Golden couple Marquand and Doyle scoop four Ascot wins
HOLLIE Doyle and Tom Marquand have been basking in the glory of their momentous Qipco British Champions Day at Ascot.
Fresh from breaking her own British record for the most winners in a calendar year by a female jockey, at Kempton earlier in the week, Doyle enjoyed a double in the first two races.
After steering Alan King’s Trueshan to a wide-margin win in the Long Distance Cup, the 24-year-old claimed her first victory at Group One level as Archie Watson’s Glen Shiel clung on by a nose in the British Champions Sprint.
Not to be outdone, Doyle’s partner Marquand, from Winchcombe, landed the final two events on a six-race card aboard the William Haggas-trained Addeybb in the Champion Stakes and then Jessica Harrington’s Irish challenger Njord in the Balmoral Handicap.
Doyle said: “It was a great day. I would have been pleased just for all the horses to run well, so to ride two winners was brilliant.
“Trueshan was very impressive, and to get off to a start like that fills you with plenty of confidence for the rest of the day.
“I didn’t think Glen Shiel had won, so it was a big shock when he was called as the winner.”
Doyle is just as thrilled for Marquand as she is for herself, adding: “It was brilliant for Tom to win the Champion Stakes, especially with it being on Addeybb, who has been such a flagbearer for Tom. He’s a well-travelled horse, who is getting better and better.
“We went out for dinner on the way back from racing, so that was nice.”
Marquand won two Group Ones in