was heading towards favouritism even before Stradivarius, the winner for the last four years, was scratched an hour before the race, and Spanish Mission, third home in the Gold Cup at Ascot, was also ruled out not long afterwards.

That left Doyle aboard the favourite for the first time in 11 Group One starts and she duly delivered for his supporters with a minimum of fuss, hitting the front while still on the bit and staying on strongly to win by nearly four lengths.

“I haven’t had many Group One experiences especially on [a short-priced favourite] so I was feeling it a bit more than normal,” Doyle said afterwards, “but he’s an exceptionally talented animal on this ground.

“I got some buzz off that. I don’t get too high or too low but when you have experiences like that just now, you’ve got to make the most of it, haven’t you?”

Doyle completed her treble on two 13-2 shots in the next two races, Lord Riddiford and Sisters In The Sky, while earlier on the card, Ralph Beckett sent out a Group Two double as Angel Bleu and Kinross took the Vintage Stakes and Lennox Stakes respectively.

Angel Bleu was running for the second time in four days after finishing second in a Listed race at Ascot on Saturday.

“Frankie [Dettori] got off him there and said ‘he’s been busy, give him a break’,” Beckett said, “[but] I fed him on Sunday and looked at him sideways and thought, you don’t look like you’ve had a hard race to me at all.

“If we hadn’t declared and the field had fallen apart like this, I’d have been really cross with myself. With the rain last night, I could hardly believe my luck.

“He likes soft ground and we’ll think about the Dewhurst next.”

Wednesday TV races tipping preview

Richard Hannon’s decision to send Snow Lantern to Wednesday’s Sussex Stakes at Goodwood rather than the 10-furlong Nassau Stakes for fillies and mares the following afternoon, but she is likely to need another career-best performance to overcome Poetic Flare (3.35), who was an exceptional winner of the St James’s Palace Stakes at the Royal meeting last month.

Like so many of Jim Bolger’s horses, Poetic Flare has thrived on his racing this season, living up to the trainer’s suggestion after his win in the 2,000 Guineas that he is the “complete racehorse”.

Snow Lantern, Alcohol Free and Order Of Australia, the other three previous Group One winenrs in the field, all have several pounds to find with Poetic Flare on that form and the Guineas winner looks ready to take this step up to all-aged company in his stride.

Goodwood 1.50 Kolisi is stepping up to a mile-and-a-half for the first time but he is a son of Harzand and a half-brother to a winner at 14 furlongs so there is every chance he will improve for the test. William Haggas’s lightly-raced gelding has form on testing ground too, and broke his duck with plenty in hand on good-to-soft going at Salisbury last time.

Redcar

1.00 Last Crusader

1.35 Star Jewel

2.10 We Still Believe

2.45 Sweet Believer

3.20 Must Be An Angel

3.55 Mereside Pearl

4.27 Aoife’s Joy

Perth

1.25 Balranald

2.00 Seemingly So

2.35 For Three

3.10 Solar Impulse

3.45 Headscarf Lil

4.20 Follow Your Fire

4.55 Fizzle Rock

Goodwood

1.50 Kolisi

2.25 Bounce The Blues (nap)

3.00 Fearby (nb)

3.35 Poetic Flare

4.10 La Feile

4.45 Percy’s Pride

5.20 Sunset Breeze

Leicester

5.35 Magnolia State

6.05 Yukon

6.35 Mustazeed

7.05 Lowndes Square

7.35 Subtle Beauty

8.05 Asmund

Sandown Park

5.55 Kayfast Warrior

6.25 Whistledown

6.55 El Bodegon

7.25 Praiano

7.55 Bashosh

8.25 Light Of Thunder

Goodwood 2.25 Bounce The Blues has yet to register a win in five starts since joining Andrew Balding last autumn, but she went very close at Group Three level at Lingfield in May, has form on soft ground and Oisin Murphy to do the steering. A price of around 9-1 looks generous.

Goodwood 3.00 Fearby was much improved in the Dragon Stakes at Sandown last time and unlike his main market rival, Chipotle, has convincing form with cut in the ground.

Goodwood 4.10 At the prices, it could be worth chancing La Feile at around 9-1 to progress from her winning debut at Beverley a fortnight ago. Her inexperience showed for much of the race but she found a real finishing kick when it mattered.