Jockey James Doyle in dreamland after guiding Coroebus and Cachet to 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas successes at Newmarket for Charlie Appleby and George Boughey
You know that saying about waiting so long for a bus and then two come along at once? Well it is a sentiment James Doyle can certainly attest to after the best weekend of his career at the Guineas Festival at Newmarket.
The Ashley-based jockey is in his 18th year in the saddle and he could have been forgiven for wondering whether or not a British Classic victory was ever going to come.
There have been some gut-wrenching near misses, most notably when Doyle’s 6-4 favourite Kingman was pipped by Night Of Thunder at the Rowley Mile eight years ago.
But those ghosts have now been well and truly laid to rest after the 34-year-old became just the fifth post-war jockey to land both the QIPCO 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas at the same Festival.
It started on Saturday afternoon when many were expecting Godolphin handler Charlie Appleby to be in the winners’ enclosure, though the identity of the rider in blue silks was a cause for surprise.
Native Trail – an impressive winner of last month’s Group 3 bet365 Craven Stakes at the same track – was the preferred ride of the organisation’s top jockey William Buick and the pre-race favourite.
That left deputy Doyle to partner seasonal debutant Coroebus and what a consolation prize it proved to be. Having played second fiddle to his good friend Buick for so long, this time it was Doyle that triumphed despite a late fightback from Native Trail.
A visibly emotional Doyle said: “I’m super proud of Charlie. For once I have to say I’m actually emotional to ride a big winner today. This race has always been something that’s always annoyed me, looking at replays over and over again of Kingman’s Guineas, Barney Roy’s Guineas and then it goes so simple the way it has today.
“Full credit to Charlie. He’s an incredible man and an incredible man to work for. It’s honestly a privilege to work for him and to ride a 2,000 Guineas winner. It’s a privilege to be a part of what’s happening at the minute, it really is.
“The main thing speaking to William was that he (Coroebus) has been very relaxed in his work but the first run of the year you always have to watch that they don’t want to do too much too early and from that draw my only worry was getting left without any cover but after going for half a furlong I was pretty happy.
“I remember after Adayar won The Derby (last year) I spoke to Charlie and I said ‘am I ever going to get one of these rides?’ and he said ‘don’t worry - we’re getting it right now and there’s every chance it’ll happen next year, we’re just starting to get the hang of this game’ and he was dead right once again.
“William just came up to me said ‘you deserved that one’. He could see how much it meant to me. I was emotional and we’re best of friends and it’s tough out there. You’re competing against each other day in, day out and we sit next to each other but it’s been that way for about 15 years so it’s just great.”
And that triumph had barely had time to sink in when Doyle repeated the trick in the fillies’ Classic just 24 hours later.
At 16-1 the George Boughey-trained Cachet was seen very much as an outsider, yet some more Doyle magic saw the daughter of Aclaim lead from start to finish.
Able to keep his emotions more in check on this occasion, Doyle said: “I promise I won’t get emotional today! It’s incredible isn’t it? I rode her a couple of times last year and she was Group 1 placed in the Fillies’ Mile.
“George (Boughey) and I were talking about it beforehand, she seems to be much stronger this year although that last half a furlong took forever! I was praying for the line but she’s all guts and she loves this track. She really puts the race to bed between the three and the two (furlong poles) and we were clinging on late on.
“A special thank you to George – obviously he has a young, growing team but he’s doing amazing things and I think he’s a name we’ll be hearing a lot about in the future.
“It’s incredible and I have to say yesterday was just incredible, I’ve ridden some big winners around the world but I’ve never felt a feeling like that.
“It’s very funny how things work out, this game is a hard one in that sometimes it can be so ruthless and it can be tough on you and other times when the cards fall in the right direction they fall in your favour as we’ve seen today. I’ve been lucky enough to pick the ride back up on this filly so it’s been amazing.”
