James Doyle lands Crown Prince Cup on Saudi return

RIYADH: James Doyle partnered My Frankel to a comfortable success in the Crown Prince Cup (Domestic Group 1) at the King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh on Saturday.

The Godolphin-retained jockey was having his first rides in Saudi Arabia since the Saudi Cup meeting in February and struck on the former Sir Michael Stoute-trained five-year-old to land the feature SAR1 million ($266,000) contest.

Doyle first rode in Saudi Arabia in the 2013-14 season and before Saturday his last winner was in the 2019-20 season. My Frankel was his seventh winner from 63 rides in the country.

Speaking after the ride, Doyle said: “My Frankel was brilliant. They had said he would rate the highest of the runners, so he was pretty well fancied.

“The race worked out beautifully. He’s a horse that can lead, but we were a little unsure on how the race would set up, with pacemakers from other stables. We ignored the pacemakers and just rode our own race.

“He was stepping up in trip for the first time in Saudi, but he’d seen the mile and a half out quite well from his time in England, so I knew he’d stay. It was just a case of trying to keep the fractions as smooth as possible as he’s a relentless galloper, rather than a real quickener.

“The straight in Saudi is quite long, so when you’re in front for the whole way, it does seem a long way, but he had plenty left and was a ready winner.

“I think the penciled in plans for him are to drop back to 2,000 meters and be targeted at the King’s Cups (on Jan. 14.) The drop back in trip wouldn’t be a worry,” he added.

Doyle also mentioned the special atmosphere on the day and his hopes of returning to ride in Saudi Arabia.

“From spending a lot of time in Saudi over the years, it was nice to see such