Jockey Hollie Doyle is getting ever closer to the 1000 winner mark © Photo Healy Racing
Hollie Doyle is drawing closer to 1,000 career winners and is bidding to follow up on Bradsell’s spectacular Nunthorpe success in the Flying Five at the Curragh, after moving tantalisingly close with her 100th success of the year at Ripon.
Doyle rode Archie Watson’s Zayer (4-5 favourite) to victory in the British Stallion Studs EBF Maiden Stakes, blazing a trail and setting a new track record in the process.
“It’s good to get that done, especially for the team at Archie’s. He’s a really nice horse and we’ve always thought highly of him,” Doyle told Sky Sports Racing.
“The further he went the better, he’s quite unfurnished and weak still so he found the track quite challenging, but I think he’ll be a nice horse next year.”
The win moved Doyle to within three of 1,000 winners, just 11 years after her first in 2013, with almost 700 of those having come in the last five years.
“That was my target at the start of the year, to try to get to 1,000 international (career) winners,” she said.
“I’m not too far away so that will be good to get that done.”
Doyle’s smile lit up York last week when Bradsell scorched a trail in the Nunthorpe and she is hoping he can repeat the dose in the Flying Five at the Curragh on September 15.
“He seems absolutely fine since his run, you have to take every day as it comes with him, but he seems fine since York,” she said.
“All systems go for the Flying Five, hopefully. He showed so much natural speed and I think he’s getting better with age, which can be the case with sprinters.
“All being well it will be Ireland next, that’s what Archie mentioned.”
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