COR BLIMEY
Emotional win for sub Doyle
JAMES DOYLE stepped off the subs’ bench to celebrate an emotional first Classic success when partnering Coroebus to victory in the Qipco 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket.
Fortune favoured Doyle as he only secured the ride when William Buick, the principal rider for winning owner Sheikh Mohammed, elected to partner stablemate Native Trail, the runner-up.
Doyle, choking back the tears, said: “William came up to me afterwards and said, ‘you deserve that one’.
“We’re the best of friends and he could see I was a little bit emotional.
“This race has been something that has always annoyed me, looking at replays over and over again of Kingman’s Guineas (second in 2014) and Barney Roy’s Guineas (second in 2017), and then it goes as simple as it did today.”
Doyle was delighted to pocket a first Classic but also admitted the frustration of playing the understudy. “When you don’t ride these big winners, it does get frustrating,” added Doyle. “William can see and sense I get frustrated but it’s great to be part of the team.”
And the script could not have played out any better for the 34-year-old as his mother had flown over from the States to witness it.
Like Doyle, it was also a memorable first victory in the Classic for Appleby (left), the principal trainer for the Godolphin operation.
“It was always going to be a hard call for William to get off Native Trail and get on him Coroebus but it’s great for James,” said Appleby.
“For him to have his first English Classic winner is fantastic. And for us to be able to provide it for him is even more special.
“On the evidence of what we’ve seen today, they are the two best three-year-old colts around to date.
“Native Trail could perhaps go to Ireland for the Irish Guineas while Coroebus could possibly go straight for the St James’s Palace at Royal Ascot.”
Luxembourg, the third home, trained by Aidan O’Brien, now heads the betting at 5-2 with Paddy Power for the Derby.