Brilliant Hollie Doyle wins Goodwood Cup on Trueshan to hand Alan King first Group 1 on Flat

HOLLIE Doyle provided a riding masterclass as Trueshan took advantage of the absence of four-time winner Stradivarius to win the Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup.

She did well to restrain the free-running Trueshan who had provided her with a memorable victory when landing the Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot last October.

And, as the field turned for home, she headed straight for the stands rail before bursting clear in the closing stages from Away He Goes and Mark Johnson’s Sir Ron Priestley who was a brave third.

A second Group One winner for Doyle, it was a first on the Flat for trainer Alan King who has enjoyed multiple successes at the highest level with his National Hunt horses.

Yet, while Stradivarius was a late absentee due to the testing conditions, it should not detract from the emphatic nature of Trueshan’s win ahead of a probable return to Ascot in October.

“I’m absolutely thrilled – it’s a very, very special moment,” said King. “I’m not sure I’ve even had a runner in a Group One before on the Flat.

“To be here and be odds-on with the other horses coming out, I was okay this morning - but then the nerves started to kick in. I’m just thrilled for him. She’s (Hollie Doyle) given him a great ride. This was a big day. He’s very ground dependent.”

This performance also vindicated the Singula Partnership, who own Trueshan, for taking the horse out of last month’s Ascot Gold Cup due to the quick ground.

“He’s a superstar on this ground,” said an elated Doyle as she assessed the victory. “We weren’t going very quick early on and he was a little keen but I just let him slide up onto the girth of the leader and he took up the bridle on me.

“The further he went the better and he found another gear. Full credit to Alan and everyone who looks after him. It’s been in my mind every day since Champions Day about when we could get back together in a big race like this. These are the days you do it for.”

Trueshan was the first leg of a 123-1 treble for Doyle who also rode John Quinn’s Malton-trained Lord Riddiford (13-2) to victory over stablemate El Astronaute and Sisters in the Sky (13-2) for Roger Teal.

Meanwhile Poetic Flare tomorrow bids to become the first horse since Frankel 10 years ago to complete the Group One treble of the Qipco 2000 Guineas, the St James’s Palace Stakes and the Qatar Sussex Stakes.

A feat also achieved since the turn of the century by both Rock Of Gibraltar (2002) and Henrythenavigator (2008), Poetic Flare’s own sire Dawn Approach was thwarted in the final leg in 2013 by Toronado.

After a frenetic schedule, the colt has enjoyed a six-week lay-off under the watchful eye of owner-breeder Jim Bolger who also trains Poetic Flare in Ireland.

Bolger said: “He’s only had a break in as much as he hasn’t been racing, but he’s a horse who I have to keep moving and so it hasn’t exactly been a holiday. He’s very well and I couldn’t be happier with him.”

The trainer’s biggest concern is likely to be the soft ground on the rolling Sussex Downs. “Dawn Approach was a really good horse on good ground or faster, and the day he was beaten by Toronado in the Sussex Stakes it was officially good to soft,” he added. “It was moving on top, so he never really got a hold of it. He didn’t like it.

“It was fast ground when Poetic Flare won at Ascot, and it might well be that he’s better on that better ground, but he seems to handle all going and he’s pretty good on soft too.

“My preference would be for good ground, but I’m not much given to worrying anyway. Whatever it is, I’ll take it. I’m very happy with my horse and I don’t worry too much about anybody else’s.”