It is a big international weekend for Sky Sports Racing ambassador Hollie Doyle who partners Super Sprint winner Eddie’s Boy in France on Saturday and the globetrotting Outbox in Sweden on Sunday.
French mission for speedy Eddie
It is a busy weekend of jet-setting for me, with a ride in France on Saturday and three in Sweden on Sunday – a journey that will begin with an early-morning dash for the Eurostar into Paris to ride Eddie’s Boy in the Group Three Prix Eclipse (4.00) at Chantilly on Saturday.
Eddie has done his owners Middleham Park Racing and trainer Archie Watson proud in his first season, winning the valuable Super Sprint at Newbury and making the frame in a particularly strong Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot.
I’m no stranger to riding at Chantilly, as Archie and I have had a fair bit of success there in the last few years, and we have a strong chance of enhancing our record with one of the stand-out performers.
It’s a lovely, fair track and he saw the trip out well enough in that big sales race at Newmarket last time. The easy ground is a bit of an unknown for him, but hopefully the journey will prove worthwhile for us all.
From Paris, I’ll be taking a night flight to Stockholm in Sweden to ride three of Archie’s horses at a valuable fixture at Bro Park before flying back into Heathrow for a welcome day off on Monday.
Doyle riding Eddie’s Boy to victory in the Super Sprint Stakes at Newbury
Outbox bids to go one better in Stockholm
The mission is to go one better than last year with the globetrotting Outbox in the Group Three Stockholm Cup International (3.20) at Bro Park in Sweden on Sunday.
He finished second in this 12-furlong feature last year to track specialist Square De Luynes, despite being drawn wider than the winner and the opponents who finished around him.
Unfortunately, we’ve been handed an even worse draw this time, widest of all in stall 15, which on a tight left-hand track is far from ideal for a horse who tends to hang right. Whips aren’t allowed in Sweden either, so I’ll need to be at my strongest to negotiate the bends smoothly.
Outbox is a seasoned traveller having landed some big prize money overseas, notably a £400,000 purse in Qatar back in February, and is fresh and well following his creditable third in the Group Three Geoffrey Freer at Newbury last month.
Doyle heads to Sweden to ride Outbox in the Stockholm Cup International
Big chance for Watson juvenile
I think a lot of Archie’s two-year-old Manitou, so I’m really looking forward to getting back on him in the valuable seven-furlong Appel Au Maitre Svealandlopning (3.25) at Bro Park.
Like Outbox, he is owned by Hambleton Racing whose owners were delighted to see him win a six-furlong maiden so convincingly at Chepstow at the end of August, his first start since being gelded.
Manitou’s form looks rock solid, with the horse he beat by nearly four lengths, Vetiver, scoring at Beverley next time. Even his third at Newmarket on his previous start was seriously boosted with Streets Of Gold adding a valuable nursery at York and a big sales race at the Curragh to his CV.
This will be the first time he will have encountered a bend on a sharp, turning track, but I have a lot of faith in this horse who has what it takes to run a big race.
Hoping Tabdeed can recapture Goodwood form
I don’t know what to expect from the talented but unpredictable Tabdeed in the Listed Uplands-Bro Kommun Bro Park Sprint Championship (5.45) in Stockholm.
Archie’s seven-year-old showed exactly what he’s still capable of when almost winning the Stewards’ Cup at Goodwood, but he hasn’t been able to reproduce that form in two runs since.
This is a very different style of track to what he’s used to, but he’s one of the best horses in the race on official figures and completes a trio of exciting chances.
Aiming to be big in Japan
This winter is going to have an international flavour for my husband Tom Marquand and myself as we’ve both been invited to ride in Japan. It’s an amazing opportunity for me to further my career and challenge myself in a different jurisdiction.
The details haven’t been confirmed yet, so I’m still not sure which trainer we’re going to be based with, but I do know I’ll be pitting my skills against some of the world’s best jockeys out there for two months.
We’ll be living in Tokyo, which is such an exciting city, riding track work through the week and racing on Fridays, Saturday and Sundays. We’re due to come home at Christmas, so I’ll be back on the all-weather at the start of the new year.
Some people have asked me if cutting my domestic year short and missing out on the possibility of setting a new record for winners disappoints me, but the answer is definitely no. At this stage of a season, you begin to feel a little jaded and it just isn’t physically possible to keep going at such a relentless pace year in, year out.
Whilst beating my previous records is great, my ambition has always been to establish myself as a top international jockey, and this represents a fantastic opportunity to move closer to that goal.
Doyle and Tom Marquand will be riding in Japan this winter
Hollie Doyle was speaking to Sky Sports Racing’s Simon Mapletoft.
