Orange turns to Gold for Doyle in epic win
BIG ORANGE repelled the late thrust of defending champion Order Of St George to win the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.
Trained by Michael Bell and ridden by James Doyle in the absence of the injured Frankie Dettori, the 5-1 shot was towards the head of affairs throughout and showed incredible heart to hold the fast-finishing 5-6 favourite right on the line.
Last year’s St Leger hero Harbour Law kept on well for third. Doyle said: “He’s as tough as they get! Full credit to everyone. It was great to get the call-up. Unfortunately, Frankie couldn’t have got the injury at a worse time.
“Frankie’s a real star. He called me a couple of nights ago and I was probably on the phone for about 20 minutes getting instructions and him telling me all about the horse. He was spot on.
“You can’t do it without the help of everyone. Frankie said to me ‘whatever you do, don’t interfere with him’. He knows what speed he wants to go at and you just sit as a passenger.
“I had Frankie’s voice in my head as I just eased him out and let him go to the front and the rest was history.
“He got a little bit lonely. I wish the second horse had joined me a bit earlier and I think he’d have won by further then.”
Bell said: “I can’t give the horse enough credit. He just puts it on the line. It was an epic race. Order Of St George is a fantastic horse ridden by a brilliant jockey.
“I can’t describe the feeling of pride I have in my horse. I was just praying for the line and begging for the line to come.
“The horse is a superstar, he’s a warrior. That’s his eighth Pattern win and we’re extremely lucky to train him.”
Winning owner Bill Gredley said of the six-year-old: “I get quite a bit of fan mail for him, and it’s great to have a horse the public love. I don’t know what he will go on to do in the future, but it can’t get much better than winning the Gold Cup at Ascot.”
Bell confirmed Big Orange will now bid for a third successive win in the Goodwood Cup on August 3.
The gelding has run in the last two renewals of the Melbourne Cup, finishing fifth and 10th, but Gredley said: “We’re not going to Melbourne.”
Aidan O’Brien said of Order Of St George: “He’s run a very good race. I’m not sure where he’ll go next. We’ll see how he is.”