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| Staff Writer |
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James Doyle has been confirmed as the jockey for Sunway in Saturday's King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes at Ascot. Sunway, trained by David Menuisier, recently finished second in the Irish Derby.
The colt, who claimed Gr.1 victory in the Criterium International last year, delivered his strongest performance of the current season when narrowly beaten by Los Angeles at the Curragh in June.
Oisin Murphy, the regular jockey for Sunway throughout his eight-race career and retained rider for part-owners Qatar Racing, will be aboard John and Thady Gosden's Qatar-owned Middle Earth in the upcoming Group One contest. This change necessitated finding a new jockey for Sunway.
“James Doyle is going to ride,” Menuisier confirmed.
“He won’t need any riding instructions – he knows his way around!”
Menuisier recognizes that his talented young horse must improve to compete effectively against more experienced rivals in the upcoming race. Despite the challenge, the trainer is willing to take the risk.
“He had a stretch of the legs this morning and seems A1 and in very good form. Fingers crossed, all being well between now and then, he’ll go to Ascot,” he added.
“The horse ran really well in Ireland and we know that if you’re a good 3YO, getting 11lb in the King George is definitely a plus.
“The opposition is strong, but we feel the horse is on the up and we feel he could improve with decent ground as well, so we ought to try really and take it from there.”