Hollie Doyle’s hopes of winning the key five-furlong sprints in Britain (Nunthorpe), Ireland (Flying Five) and France (Prix de L’Abbaye) on Bradsell came unstuck in the mud when her husband Tom Marquand, riding 22-1 shot Makarova, swept past her late on to deny what would have been a unique treble.
Doyle and Marquand fighting out a finish happens on an almost daily basis but it is very rare that it happens at Group One level.
In a 1-2 for Lambourn, Ed Walker’s mare, bred locally by owner-breeder Jeffrey Hobby’s Brightwalton Stud, Makarova has been very consistent and never far away when there is soft in the going and she relished it, coming home a length and a quarter clear of Bradsell.
“She’s the forgotten filly,” said Walker. “She’s only rated 105 by the British handicapper which is Listed class and she’s always underestimated by the punters, but she’s been Group-placed and was third in a Group One last time; there was more confidence in the camp than her odds suggested. We were all dancing in the rain at breakfast.”
Talking about the win, Marquand said: “Often she starts slowly and then is chasing it at half way but she jumped perfectly and I was able to sit just behind three or four who were on the speed and jump on the back of Bradsell and from quite a long way out I thought it was very doable. She picked up a very good horse in Bradsell but fortunately conditions were in our favour.
“I didn’t see Hollie pulling up. It’s inevitable when we’re both riding in Group Ones that’s it going to happen but there’s only one winner in each race. She’ll be disappointed Bradsell didn’t win, but she’ll be pleased [for me].”
Hobby said: “It’s our first ever Group One winner and we bred her. That’s what makes it so emotional – they are foaled in a box by the back door, you see them growing up in the paddocks and Ed trains in Lambourn which is close so, I am able to be a very annoying owner. As a small owner-breeder, it’s the best.”
Keiran Shoemark, who had the difficult task of having to fill Frankie Dettori’s boots as John Gosden’s first jockey and has taken a few brickbats for it with very good grace, finally got a monkey off his back when Friendly Soul won the Prix de L’Opera, his first Group One for the trainer.
Gosden pointed out that you could not do it without the horses and that his three-year-olds had not been vintage.
