Impressive Hollie Doyle revelling in her chance for top rides

In a normal season, a collection of leading international jockeys would be converging on Ascot on Saturday to take part in its most popular race day outside of the royal meeting.

The competition is fought out among four teams of riders, and includes an all-women ‘Girls’ team for which Britain’s record-breaking female rider Hollie Doyle ought to have been a shoo-in this year.

Except this is no normal season. The Shergar Cup has been cancelled, due to coronavirus, and Doyle has made such strides since she set a new best score by a woman in a calendar year with 116 winners in 2019, that she would have had to decline the invitation in any case.

With 81 wins this year, the 23-year-old from Hereford is well ahead of schedule in attaining her primary target of beating her mark in 2020, even after a 10-week coronavirus shutdown.

She has ridden her first winner at Royal Ascot, becoming only the third female jockey to do so, her first Group 2 winner and occupies fifth place in the Flat Jockeys Championship.

And a week ago she was appointed first jockey to Imad Alsagar, one half of the Kuwaiti partnership that owned the 2007 Derby winner Authorized, whose 25 horses are in training with some of the sport’s elite trainers.

In this role she heads to Haydock to ride Alsagar’s Extra Elusive, trained by Roger Charlton, in the Group 3 BetVictor Rose Of Lancaster Stakes.

“The job came out of the blue when I was approached by Tony Nerses [Alsagar’s racing manager],” said Doyle. “I spoke about it to Archie Watson, who gives me most of my rides, and hopefully this won’t change our relationship.

“I’d never ridden for the owner before but I was delighted to get the opportunity. Imad has horses with the likes of John Gosden, Roger Charlton, Roger Varian and Amy Murphy. They are all by top sires so it’s exciting.”

The link paid off swiftly at Lingfield on Tuesday where Doyle, riding for the first time for Gosden, partnered newcomer Faisal to win on her second ride for the owner.

Extra Elusive will be her fourth ride and her first in a Group race for Alsagar.. “He hasn’t won for quite a long time, but his run last time when he was second at Newbury was good,” she said. “Pablo Escobarr, who was behind him, won at Glorious Goodwood. So on his day he is well capable even though he is stepping up to Group 3 level.”